Sphaerodactylus grandisquamis ateles, Thomas & Schwartz, 1966

Daza, Juan D., Pinto, Brendan J., Thomas, Richard, Herrera-Martinez, Alexandra, Scantlebury, Daniel P., Padilla García, Luis F., Balaraman, Rajesh P., Perry, Gad & Gamble, Tony, 2019, The sprightly little sphaerodactyl: Systematics and biogeography of the Puerto Rican dwarf geckos Sphaerodactylus (Gekkota, Sphaerodactylidae), Zootaxa 4712 (2), pp. 151-201 : 169-170

Sphaerodactylus grandisquamis ateles comb. nov. Thomas & Schwartz, 1966

Figures 18–19

Holotype — MCZ R-81043

Type locality: “Balneario de Boquerón, Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico.”

Diagnosis: SVL Min/Max (14.38/ 33 mm); midbody scales 36–42 (x̅ 39.4); nine to ten toe lamellae on the fourth toe; males head pattern absent (also in S. g. spanius); males with no pigmentation on chest, variable pigmentation on throat; males with two light lines extending from the orbits to the scapular patch (also in some S. g mimetes and S. g. stibarus ); males and females with a large black scapular patch, ocelli near the edge of the patch; some specimens have the patch surrounded by a white margin (also in S. g. stibarus and S. g. ateles) or absent patch; males with a red head.

Color in life ( Fig. 18 ): Female: ground color light gray to pink, head and tail orange to gray, head pattern well defined, medial lines separated and parallel, ocelli color white. Male ground color light brown or gray to orange, head red to light orange. Iris color green, copper, or gray.

Distribution: Low elevation coastal areas of southwestern Puerto Rico from Mayagüez to Ponce, transition to S. g. mimetes occur near Ponce.

Figures

FIGURE 18. Live specimens of Sphaerodactylus g. ateles from Lajas, Puerto Rico (A, female and B, male). Photographs courtesy of Stuart V. Nielsen, University of Florida.

FIGURE 19.Adult specimens of Sphaerodactylus g. ateles from Caño Boquilla, Puerto Rico.A–B, Female (SHSUHerp000770), C–D male (SHSUHerp000771).