Celestus warreni

– Critically Endangered

Taxonomy

Kingdom:	ANIMALIA
Phylum:	CHORDATA
Class:	REPTILIA
Order:	SQUAMATA
Family:	ANGUIDAE
Scientific Name:	Celestus warreni
Species Authority:	(Schwartz, 1970)
Synonym/s:	Celestus carraui Incháustegui, Schwartz & Henderson, 1985 Diploglossus carraui (Incháustegui, Schwartz & Henderson, 1985) Diploglossus warreni (Schwartz, 1970)
Common Name/s:	GIANT HISPANIOLAN GALLIWASP (Eng)
Taxonomic Notes:	J. Ottenwalder reported that Hedges (1996) assigned the 1996 Red Listed Diploglossus warreni to Celestus warreni; and the 1996 Red Listed Diploglossus carraui to Celestus carraui (Incháustegui, Schwartz & Henderson, 1985). (Note was also incorrectly spelt as carruai). Powell and Henderson (2003) place C. carraui as a synonym under C. warreni and reject its recognition as a subspecies (see Hallermann and Böhme 2002). Synonyms = Diploglossus warreni; Celestus warreni warreni; Diploglossus carraui; Celestus carraui; Celestus warreni carraui.

Assessment Information

Red List Category & Criteria:

CR A2ac; B1ab(i,ii,iii,iv)+2ab(i,ii,iii,iv) ver 3.1 (2001)

Year Assessed:

2004

Assessor/s:

McGinnity, D. (Nashville Zoo, Tennessee, USA) & Powell, R. (Avila University, Kansas, USA)

Evaluator/s:

Hedges, B. (Pennsylvania State University, USA), Incháustegui, S.J. (Grupo Jaragua, Dominican Republic) & Hernández, M. (Dominican Republic)

Justification:

Although the generation length is not known with any certainty (see discussion under 'Habitat and Ecology'), an 80% reduction over the last twenty years seems reasonable, and this triggers a Critically Endangered listing. The extent of occurrence is < 100 km² and the area of occupancy is < 10 km². There is continuing decline in the extent of occurrence, area of occupancy, habitat and numbers of locations and the remaining habitat is severely fragmented.

History:

1994	-	Insufficiently Known as Diploglossus carruai (Groombridge 1994)
1994	-	Insufficiently Known as Diploglossus warreni (Groombridge 1994)
1996	-	Endangered as Diploglossus carruai (Baillie and Groombridge 1996)
1996	-	Lower Risk/near threatened as Diploglossus warreni (Baillie and Groombridge 1996)
2000	-	Endangered as Celestus carruai (Hilton-Taylor 2000)
2000	-	Lower Risk/near threatened (Hilton-Taylor 2000)

Geographic Range

Range Description:	The entire distribution is on Hispaniola (northern Haiti and northern Dominican Republic) where it occurs up to moderate elevations.
Countries:	Native: Dominican Republic; Haiti

Population

Population:

Most of the population appears to be in Haiti, and it appears that all the subpopulations in the Dominican Republic (those that constituted C. carraui may be largely extirpated. The last collection was of a female collected in the Puerto Plata area, but there are occasional reports of sightings made by local people (S.J. Incháustegui and M. Hernández, pers. comm. 2004). In Haiti, the species is known with confidence from only a single locality.

Population Trend:

Habitat and Ecology

Habitat and Ecology:

Presumed to be a burrowing species that occurs in mesic lowland broadleaf forest. The captive longevity record is 11 years. But this occurred at a time when the captive husbandry requirements for these species were poorly understood. Based on captive specimens it appears that sexual maturity is reached at 3–4 years of age. A conservative estimate of generation time based on the known captive longevity record and age of sexual maturity from the captives would be 7 years. However, it is probable that once more data is collected over time that this figure will be significantly larger. McGinnity (pers. comm., 2003) believes these animals are long lived (25–30 years, maybe longer), but that we may not know this for sure for a very long time.

System:

Terrestrial; Freshwater; Marine

List of Habitats:

1.6	Forest - Subtropical/Tropical Moist Lowland

Threats

Threats:

Threatened by loss of habitat, especially deforestation for agricultural activities (planting crops and creating pastures). This species is killed by local people who mistakenly consider these lizards to be venomous (the species reportedly has significance in Voodoo religion). Lizards are also killed by dogs, cats and mongooses. The introduction and spread of the mongoose in Hispaniola combined with habitat alteration, are most likley the proximate causes for the recent precipitous decline in giant species of Celestus (Powell and Henderson 2003).

