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Sphaerodactylus sputator (SPARRMAN, 1784)

IUCN Red List - Sphaerodactylus sputator - Least Concern, LC
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Higher TaxaSphaerodactylidae, Gekkota, Sauria, Squamata (lizards: geckos)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Leeward Banded Geckolet, Island Least Gecko 
SynonymLacerta sputator SPARRMAN 1784: 164
Lacerta sputator — MEYER 1795: 30
Sphaeriodactylus sputator — DUMÉRIL & BIBRON 1836: 402
Sphaerodactylus sputator — BOULENGER 1885: 219
Sphaerodactylus pictus GARMAN 1887
Sphaerodactylus sputator — SCHWARTZ & HENDERSON 1991: 537
Sphaerodactylus sputator — KLUGE 1993
Sphaerodactylus sputator — RÖSLER 2000: 114
Sphaerodactylus sputator — POWELL & BAUER 2012
Sphaerodactylus sputator — THORPE 2022 
DistributionAntilles, Statia, Dog, St. Martin, St. Barts, St. Kitts, Nevis, Haiti (Departm. de l'Artibonite), Sombrero Island, Anguilla Bank (Dog, Little Scrub, Scrub, St. Barthelemy, St. Martin, Ile Fourchue, Îlet Pinel), St. Eustatius, St. Christopher

Type locality: St. Eustatius.  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesLectotype: NRM (NHRM) 2669. 
DiagnosisUnfortunately we had to temporarily remove additional information as this was scraped by multiple AI companies who sell that data to their customers. These details, e.g. detailed descriptions or comparisons (about 1566 characters), are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentFor illustrations see Barbour, 1921 (as S. pictus); King, 1960; King, 1962.

Type species: Lacerta sputator SPARRMAN 1784: 164 is the type species of the genus Sphaerodactylus WAGLER 1830: 143.

Type genus: Sphaerodactylus is the type genus of the family Sphaerodactylidae.

The family Sphaerodactylidae has changed in composition. Vanzolini 1968 assigned 5 genera to the family (Gonatodes, Lepidoblepharis, Pseudogonatodes, Coleodactylus, and Sphaerodactylus) while it now (2018) has 12.

Extinct species: Sphaerodactylus dommeli Böhme 1984 has been described from amber, found in the Dominican Rebuplic. Sphaerodactylus ciguapa from Hispaniola.

Distribution: For maps of South American species see Vanzolini 1968: 94 (Map 5).

Reproduction: for a collection of data on reproductive details in Sphaerodactylidae see Rösler 2022.

Key: Schwartz & Garrido 1985: 60 have a key to the species of Sphaerodactylus in Cuba.

Reference images: see Uetz et al. 2024 for high-resolution reference images for this species. 
EtymologyNamed after Latin sputator, ‘spitter’ (Fretey 2023).

