The Perinet chameleon (''Calumma gastrotaenia''), also known as the Malagasy side-striped chameleon, is a small species of

chameleon Chameleons or chamaeleons (family Chamaeleonidae) are a distinctive and highly specialized clade of Old World lizards with 202 species described as of June 2015. The members of this family are best known for their distinct range of colors, bein ...

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to humid primary forests, particularly along rivers, in eastern and central

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

at elevations between 600 and 1,530 m. It is listed on

CITES CITES (shorter name for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, also known as the Washington Convention) is a multilateral treaty to protect endangered plants and animals from the threats of interna ...

Appendix II, and as such, trade in the Perinet chameleon is regulated. Exporting the species from Madagascar has been banned since 1995.

Description

Perinet chameleons are small and slender, reaching 15–20 cm, with elongated heads and bodies. They have smooth, uniformly green, brown or yellow skin with white undersides. A thin stripe runs from their tail bases along the sides of their bodies and across their eyes, and may include white spots. The three subspecies are ''C. g. andringitraensis'' with a dorsal crest, ''C. g. marojezensis''. and ''C. g. guillaumeti''. The male Perinet chameleon is larger than the female and has a bony head crest.

References

Perinet chameleon
ARKive.com. Accessed 2011-07-30
''Calumma gastrotaenia''
WAZA.org. Accessed 2011-07-30 Calumma Endemic fauna of Madagascar Reptiles of Madagascar Reptiles described in 1888 Taxa named by George Albert Boulenger {{chameleon-stub