Sphaerodactylus nigropunctatus GRAY, 1845
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Sphaerodactylus nigropunctatus
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| Higher Taxa | Sphaerodactylidae, Gekkota, Sauria, Squamata (lizards: geckos) |
| Subspecies | Sphaerodactylus nigropunctatus alayoi (GRANT 1959) Sphaerodactylus nigropunctatus atessares THOMAS & SCHWARTZ 1966 Sphaerodactylus nigropunctatus decoratus GARMAN 1888 Sphaerodactylus nigropunctatus flavicauda BARBOUR 1904 Sphaerodactylus nigropunctatus gibbus BARBOUR 1921 Sphaerodactylus nigropunctatus granti THOMAS & SCHWARTZ 1966 Sphaerodactylus nigropunctatus lissodesmus THOMAS & SCHWARTZ 1966 Sphaerodactylus nigropunctatus nigropunctatus GRAY 1845 Sphaerodactylus nigropunctatus ocujal (THOMAS & SCHWARTZ 1966) Sphaerodactylus nigropunctatus porrasi SCHWARTZ 1972 Sphaerodactylus nigropunctatus strategus THOMAS & SCHWARTZ 1966 |
| Common Names | E: Three-banded Geckolet, Black-spotted Least Gecko |
| Synonym | Sphaerodactylus nigropunctatus GRAY 1845:168 Sphaerodactylus nigropunctatus — BOULENGER 1885: 220 Sphaerodactylus nigropunctatus — BARBOUR & RAMSDEN 1919: 124 Sphaerodactylus nigropunctatus nigropunctatus — THOMAS & SCHWARTZ 1974 Sphaerodactylus nigropunctatus — KLUGE 1993 Sphaerodactylus nigropunctatus — SCHWARTZ & HENDERSON 1991: 512 Sphaerodactylus nigropunctatus alayoi (GRANT 1959) Sphaerodactylus alayoi GRANT 1959 Sphaerodactylus alayoi — THOMAS & SCHWARTZ 1966 Sphaerodactylus nigropunctatus alayoi — SCHWARTZ & HENDERSON 1991: 513 Sphaerodactylus nigropunctatus atessares THOMAS & SCHWARTZ 1966 Sphaerodactylus decoratus atessares THOMAS & SCHWARTZ 1966: 8 Sphaerodactylus nigropunctatus atessares — SCHWARTZ & HENDERSON 1991: 514 Sphaerodactylus nigropunctatus decoratus GARMAN 1888 Sphaerodactylus decoratus GARMAN 1888: 112 Sphaerodactylus decoratus BARBOUR 1904: 57 Sphaerodactylus nigropunctatus decoratus — THOMAS & SCHWARTZ 1974 Sphaerodactylus nigropunctatus decoratus — SCHWARTZ & HENDERSON 1991: 513 Sphaerodactylus nigropunctatus flavicauda BARBOUR 1904 Sphaerodactylus flavicaudus BARBOUR 1904: 56 Sphaerodactylus nigropunctatus flavicauda — THOMAS & SCHWARTZ 1974 Sphaerodactylus nigropunctatus flavicauda — SCHWARTZ & HENDERSON 1991: 513 Sphaerodactylus nigropunctatus gibbus BARBOUR 1921 Sphaerodactylus gibbus BARBOUR 1921 Sphaerodactylus gibbus — BARBOUR 1933: 221 Sphaerodactylus nigropunctatus gibbus — SCHWARTZ & HENDERSON 1991: 514 Sphaerodactylus nigropunctatus granti THOMAS & SCHWARTZ 1966 Sphaerodactylus decoratus granti THOMAS & SCHWARTZ 1966 Sphaerodactylus nigropunctatus granti — THOMAS & SCHWARTZ 1974 Sphaerodactylus nigropunctatus granti — SCHWARTZ & HENDERSON 1991: 514 Sphaerodactylus nigropunctatus lissodesmus THOMAS & SCHWARTZ 1966 Sphaerodactylus decoratus lissodesmus THOMAS & SCHWARTZ 1966 Sphaerodactylus nigropunctatus lissodesmus — THOMAS & SCHWARTZ 1974 Sphaerodactylus nigropunctatus lissodesmus — SCHWARTZ & HENDERSON 1991: 514 Sphaerodactylus nigropunctatus ocujal (THOMAS & SCHWARTZ 1966) Sphaerodactylus torrei ocujal THOMAS & SCHWARTZ 1966 Sphaerodactylus nigropunctatus ocujal — SCHWARTZ & HENDERSON 1991: 514 Sphaerodactylus nigropunctatus porrasi SCHWARTZ 1972 Sphaerodactylus nigropunctatus porrasi — THOMAS & SCHWARTZ 1974 Sphaerodactylus nigropunctatus porrasi — SCHWARTZ & HENDERSON 1991: 514 Sphaerodactylus nigropunctatus strategus THOMAS & SCHWARTZ 1966 Sphaerodactylus decoratus strategus THOMAS & SCHWARTZ 1966 Sphaerodactylus nigropunctatus strategus — THOMAS & SCHWARTZ 1974 Sphaerodactylus nigropunctatus strategus — SCHWARTZ & HENDERSON 1991: 514 |
