Subfamily GEKKONINAE - "True" Geckos

A. barbouri, Striped Caribbean Gecko

A. cochranae, Cochran's Caribbean Gecko

A. expectatus

A. georgeensis, Saint George Island Gecko

A. hechti, Hecht's Caribbean Gecko

A. lar, Spotted Caribbean Gecko

A. praesignis, Woodslave, Croaking Lizard

A. reyesi, Reyes' Caribbean Gecko

Scientific Name

Common Name

Distribution

Size

Notes

A. barbouri

Striped Caribbean Gecko

Bahamas

TL 22½cm/SVL 9½ccm

Scalation: rostral broad, with median cleft above, entering nostril; 8 supralabials; 8 infralabials; mental large, pentagonal, extending beyond the labials, bordered on each side by small chin-shield; tail dorsally covered with small, flat, slightly imbricated scales and ventrally with mid row of transversely dilated plates; about 13 subdigital lamellae on 4^th toe. Other: head moderated, elongate; snout obtusely conical, considerably loner than distance between eye and ear opening; ear opening moderate, oval, oblique, greatest diameter about half of orbit; body and limbs moderate; digits unequal. Coloration: dorsally brown, usually with darker crossbars on back and tail and dark spot above axilla; sometimes with whitish spots; dark streak on each side of head, passing through eye; lips white-spotted; flanks reticulated with dark brown; lower surfaces whitish, throat with brown marblings or oblique streaks. [SOURCE: Boulenger]

A. cochranae

Cochran's Caribbean Gecko, Cochran's Croaking Gecko

Bahamas, Hispaniola (inc. Haitian islands of Grand Cayemite, Gonâve and La Tortue, and Dominican islands of Alto Velo and Cabritos), Navassa Island

SVL 6¼cm (m), 5¼ (f), 2cm (juv)

Scalation: 6-9 supralabials; lateral postmentals ½-¾x as wide as 1^st infralabial and in contact with midline of mental; 14-18 ventral rows: nasals somewhat bulbous, 1st nasals separated from each other by 3 scales:: row of 18-20 enlarged scales across the top of the head: 4 well-developed preanal pores. Scales homogenous on lower surfaces of thighs. Subdigital lamellae on 4^th toes of both feet 19-26. Coloration: dorsally overall tan, grey, or yellow-brown to brown; 6 wide tan transverse bands; light-bordered dark stripe running from snout through eye to sacrum (in males) or shoulder (females); tail with 9 dark narrow transverse bands followed by light bands of same width, and is ventrally dark in males but white in females. [SOURCE: Lynxwiler & Parmerlee]

A. expectatus

Hispaniola and associated islands

Max SVL 5½cm

Formerly considered a subspecies of A. cochranae. Scalation: 6-7 supralabials; dorsal granules larger than in A. cochranae, 12-17 on top of snout between eyes and 25-33 dorsal scale rows; 18-22 subdigital lamellae on 4^th toes. Other: snout longer than in A. cochranae. Coloration: dark stripe from nostril to shoulder,widening to blotch and then becoming fainter and more irregular lateral stripe, fading out on the tail; 6-7 very narrow transverse bands on dorsum, of which most anterior is broken in the middle; bands across tail, much less distinct than in A. cochranae.

A. georgeensis

Saint George Island Gecko

Mexico (Quintana Roo, Cozumel), Belize (inc. St George Island), Honduras (inc. Swan Islands), Colombia (inc. San Andrés, Santa Catalina, and Isla de Providencia), Bahamas (Crab Cay)

?"

A. hechti

Hecht's Caribbean Gecko

Caicos Islands

A. lar

Spotted Caribbean Gecko

Hispaniola

SVL 13cm

Scalation: rostral broad, with median cleft above, entering nostril; 8 supralabials; 8 infralabials; mental large, pentagonal, extending beyond the labials, bordered on each side by small chin-shield; tail dorsally covered with small, flat, slightly imbricated scales and ventrally with mid row of transversely dilated plates; about 21 subdigital lamellae on 4^th toe. Other: head moderated, elongate; snout obtusely conical, considerably loner than distance between eye and ear opening; ear opening moderate, oval, oblique, greatest diameter about half of orbit; body and limbs moderate; digits unequal; anterior mandibulary teeth longer than the median. Coloration: dorsally brown, usually with darker crossbars on back and tail and dark spot above axilla; sometimes with whitish spots; dark streak on each side of head, passing through eye; lips white-spotted; flanks reticulated with dark brown; lower surfaces whitish, throat with brown marblings or oblique streaks. [SOURCE: Bouleneger].

A. praesignis

Woodslave, Croaking Lizard

Honduras (Swan Islands), Jamaica, Cayman Islands

SVL 8½cm (m), 6½cm (f)

Barbour suggests that the Cayman Islands population was carried there by turtling schooners [1910]. His account stated that Jamaican natives had a peculiar fear of the “croaking lizard” and were afraid to bring one in. He described it as easy to find, commonly on rafters of old buildings, in wall crevices of disused sugar factories and in hollow trees. Barbour also noted that the skin on the neck and back are extremely delicate and easily torn, and the tail easily dropped. Scalation details: 0-3 enlarged postmentals; adult dorsal scalation conical, weakly tubercular, and heterogenous; asymmetrical adhesive plates adjacent to claw only on 1^st digits; subdigital lamellae 9-13 on 4^th finger, 10-14 on 4^th toe. Coloration: adults either with grey dorsum and stippling of white granules which are most intense on the head, or row of 7-9 poorly-defined diamond markings from sacrum to snout which sometimes extend on to the tail. Reproduction: Barbour described the eggs as the same size as those of Ptychozoon species, being laid in the same way and in the same places. [SOURCE: Bauer & Russell, Barbour]

A. p. praesignis

Jamaica, Cayman Islands

A. p. nelsoni

Honduras (Swan Islands)

Can be distinguished from nominate subspecies by the following features: larger size, shorter snout, dorsal granules generally homogenous, small and flattened, dorsal pattern often less pronounced.

A. reyesi

Reyes' Caribbean Gecko

Cuba

Described in 2009: see Reptile Database entry for details.