Hemidactylus mabouia (Moreau de Jonnès, 1818), Moreau de Jonnes, 1818

Barrio-Amorós, Cesar L. & Ortíz, Juan C., 2016, Venezuelan geckos (Gekkonidae, Phyllodactylidae, Sphaerodactylidae) in the collection of the Universidad de Concepción in Chile, with description of the type series of Gonatodes ligiae and Gonatodes petersi (Sphaerodactylidae), Zootaxa 4136 (3), pp. 537-552 : 538

Hemidactylus mabouia (Moreau de Jonnès, 1818) .

( Fig. 1A )

Specimens. MZUC 21149. (adult male), MZUC 11134 (adult female), 2 September 1963. Isla de Patos, estado Sucre. MZUC 11641 (juvenile), November 1963, Paria, estado Sucre. MZUC 40168 (adult male), 9 February 1963, Macuro, estado Sucre.

Remarks. Hemidactylus mabouia is an introduced gecko in Venezuela ( Rivas et al. 2005). Its origin is not clear but seems to have come through ships from Africa. These are the earliest records of this species in Sucre state. The species is currently widely distributed anthropically in Venezuela ( Rivas et al. 2005). In the lot of Hemidactylus mabouia , there are a few mislabeled H. palaichtus (see under its own account). MZUC 40168 was identified as Phyllodactylus ventralis .

Figures

FIGURE 1. A: Hemidactylus mabouia. An introduced African species. Common in all cities of Venezuela. B: Hemidactylus palaichtus, a native species, displaying sexual dimorphism; male left, female right. Río Caura, estado Bolívar. C: Phyllodactylus ventralis, a common species in dry habitats of northern Venezuela and Colombia. Coro, estado Falcón. D: Thecadactylus rapicauda, the largest South American gecko. Sierra de Lema, estado Bolívar. Photos by C. L. Barrio-Amorós.