List of Threats:

1.1.1.2	Habitat Loss/Degradation - Agriculture - Crops - Small-holder farming (ongoing)
1.1.4.2	Habitat Loss/Degradation - Agriculture - Livestock - Small-holder (ongoing)
2.2	Invasive alien species (directly affecting the species) - Predators (ongoing)
5.2	Persecution - Other (ongoing)

Conservation Actions

Conservation Actions:

Law 64-00, General Law on Environment and Natural Resources of the Dominican Republic establishes general protection for all its biodiversity, under articles 138 and 140. Article 139 gives protected status to all species considered endangered. Presidential Decree 801-02 reconfirms this protection for all wild reptile species and other taxa of the Dominican Republic.

Field surveys are required to determine the remaining population size and distribution, so that a species recovery and management plan can be put in place. Animals are being successfully captive bred at Nashville Zoo (McGinnity 2002). This captive breeding programme should be intensified or increased.

List of Conservation Actions:

1.1.1	Policy-based actions - Management plans - Development (in place, needed)
1.2.1.2	Policy-based actions - Legislation - Development - National level (in place, needed)
3.2	Research actions - Population numbers and range (in place, needed)
3.4	Research actions - Habitat status (in place, needed)
3.9	Research actions - Trends/Monitoring (in place, needed)
5.7.1	Species-based actions - Ex situ conservation actions - Captive breeding/Artificial propagation (in place, needed)

Bibliography

Bibliography:

Baillie, J. and Groombridge, B. (compilers and editors) 1996. 1996 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland.

Groombridge, B. (ed.) 1994. 1994 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland.

Hallermann, J. and Böhme, W. 2002. On giant anguids from the West Indies, with special reference to Celestus warreni (Schwartz, 1970) and its relatives from Hispaniola (Reptilia: Squamata: Anguidae). Mitteilungen aus dem Hamburgischen Zoologischen Museum und Institut 99: 169–178.

Hass, C.A., Maxson, L.R. and Hedges, S.B. 2001. Relationships and divergence times of West Indian amphibians and reptiles: Insights from albumin immunology. In: C.A. Woods and F.E. Sergile (eds) Biogeography of the West Indies: Patterns and Perspectives, pp. 157–174. 2nd ed. CRC Press LLC, Boca Raton, Florida.

Henderson, R.W. 1988. Diploglossus carraui. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (425): 1.

Henderson, R.W. 1988. Diploglossus warreni. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (426): 1–2.

Hilton-Taylor, C. (compiler). 2000. 2000 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK.

Incháustegui, S.J., Schwartz, A. and Henderson, R.W. 1985. Hispaniolan giant Diploglossus (Sauria: Anguidae): Description of a new species and notes on the ecology of D. warreni. Amphibia-Reptilia 6: 195–201.

McGinnity, D. 2002. The conservation initiative for giant galliwasps at Nashville Zoo: A preliminary account. International Zoo News 49: 396–403.

Powell, R. and Henderson, R.W. 2003. The taxonomic and conservation status of giant Hispaniolan Celestus (Anguidae). Caribbean Journal of Science 39(2): 237–240.

Powell, R., Ottenwalder, J.A., Incháustegui, S.J., Henderson, R.W. and Glor R.E. 2000. Amphibians and reptiles of the Dominican Republic: Species of special concern. Oryx 34: 118–128.

Schwartz, A. 1970. A new species of large Diploglossus (Reptilia, Lacertilia, Anguidae) from Hispaniola. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 82: 777–788.

Schwartz, A. and Henderson, R.W. 1991. Amphibians and Reptiles of the West Indies: Descriptions, Distributions and Natural History. University of Florida Press, Gainesville, Florida. xvi + 720 pp.

Schwartz, A., Graham, E.D. and Duval J.J. 1979. A new species of Diploglossus (Sauria: Anguidae) from Hispaniola. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 92: 1–9.

Citation:	McGinnity, D. & Powell, R. 2004. Celestus warreni. In: IUCN 2007. 2007 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 12 May 2008.
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