Hemidactylus garnotii (Dumeril and Bibron, 1836)
Family: Gekkonidae Indo-Pacific House Gecko Status: Potential Colonizer Description: The Indo-pacific house gecko is small species of that reaches up to 65 mm SVL (Malkmus et. al 2002). Individuals are typically a shade of brown or grey and there are often ill defined longitudinal rows of irregular light spots. The venter is often bright yellow while the underside of the tail is orange. The dorsal surface lacks tubercles. Like most other geckos, the amount of patterning depends a lot on the substrate on which the animal is observed. Individuals seen on light colored walls can be very pale and nearly pattern-less. This species is very similar in appearance to Hemidactylus frenatus. The two can be differentiated by examining the tail. The tail of H. garnotii is slightly flattened and there is a finely serrated lateral fringe. The tail of H. frenatus has rings of small pointed tubercles. Biology: Hemidactylus garnotii is an all female species that reproduces asexually. It is equally at home in forest and human altered habitats. Like other geckos, it probably consumes a wide range of small invertebrates Distribution: Native to Southeast Asia, the Indo-pacific house gecko has been introduced to Florida, Hawaii, the West Indies, and numerous islands throughout Oceania (Lever 2003). It is included in this book because it is an abundant human commensal that occurs in several areas that have high traffic levels to Guam and the Marianna Islands and has proven itself to be a capable colonizer. |