Vida Hojati; Seyed Mohammad Keshavarz; Reza Behniafar & Abdolhossein Shiravi

The Caspian Green Lizard, Lacerta strigata Eichwald, 1831, is a member of the Lacertidae family distributed in the Caspian coast of northern Iran. The specimens were found in coastal dunes, hilly areas and pastureland containing some shrubby cover. In this research, the reproductive biology of this species was studied from April 20 to September 5, 2013. Forty eight adult specimens including 24 females and 24 males were collected by hand at midday from three sampling stations (Goharbaran, Ab-Bandansar and Ab-Bandankesh) of Sari County, located in Mazandaran Province of Iran. Ovaries and testes were removed and processed for histological and morphometric studies. In females, there were 6–17 follicles in each ovary. Totally, 6–10 oviductal eggs were observed in mature females. The oogenic and spermatogenic cycle begins from late March, mating starts from early May, with oviposition occurring from late May to late June, with the possibility of producing a secondary clutch later in the season. In males, the mean number and mean diameter of seminiferous tubules were 86.95 and 190.4750 microns, respectively. The mean diameter of tunica albuginea, germinal layer and lumen were 18.75, 69.79 and 144.27 microns, respectively. Maximum reproductive activity occurs from early May to early June, reduces from early July and ends in August. Hence, oogenesis and spermatogenesis occurs from April through July, L. strigata follows a seasonal reproductive cycle with associated type.

KEY WORDS: Lacertidae; Caspian green lizard; Oogenesis; Spermatogenesis; Caspian coast.

HOJATI, V.; KESHAVARZ, S. M.; BEHNIAFAR, R. & SHIRAVI, A. The reproductive biology of the Caspian green lizard, Lacerta strigata (Sauria: Lacertidae) in Iran. Int. J. Morphol., 34(2):443-450, 2016.