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Sphaerodactylus parvus KING, 1962

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Higher TaxaSphaerodactylidae, Gekkota, Sauria, Squamata (lizards: geckos)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Anguilla Bank Geckolet 
SynonymSphaerodactylus macrolepis parvus KING 1962: 16
Sphaerodactylus macrolepis parvus — WERMUTH 1965: 169
Sphaerodactylus macrolepis parvus — THOMAS & SCHWARTZ 1966: 230
Sphaerodactylus macrolepis parvus — SCHWARTZ & HENDERSON 1988
Sphaerodactylus macrolepis parvus — SCHWARTZ & HENDERSON 1991
Sphaerodactylus parvus — POWELL & HENDERSON 2001
Sphaerodactylus parvus — DAZA et al. 2019 
DistributionAnguilla, St.-Barthélémy, St.-Martin, Tintamarre I., Dog. I., St. Barts.

Type locality: Wayne King, St.-Martin Island, 2.5 miles west and .25 miles north of Philipsburg.  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesHolotype: UF/FSM 10034.1, adult male (Florida State Museum of Natural History) 
DiagnosisDiagnosis: This species was originally described as a subspecies of S. macrolepis by King (1962) and was elevated by Powell & Henderson (2001) who differentiated this species on the basis of 1) dorsal scales with hair bearing scale organs, with only one hair each along the dorso-distal edge; 2) maximum SVL size of 24 mm (18–24 mm, x̅ = 21.7); 3) having a higher mean number of midbody scale rows (48.4 ± 1.5); and 4) weak sexual dichroma- tism nor ontogenetic variation (King 1962; Thomas & Schwartz 1966). Nava et al. (2002) described six additional differences with other members of the S. macrolepis species complex: 5) less bulky habitus; 6) ventral scales keeled on the sides of abdomen of some specimens (King 1962); 7) less densely pigmented throat; 8) less conspicuous head patterns; 9) smaller scapular patch on females; and 10) ten toe lamellae on the fourth toe (9–11; King 1962). Our work shows that only characters 2, 3, 4, and 9 are actually diagnostic (Appendix 2). SVL Min/Max is 12.17/26.39 mm. Additional diagnostic traits for S. parvus include a scapular patch that can be brown and black (also present in S. macrolepis); males and females with no well-defined occipital spots and postorbital line; pale or yellowish ocelli from the scapular patch very close or united; males and females with no well-defined head patterns; males and females without dorsal lines, color pattern more ‘salt and pepper’. Females seem to have a more defined gular pattern than males (Daza et al. 2019: 162). 
CommentSphaerodactylus parvus differs from most populations of S. macrolepis in having only hairbearing organs on the dorsal scales, in being much smaller, and in having a higher mean number of midbody scale rows (the range of the latter does not overlap with those known for five of the nine subspecies of S. macrolepis; see Table 1 in POWELL & HENDERSON 2001). Differences in pattern also exist, but “the lack of marked sexual dichromatism in parvus is of itself definitive” (Thomas and Schwartz, 1966). 
EtymologyNamed after Latin “parvus, -a, -um” = small. 
References
  • DAZA, JUAN D.; BRENDAN J. PINTO, RICHARD THOMAS, ALEXANDRA HERRERA-MARTINEZ, DANIEL P. SCANTLEBURY, LUIS F. PADILLA GARCÍA, RAJESH P. BALARAMAN, GAD PERRY, TONY GAMBLE 2019. The sprightly little sphaerodactyl: Systematics and biogeography of the Puerto Rican dwarf geckos Sphaerodactylus (Gekkota, Sphaerodactylidae). Zootaxa 4712 (2): 151–201 - get paper here
  • Gilbert, Carter R. 1974. Catalogue of type specimens in the Department of Natural Sciences, Florida State Museum. Bulletin of the Florida State Museum Biological Sciences 18 (2): 102-120 - 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
  • Nava, S.S., C.R. Lindsay, R. Powell, and R.W. Henderson 2002. Sphaerodactylus parvus King Anguilla Bank Dwarf Gecko. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles 752: 1-2 - get paper here
  • Nava,Saul S.; Cory R. Lindsay, Robert W. Henderson & Robert Powell 2001. Microhabitat, activity, and density of a dwarf gecko (Sphaerodactylus parvus ) on Anguilla, West Indies. Amphibia-Reptilia 22 (4): 455-464 - get paper here
  • Powell, Robert and Henderson, R.W. 2001. On the Taxonomic Status of Some Lesser Antillean Lizards. Carib. J. Sci. 37 (3-4): 288-290
  • Schwartz, A. & Henderson, R.W. 1991. Amphibians and Reptiles of the West Indies. University of Florida Press, Gainesville, 720 pp.
  • Thomas, R., and A. Schwartz. 1966. Sphaerodactylus (Gekkonidae) in the greater Puerto Rico region. Bulletin of the Florida State Museum, Biological Sciences, 10:193—260 - get paper here
  • Thorpe, R.S. 2022. Reptiles of the Lesser Antilles. Chimaira, Frankfurt, 608 pp. - get paper here
 
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