Sphaerodactylus macrolepis, Gunther, 1859

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 : 163-164

Sphaerodactylus macrolepis sensu stricto Günther, 1859

Figures 9–10

Syntypes — BMNH 1946.8 .30.74 and BMNH 1946.8 .30.75

Type locality: “St. Croix, West Indies.”

Synonyms: Sphaerodactylus danforthi Grant, 1931

Diagnosis: SVL Min/Max is 11.81/ 27.54 mm, dorsal scales without knob-like organs, dorsal body scales are small, and can be rounded or acute. Tail also has dorsal scales with the free edge rounded, and fourth toe with six to eight lamellae. This species has several distinctive coloration features, including males with marked reticulated head (marbled); males without dorsal lines or salt and pepper (this shared with S. inigoi and S. parvus ); males with a blue head (background color, similar to the head in S. g. mimetes); males with reticular pattern on the gular area (also in S. g. mimetes and S. parvus ); males with indistinct cephalic figure (or pattern); males and females with head pattern either black or dark brown; females with a fragmented head pattern; females with fainter reticulation on the throat especially next to the jaw; females with dorsal medial lines fused to form a blotch or imperfect line (also present in S. inigoi ); scapular patch of males (when present) and females could be bicolor (brown and black) with brown anterior part of the scapular patch (the area anterior to the ocelli); scapular patch well defined with two anterior lateral projections or could be formed by two united circles (but not rectangular), pale or yellowish ocelli inside the scapular patch; females with anterolateral lines that contact the scapular patch; central parietal dot with two lateral lines that extend from the snout and meet posterior to the parietal dot; shortened snout (also seen in S. parvus , S. inigoi , and S. g. stibarus ).

Color in life ( Fig. 9 ): Female: ground color fluctuates from dark brown to straw, head and tail fluctuates from gray to orange, head pattern well defined. Medial lines forming a blotch, ocelli color pale or yellowish. Male ground color fluctuates from reddish-brown to straw. Head blueish with strong marble pattern. Iris color reddish-brown to yellow.

Distribution: Culebra including Cayo Luis Peña, the Virgin Islands including St. Croix, and the Prickly Pear Cays of Anguilla.

Figures

FIGURE 9. Live specimens of Sphaerodactylus macrolepis from St. Croix (A, female and B, male) and Culebra Island, Zoni Beach (C, female and D, male). A–B photographs courtesy of Toby Hibbits, Texas A&M Biodiversity Research and Teaching Collections.

FIGURE 10. Adult specimens of Sphaerodactylus macrolepis from Culebra island. A–B, Female (SHSUHerp000845), C–D male (SHSUHerp000818).