The genus was named after the Greek sphaira (σφαίρα), (a ball) or sphairion (a little ball), and Greek dactylo (δάχτυλο = finger), apparently in allusion to the more or less circular digital tips; the gender is masculine (Schwartz 1973). 
References
  • Barbour, T. 1921. Sphaerodactylus. Mem. Mus. Comp. Zool. (Harvard) 47: 215-282. - get paper here
  • Barbour, Thomas 1923. West Indian investigations of 1922. Occasional Papers of the Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan (132): 1-9 - get paper here
  • Boulenger, G.A. 1885. Catalogue of the lizards in the British Museum (Nat. Hist.) I. Geckonidae, Eublepharidae, Uroplatidae, Pygopodidae, Agamidae. London: 450 pp. - get paper here
  • Duméril, A.M. C. and G. Bibron. 1836. Erpetologie Générale ou Histoire Naturelle Complete des Reptiles. Vol. 3. Libr. Encyclopédique Roret, Paris, 528 pp. - get paper here
  • FRÉTEY, T. 2023. Etymology of nomina of Amphibians and Reptiles of the French Antilles. Bionomina 35 (1): 20-50 - get paper here
  • Garman, S. 1887. On West Indian Geckonidae and Anguide. Bull. Essex Institute 19: 17-24. - get paper here
  • Howard, K. G., J. S. Parmerlee. Jr and R. Powell. 2001. Natural History of the edificarian geckos Hemidactylus mabouia, Thecadactylus rapicauda, and Sphaerodactylus sputator on Anguilla. Carib. J. Sci. 37 (3-4): 285-288
  • Kaup, B. 2012. Farbenfrohe Winzlinge – Kugelfingergeckos im heimischen Wohnzimmer. Reptilia (Münster) 17 (97): 39-45 - get paper here
  • King, F.W. 1960. The status of Sphaerodactylus pictus, with comments on the distribution of S. sputator and S. sabanus. Breviora (132):1-5. - get paper here
  • King, W. 1962. Systematics of Lesser Antillean lizards of the genus Sphaerodactylus. Bulletin of the Florida State Museum, Biological Sciences, 7:1-52 - get paper here
  • Malhotra, A. & Thorpe, R.S. 1999. Reptiles & Amphibians of the Eastern Caribbean. MacMillan, London & Oxford
  • Meyer, F.A.A. 1795. Synopsis Reptilium, novam ipsorum sistens generum methodum, nec non Gottingensium huius ordinis animalium enumerationem. Vandenhoeck und Ruprecht, Göttingen, 32 pp [for current names see Rösler & Böhme 2021] - get paper here
  • Powell, Robert and Aaron M. Bauer. 2012. Sphaerodactylus sputator. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (897): 1-7 - get paper here
  • Questel K. 2012. Sphaerodactylus sputator (Leeward Banded Sphaero). Distribution. Caribbean Herpetology 34: 1 - get paper here
  • Questel K. 2018. Discovery of geckos, Sphaerodactylus macrolepis Günther and Sphaerodactylus sputator Sparrman, on Prickly Pear Cays, Anguilla, British West Indies. Caribbean Herpetology 61, 1-2 - get paper here
  • Rösler, H. 2000. Kommentierte Liste der rezent, subrezent und fossil bekannten Geckotaxa (Reptilia: Gekkonomorpha). Gekkota 2: 28-153
  • Rösler, Herbert 2022. Akzente der Fortpflanzungsbiologie oviparer Geckos (Squamata: Gekkota) - Charakter, Evolution, Phylogenie. Vernate 41/2022: 91-212
  • Rösler, Herbert & Wolfgang Böhme 2021. Das Leben von Friedrich Albrecht Anton Meyer (1768 – 1795) und die Herpetologie in seinen Schriften, unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der „Synopsis Reptilium“. Sekretär 21: 83-129
  • Schwartz, A. & Henderson, R.W. 1991. Amphibians and Reptiles of the West Indies. University of Florida Press, Gainesville, 720 pp.
  • Schwartz, Albert 1973. Sphaerodactylus. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (142): 1-2 - get paper here
  • Sparrman, A. 1784. Lacerta Sputator und Lacerta bimaculata, zwey neue Eideren aus Amerika, beschrieben von ANDERS SPARRMAN. [in German] Der Königlich-Schwedischen Akademie der Wissenschaften Neue Abhandlungen, aus der Naturlehre Haushaltungskunst und Mechanik, für das Jahr 1784, 3(1): 166-168 - get paper here
  • Thorpe, R.S. 2022. Reptiles of the Lesser Antilles. Chimaira, Frankfurt, 608 pp. - get paper here
  • Uetz, P.H.; Patel, M.; Gbadamosi, Z.; Nguyen, A.; Shoope, S. 2024. A Reference Database of Reptile Images. Taxonomy 4: 723–732 - get paper here
  • Vanzolini, P.E. 1968. Geography of South American Gekkonidae (Sauria). Arquivos de Zoologia (Sao Paulo) 17(2): 85-112. - get paper here
  • Wissmann, S.M.; R.L. Hensley, R. Powell & J.S. Parmerlee Jr. 2005. Social behavior in the dwarf geckos Sphaerodactylus sabanus and S. sputator from St. Eustatius, Netherlands Antilles. Salamandra 41 (1-2): 45-50 - get paper here
 
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