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Nactus pelagicus (GIRARD, 1858)

IUCN Red List - Nactus pelagicus - Least Concern, LC
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Higher TaxaGekkonidae, Gekkota, Sauria, Squamata (lizards: geckos) 
SubspeciesNactus pelagicus pelagicus (GIRARD 1858)
Nactus pelagicus undulatus (KOPSTEIN 1926) 
Common NamesPelagic Gecko, Rock Gecko 
SynonymGymnodactylus Arnouxii DUMÉRIL 1851
Heteronota pelagica GIRARD 1858: 197
Gymnodactylus (Heteronota) arfakianus MEYER 1874: 129
Heteronota fasciata MACLEAY 1877: 100 (non Homonota fasciatus BLYTH)
Heteronota marmorata MACLEAY 1877: 100
Gymnodactylus arnouxii — BOULENGER 1885: 39
Gymnodactylus pelagicus - BOULENGER 1885: 40
Gymnodactylus heteronotus BOULENGER 1885: 41
Gymnodactylus pelagicus — GARMAN 1901: 1
Gymnodactylus pelagicus — DE ROOIJ 1915: 6
Cyrtodactylus pelagicus - UNDERWOOD 1954: 475
Nactus arnouxii - KLUGE 1983: 469
Nactus pelagicus - GREER 1989
Nactus pelagicus — RÖSLER 1995: 134
Nactus pelagicus — COGGER 2000: 253
Nactus ‘pelagicus’ — WILSON & SWAN 2010

Nactus pelagicus undulatus (KOPSTEIN 1926)
Gymnodactylus pelagicus undulatus KOPSTEIN 1926
Nactus arnouxii undulatus — KLUGE 1993: 23
Nactus (Nactus) pelagicus undulatus — RÖSLER 2000: 96 
DistributionFrom the Kei islands through New Guinea, Melanesia and into central Pacific; Micronesia (Lukunor Atoll, Uman District Islands etc.),
Akiaki, Tuamotu Archipelago, Fiji Islands, Rotuma, Western Samoa, Solomon Islands [Nactus multicarinatus; McCoy 2000], New Caledonia, Loyalty Islands, Vanuatu, Cook Islands (Roratonga), Tonga Islands, Guam
Indonesia (Talaud archipelago etc.),
Australia (Queensland: Cape York Peninsula and Mornington Island),

USA: Northern Mariana Islands, Guam.

undulatus: endemic to Kei islands

Type locality: Samoa (as Navigator Ils.) and Fiji. Map legend:
TDWG region - Region according to the TDWG standard, not a precise distribution map.

NOTE: TDWG regions are generated automatically from the text in the distribution field and not in every cases it works well. We are working on it.
 
ReproductionNactus pelagicus is a composite of unisexual [parthenogenetic] and bisexual populations. Note however that Zug and Moon (1995) recognized Nactus pelagicus as the asexual species for the populations in southern Vanuatu and elsewhere in Oceania, and N. multicarinatus for the bisexual species from Vanuatu and the southern Solomon Islands. 
TypesSyntypes: USNM 5626 (2 specimens) 
CommentDistribution: Erroneously reported from the Society Archipelago (HR 26: 159). A population on Guam was thought to be extinct but rediscovered after 50 years (Rodda & Fritts 1996).

Synonymy: Gymnodactylus multicarinatus GÜNTHER 1872 has been removed from the synonymy of Nactus pelagicus and elevated to full species status by ZUG & MOON 1995. Heteronota eboracensis MACLEAY 1877 and Gymnodactylus cheverti BOULENGER 1885 are treated here as full species following COGGER 2000, although other authors synoymize them with N. pelagicus.

Type species: Gymnodactylus Arnouxii DUMÉRIL 1851 is the type species of the genus Nactus KLUGE 1983: 469 
EtymologyEtymology (genus): Nactus is Latin for "stumbled upon," which alludes to Kluge’s discovery by chance of the assemblage of species within Cyrtodactylus. 
References
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  • Eckstut, Mallory E.; Alison M. Hamilton, and Christopher C. Austin 2013. Variable Unisexuals and Uniform Bisexuals: Morphology, Genetics, and Biogeography of the Nactus pelagicus Complex on Tanna Island, Vanuatu. Herpetologica 69 (2): 199-213. - get paper here
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  • Zug, G. R. & B. R. MOON 1995. Systematics of the Pacific slender-toed geckos, Nactus pelagicus complex: Oceania, Vanuata, and Solomon Islands populations. Herpetologica 51 (1): 77-90. - get paper here
  • Zug, G. R., I. Ineich, G. Pregill, and A. M. Hamilton. 2012. Lizards of Tonga and a description of a new Tongan treeskink (Squamata: Scincidae: Emoia samoensis Group). Pacific Science 66(2):225-237 - get paper here
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