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Varanus indicus (DAUDIN, 1802)

IUCN Red List - Varanus indicus - Least Concern, LC
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Higher TaxaVaranidae, Platynota, Varanoidea, Anguimorpha, Sauria, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Mangrove Monitor
G: Pazifikwaran 
SynonymTupinambis indicus DAUDIN 1802: 46
Tupinambus indicus DAUDIN 1802 — BÖHME et al. 2016 (in error)
Varanus guttatus MERREM 1820: 58 (nom. subst. fide COGGER 1983)
Monitor kalabeck LESSON 1830: 52
Monitor exanthematicus indicus — SCHLEGEL 1839: 71
Monitor doreanus MEYER 1874: 130
Monitor indicus — PETERS 1876
Varanus indicus — BOULENGER 1883
Varanus indicus — BOULENGER 1885: 316
Varanus indicus — DE ROOIJ 1915: 148
Varanus indicus indicus — MERTENS 1926
Varanus indicus rouxi MERTENS 1926
Varanus tsukamotoi KISHIDA 1929 (fide BÖHME 2002)
Varanus leucostigma — HEDIGER 1934: 497 (in error for Monitor chlorostigma)
Varanus indicus — BÖHME 1994
Varanus cerambonensis PHILIPP, BÖHME & ZIEGLER 1999
Varanus indicus — COGGER 2000: 368
Varanus cerambonensis — AST 2001
Varanus cerambonensis — BÖHME 2003
Varanus indicus — DRYDEN & ZIEGLER in PIANKA & KING 2004: 184
Varanus (Euprepiosaurus) indicus — ZIEGLER et al. 2007
Varanus (Euprepiosaurus) cerambonensis — KOCH et al. 2013
Varanus (Euprepiosaurus) cerambonensis — BUCKLITSCH et al. 2016: 50
Varanus (Euprepiosaurus) indicus — BUCKLITSCH et al. 2016: 50
Varanus (Euprepiosaurus) indicus — WEIJOLA & KRAUS 2023 
DistributionIndonesia (Ambon, Seram, Buru, Saparua, Haruku and Banda islands)

Type locality: Ambon, Moluccas, Indonesia; corrected to “northwestern New Guinea” by Böhme et al. 2016.  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesNeotype: RMNH 40846, designated by Weijola 2015. Philipp et al. 1999 designated ZFMK 70650 as neotype. Böhme et al. 2016 disputed Weijola’s 2015 neotype and who argued to maintain the neotype designation of Philipp et al. 1999. However, ICZN Opinion 2451 confirmed RMNH 40846 as neotype. See also Weijola 2017 and ICZN 2020 (Opinion 2451).
Holotype: ZFMK 70617 (on loan from MZB); paratypes: RMNH 3189; ZMA 11146; RMNH 7297 (seven specimens and one head); RMNH 3'50, 3152 and 7196; 2MB 4848 [cerambonensis]
Syntypes: MNHN-RA, presumed lost [Monitor chlorostigma]
Holotype: SMF 11583, from Durdjela, Wammer, Aru Ils., Indonesia [rouxi]
Holotype: NHMW = NMW 3709 [spinulosus] 
Diagnosis 
CommentSynonymy: Varanus indicus jobiensis AHL 1932 has been synonymized with Varanus indicus (e.g. by COGGER 1983) but is now considered as a valid species. Synonymy mainly after COGGER 1983 and DE LISLE 2009. Original description at curator.org (see link below). The presence of V. indicus in Sulawesi is questionable (Koch & Böhme 2005). Weijola et al. 2017 removed Monitor douarrha LESSON 1830: 53 from the synonymy of V. indicus. Varanus cerambonensis was synonymized with V. indicus by Weijola 2015, 2017. This was later confirmed by the ICZN in 2020 with the acceptance of the replacement neotype for V. indicus.

Distribution: not on Sulawesi. Reports from there could not be confirmed (fide A. Koch, pers. comm., 18 July 2018). Phillip et al. (1999) mentioned a record of V. cerambonensis from New Guinea, but without detailed locality. Weijola and Sweet (2015) argue that the species on Ambon, Seram, Buru, and Saparua is all V. indicus). See map in Weijola & Kraus 2023: 948 (Fig. 1).

Habitat: terrestrial, but may enter brackish (”marine”) habitats in the mangroves.

NCBI taxonomy ID: 437649 [cerambonensis]

Type species: Tupinambis indicus DAUDIN 1802: 46 is the type species of the subgenus Euprepiosaurus Fitzinger 1843.

Group: The Euprepiosaurus clade has had various species assigned to it. Weijola & Kraus (2023) included 19 species in the subgenus.

Key: see Weijola & Kraus (2023: 971) for a key to the species of Euprepiosaurus. 
EtymologyNamed after Latin "iuxta" ="next to", or "close to"; referring to the close relationship with Varanus indicus. 
References
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