| Distribution | Bahamas (Rum Key), Andros Island, Bimini Islands, Berry Islands, Cuba, Exuma Cays, Bahamas, Antilles, Eleuthera nigropunctatus: Bahama Is.: eastern Great Bahama Bank; Type locality: South America; restricted by Thomas and Schwartz, 1974, to Nassau, New Providence Island, Bahama Islands. alayoi: Cuba, bower southern slopes of Sierra del Guaso, eastern Cuenca de Guantánamo, southeast of Bahia de Guantânamo. decoratus: Bahama Is.: Rum Cay. flavicauda: Bahama Is.: western Great Bahama Bank; Cay Sal Bank. gibbus: Bahama Is.: Exuma Cays, Long I., Littie San Salvador I.; Green Cay; Cuba (Holguin, fide Barbour 1933); intergrades with S. n. nigropunctatus on northernmost Exuma Cays. granti: Cuba, Archipiélago de Sabana-Camagùey, Cayos bs Ballenatos; northeastern Camagüey Province to Holguin and Guantánamo provinces and to northeast Granma Province, and to southern Guantánamo Province; intergrades with S. n. strategus near city of Guantánamo and further south. lissodesmus: Cuba, Sierra de Cubitas. ocujal: Cuba, southeastern coast. porrasi: Bahama Is.: Ragged Is. strategus: Cuba, southeastern coast. INCERTAE SEDIS: Material from southern Eleuthera I., Cat I., northern Long I. is unassigned subspecifically. |
| Reproduction | oviparous |
| Types | Holotype: BMNH 1946.8.24.81. Holotype: INHS (= UIMNH) 44215 [alayoi] Holotype: MCZ 6220 [decoratus] Holotype: MCZ 13436 [gibbus] Holotype: BYU 17233 [granti] Syntypes: CAS 39337, MCZ 6953, MCZ 13564, MCZ 8485-95, UMMZ 107614 [flavicauda] Holotype: MCZ 57344 [lissodesmus] Holotype: USNM 138015 [ocujal] Holotype: CM 54051 [porrasi] Holotype: MCZ 81110 [strategus] Holotype. MCZ 81100, an adult female, collected 5 October 1965 by Richard Thomas; paratypes: ASFS, MCZ, USNM, AMNH, UF, INHS (= UIMNH), KU [atessares] |
| Diagnosis | DESCRIPTION: Size large (SVL in males to 40 mm, in females to 40 mm); dorsals granular to swollen, rounded to acute and slightly imbricate, sometimes conical or papillate, especially on posterior flanks, faint keeling often present in lumbar region, axilla to groin 41-72; no area of middorsal granules or granular scales; ventrals smooth, flattened, acute to cycloid, imbricate, axilla to groin 22-43; dorsal caudal scales smooth, flat-lying, imbricate, acute, ventral caudal scales cycloid, imbricate, enlarged midventrally; snout rather blunt, not depressed or decurved; snout scales large, broad, swollen, smooth, juxtaposed; 3 postnasals; 0-3 (mode 1) internasals; upper labials to mideye 3-5 (mode 4); gular scales smooth; chest scales smooth; midbody scales 52-89; escutcheon generally compact, usually not extending to behind knees, 5-11 x 6-27, apparently at times absent in some otherwise adult males. Pattern strongly sexually dichromatic; dorsum (males) unicolor dark brown to yellowish brown or bluish gray, at times with dark brown to black spots, either large and conspicuous and covering all dorsal surfaces (including head) or restricted to various body areas (head only, body only), these conditions probably due in part to ontogenesis; tail and head more yellow; dorsum (females) with same ground color as males but prominently crossbanded with dark nuchal band (collar) distinctly darker and 3-5 body bands (Bahama Is.), or same intensity as body bands (Cuba); body bands dark-edged with pale ocelli included (or not) at least in collar and in all body bands; head pattern dark trilineate (1 median, 2 dark canthal stripes), lines usually meeting a dark postocular band; a dark auricular band including the auricular opening preceding collar; juveniles like females but pattern less intense (from Schwartz & Henderson 1991: 512). |
| Comment | Subspecies: Schwartz & Garrido (1985) downgraded S. alayoi to S. nigropunctatus alayoi. RÖSLER (1995: 173) shows two color plates of “Sphaerodactylus nigropunctatus cf. granti”. RÖSLER 2000 doesn’t list atessares as subspecies. Sphaerodactylus gibbus was synonymized with S. torrei by GRANT 1956. Thomas & Schwartz 1974 considered decoratus as a synonym of nigropunctatus but changed that later to subspecies. |
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