A.F. Laemmerzahl
Jeffrey E. Lovich
C.H. Ernst
2011
<p><span>Two subspecies of the turtle </span><span class="genus-species">Cuora amboinensis</span><span> have been reported from the Philippine Islands, </span><span class="genus-species">C. a. amboinensis</span><span> and </span><span class="genus-species">C. a. kamaroma,</span><span> distinguished primarily by their carapace morphology, and secondarily by their plastron patterns. We assessed the utility of using shell and postorbital-stripe morphology instead of plastron patterns to distinguish these putative taxa. Adult </span><span class="genus-species">C. amboinensis</span><span> from the Philippines were examined to determine the extent of occurrence of </span><span class="genus-species">C. a. kamaroma</span><span> on the islands. Several morphological carapace characters and one based on the postorbital stripe were found to differ significantly between the subspecies </span><span class="genus-species">C. a. amboinensis</span><span> and </span><span class="genus-species">C. a. kamaroma</span><span>, and were used to assign turtles to subspecies. Use of these characters often resulted in conflicting subspecific identifications for those previously assigned by their plastron patterns to </span><span class="genus-species">C. a. kamaroma</span><span>. This poses important questions. Using the carapace and postorbital-stripe characters, 95.2% of the turtles in the mainland chain of islands were identified as </span><span class="genus-species">C. a. amboinensis</span><span>, and only 4.8% as </span><span class="genus-species">C. a. kamaroma</span><span>. Surprisingly, most of those assigned to </span><span class="genus-species">C. a. kamaroma</span><span> were from the northern islands of Babuyan and Luzon, not from the southern main chain island populations closest to the likely geographic area of invasion by that subspecies. This may be due to the common practice of importation of </span><span class="genus-species">C. a. kamaroma</span><span> into these northern islands, especially Luzon, for food. Turtles with </span><span class="genus-species">kamaroma</span><span>-like or </span><span class="genus-species">C. a. amboinensis</span><span> × </span><span class="genus-species">C. a. kamaroma</span><span> plastron patterns have been reported from the Sulu Archipelago and Busuanga/Palawan chain, and those specimens we examined from those islands confirmed this. The questions of whether or not </span><span class="genus-species">C. a. kamaroma</span><span> actually occurs in the Philippines and, if so, what is its island distribution, cannot be answered at this time. All specimens previously identified as </span><span class="genus-species">C. a. kamaroma</span><span> by their plastron-patterns should be re-evaluated, using the significant carapace and postorbital-stripe characters identified by </span>Rummler & Fritz (1991)<span> and in this paper. Philippine </span><span class="genus-species">Cuora amboinensis</span><span> cannot be identified to subspecies by their plastron patterns alone.</span></p>
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10.2988/11-13.1
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BioOne
Does the "kamaroma"-plastron pattern morph occur in both Philippine subspecies of the turtle Cuora amboinensis?
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