Number of Pages: 1Integrative BiologyGeological Science

Powell, Robert

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Number of Pages: 1Integrative BiologyEarth and Planetary Science

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REPTILIA: SQUAMATA: SAURIA: GEKKONLDAE Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles. Powell, Robert. 1990. Hemidactyluspalaichthur. Hemldactylus palalchthus Kluge Hemidactylus brookii haitianrrs: Meerwarth, 1901:17 (part). Hemidactyluspalaichthus Kluge, 1969:39. Type locality, "Kurupu- kari, Guyana (4" N, 59' 25' W)". Holotype, AmericanMuseum of Natural History (AMNH) 60931, an adult male, collected by R. Snedigar on 2-3 October 1937 (not examined by author). Hemidactylus brookiipalaichthrrs: Mertens, 19739. Content. No subspecies are recognized. Definition and Diagnosis. Hemidactyluspalaichthus has a snout-vent length (SVL) to 63.1 rnrn and is distinguishable from other New World geckos by the following combination of charac- ters: dorsum with granules and large trihedral tubercles, a hernidac- tyl digit whose subdigital lamellae reach the origin of the fourth toe, 12-19 loreals, 2-11 cheek tubercles, 8-12 supralabials, 7-10 infralabi- als, 17-25 rows of body tubercles, 17-28 tubercles in paravertebral rows, 2-4 tubercles in caudal whorls, 3-6 scales between whorls, 9- 11 lamellae on the4th toe, and 32-43 preanal pores. Auricular scales and interpreanal pores are absent. Snout-eye length is 10.37-12.46% of SVL and eyeear length is 8.55-9.9694 of SVL. The ground color is pale gray or brown to dark gray. The dorsal pattern, when present, is dark brown to nearly black and consists of a latticework of 7-10 narrow reticulate marks and a pair of often dis- continuous dorselateral narrow reticulate marks. The dorsal sur- face of the tail is covered with about 10 faint to conspicuous relatively wide bands or numerous irregularly shaped and positioned spots. Descriptions. The only complete description of the species is in Kluge (1969). Illustrations. Kluge (1969) included a black and white photograph of the holotype. Tuck (1972) and Hoogmoed (1973) provided black and white photographs of specimens from Little Tobago Island and Surinam, respectively. Distribution. The range is associated with the Orinoco, Essequibo, and Corantijn River systems of central and northeastern Venezuela, Guyana, northern Brazil, and extreme northwestern Surinam. Kluge (1969) illustrated a range including many intemen- ing areas. Lacking records and noting that New World Hemidactylus often function as human commensals, the range here is restricted to sites from which vouchers exist and connecting areas that follow routes of human activity. H.palaichthus is also found on the islands of Trinidad, Tobago, and Little Tobago, all of which have faunal communities with very high continental elements. The only West Indian locality is Maria Island off the southeastern coast of St. Lucia. Fossil Record. None. Pertinent Literature. Kluge(1969) commented onzoogee graphy and relationships with H. brookii. Tuck (1972) documented the species on Little Tobago Island and noted that earlier specimens were listed as H. mabouia by Dinsmore (1969). Hoogmoed (1973) refined the range in Surinam. Mertens (1973) included H. palaich- thus (as H. brookiipalaichthus) in a key to the reptiles of Tobago. Schwartz and Thomas (1975) and Schwartz and Henderson (1988) discussed distribution and commented on the species' status. Staton and Dixon (197) provided ecological notes. Rivero-Blanco and Dixon (1979) described habitat in the Llanos of Venezuela. Etymology. The namepalaichthusis from the Greek word pahichthon, meaning "indigenous inhabitant", and presumably refers to the fact that H.pahichthusis indigenous to the New World. Comment. Kluge (1969) described H,palaichthusas a New HEMIDACTYLUS PALAICHTHUS Map. Solid circle marks the type-locality, open circles other records. Arrows indicate insular populations. World endemic derived from H, brookii haitianus. Mertens (1973) considered palaichthus a subspecies of H. bmokii. Schwartz and Thomas (1975) and Schwartz and Henderson (1988) noted Mertens' view, but followed Kluge. Literature Cited Dinsmore, James J. 1969. Reptiles of Little Tobago Island, WestIn- dies. Quart. J. Florida Acad. Sci. 32(4):307-309. Hoogmoed, M. S. 1973. Notes on the herpetofauna of Surinam IV. The lizards and amphisbaenians of Surinam. Dr. W. Junk b, v., Publ., The Hague. vi + 419 p. Kluge, Arnold G. 1969. The evolution and geographical origin of the New World Hemidactylus mabouia-bmokii complex (Gekko- nidae, Sauria). Misc. P-ubl. Mus. Zool. Univ. ~ i c h i ~ a n  (138):l- 78. Meerwarth, H. 1901. Die westindischen Reptilien und Batrachier des naturhistorischen Museums in Hamburg. Mitt. naturhist. Mus. Hamburg 18:141. Mertens, Robert. 1973. Herpetofauna tobagana. Stungarter Beitr. zur Naturkunde (252):l-22. RivereBlanco, Carlos, and James R. Dixon. 1979. Origin and distri- bution of the herpetofauna of the dry lowland regions of north- ern South America, p. 281-298. In Duellman, William E. (ed.). The South American herpetofauna,: its origin, evolution, and dispersal. Mus. Nat. Hist. Univ. Kansas Mongr. (7):l-485. Schwartz, Albert, and Robert W. Henderson. 1988. West Indian am- phibians and reptiles: a check-list. Contrib. Biol. Geol. Milwau- kee Publ. Mus. (74):l-264. , and Richard Thomas. 1975. A check-list of West Indian amphibians and reptiles. Carnegie Mus. Nat. Hist. Spec. Publ. (1):l-216. Staton, Mark A,, and James R. Dixon. 1977. The herpetofauna of the central Llanos of Venezuela: noteworthy records, a tentative checklist and ecological notes. J. Herpetol. 11(1):17-24. Tuck, R. G. 1972. Geographic distribution: Hemidactyluspalaich- thus. Herpetol. Rev. 4(3):93. Robert Powell, Department of Natural Sciences, Avila College, Kansas City, Missouri 64145. Primary editor for this account, &drew H. Price. Published 31 January 1990 and Copyright Q 1990 by the Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles. 

Hemidactylus palaichthus

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Hemidactylus palaichthus

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