Gekko monarchus (Schlegel, 1836)

Figueroa, Alex, Low, Martyn E. Y. & Lim, Kelvin K. P., 2023, Singapore’s herpetofauna: updated and annotated checklist, history, conservation, and distribution, Zootaxa 5287 (1), pp. 1-378 : 109-110

Gekko monarchus (Schlegel, 1836) — Native.

Platydactylus Monarchus Schlegel in A.M.C. Duméril & Bibron, 1836: 335–336. Holotype: MNHN-RA 2286, by original designation. Type locality: “originaire d’Amboine” (= Kota Ambon), Molucca, Indonesia.

Spotted House Gecko

( Figure 13C ; Bukit Batok Nature Park)

Singapore records.

Platydactylus monarchus — Cantor, 1847a: 626.— Cantor, 1847c: 1068, 1075.

Gekko monarchus — Girard, 1858b: 293.—Taylor, 1963: 796.—L.M. Chou, 1975: 135.—N. Koh, 1986: 1–2.—K. Lim, 1989b: 19 (King Albert Park).—K. Lim, 1990a: 10 (Hindhede Drive).—K.K.P. Lim & L.M. Chou, 1990: 55.— Denzer & Manthey, 1991: 314.—K.K.P. Lim & Subharaj, 1992: 8 (Kent Ridge [NUS]: Lower Peirce Forest).—K.K.P. Lim & F.L.K. Lim, 1992: 117, 150.—E.K. Chua, 1993: 95.—K.K.P. Lim & Subaraj, 1994: 5 (MacPherson Industrial Estate).—K.K.P. Lim & Subaraj, 1994: 7 (Botanic Gardens; Bukit Timah Nature Centre Visitor Centre [BTNR]; King Albert Park; Sungei Buloh Nature Park [= SBWR]).—R. Subaraj, 1994: 11 (Bukit Timah Nature Centre Visitor Centre [BTNR]).—R. Subaraj, 1994: 13 (Lorong Gambas; MacRitchie Golf Course Substation [MR]; Seletar North Forest [USNF]; Sime Road Pipeline Trail [SRF]).—L.M. Chou et al., 1994:105.—L.M. Chou, 1995: 147.—K. Lim, 1995: 18 (Lower Peirce East [LPF]; Lower Peirce Forest; Nee Soon Swamp Forest; Upper Seletar Reservoir Park; Sentosa; Yishun Ring Road).— R.C.H. Teo & Rajathurai, 1997: 389, 391 (Bukit Timah [BTNR]; Nee Soon [NSSF]).— Manthey & Grossmann, 1997: 233.— Cox et al., 1998: 83.—Chan-ard et al., 1999: 25.— Gill et al., 2001: 354.—E.K. Chua, 2002: 107 (Pulau Ubin).—K.P. Lim & F.L.K. Lim, 2002: 150.— Anonymous, 2003: 92 (Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve).—K.K.P. Lim & N.T.-L. Lim, 2006: 107 (Batu Koyok [Pulau Tekong]).—N. Baker & K.P. Lim, 2008: 81, 160.—T.M. Leong & Foo, 2009: 311–315 (Bukit Kallang [SRF]).—M.F.C. Ng, 2009: 59, 109 (Semakau Landfill [PS]).— Das, 2010: 219.— M.A.H. Chua, 2011: 281 (Semakau Landfill [PS]).—L.L. Grismer, 2011b: 464, 467.—N. Baker & K.P. Lim, 2012: 73, 81, 160.— Ang et al., 2012: 54 (Hort Park).—M.F.C. Ng, 2012: 14.—S.K. Tan & K.K.P. Lim, 2013: 124 (Nee Soon Swamp Forest).—S.K. Tan, 2014: 70 (Nee Soon Swamp Forest).—S.K. Tan & K.K.P. Lim, 2014c: 72 (Nee Soon Swamp Forest).—Chan-ard et al., 2015: 74.—E.K. Chua, 2015: 32.—R. Subaraj, 2015: 25, 32, 52, 54, 56 (Mandai Range Forest; Night Safari; Project Western Boundary [= MBP]; Singapore Zoo; Stephen Lee Woods [= RPN]).—S. Subaraj, 2015: 4, 5, 6, 7 (Mandai Range Forest; Night Safari; Project Western Boundary [= MBP]; Singapore Zoo; Stephen Lee Woods [= RPN]).—K.K.P. Lim et al., 2016: 177 (Pulau Tekong).— H.C. Ho et al., 2019: 124, 125 (Alexandra Woodlands; Clementi Forest).—H.T.W. Tan et al., 2019: 133 (Kent Ridge Park; National University of Singapore Kent Ridge Campus).—R.C.H. Teo & Thomas, 2019: 147, 157, 180 (Bukit Timah Nature Reserve).—Toh, 2019: 52 (Lower Peirce Trail [LPF]).—Allain & Goodman, 2020: 217, 218 (Singapore Botanic Gardens [Rain Forest]).—K.K.P. Lim, 2020: 6 (Sime Road Camp [= SICC]).— Agius et al., 2021: 2.—Figueroa & J. Tan, 2021: 1 (Prunus Boardwalk, Thomson Ridge Forest).—B.C. Ng, 2021: 132 (Pang Sua Woodland).— Seow-En, 2021: 1 (Pasir Ris Park).—H.B. Thio, 2021: 1 (Mount Faber Road).— Aman et al., 2022: 1 (“north-western edge of the Central Catchment Nature Reserve”).— Janssen & Sy, 2022: 89, 160.—Figueroa, 2022: 2.

Gecko [sic] monarchus —F. M̧ller, 1878: 638.— Boulenger, 1885 a: 187–188.— Flower, 1896: 868.— Hanitsch, 1898: 19.— Bedford, 1899: 8.— Flower, 1899: 635.—Ridley, 1899: 206.— Boulenger, 1912: 51.— Hanitsch, 1912b: 14.— Moulton, 1922: 567.—Sworder, 1924a: 20 (Pulau Sudong; Pulau Ubin).—Sworder, 1925a: 65.—Ridley, 1934: 59.— Cross, 2020f: 3.— Cross, 2020k: 2 (Sime Road Camp [= SICC]).

Remarks. Singapore as a locality for G. monarchus was first reported by Cantor (1847a) without any specific details. Following, specimens were reported from different museum collections ( Girard 1858b; M̧ller 1878; Boulenger 1885 a) before Flower (1896) expressed that he found it quite common at SBG, and within homes ( Flower 1899). Sworder (1925a) also described G. monarchus as common, and also found it at Pulau Sudong and Pulau Ubin (Sworder 1924a). Between Ridley (1934) and Chou (1975), G. monarchus went unreported for 41 years ( Table 2 ), but Cross (2020f) recorded one in 1944 that was just recently published. Chou (1975) indicated that the numbers of G. monarchus decreased since Sworder (1925a) due to rapid urbanisation, a position shared by Koh (1986) who asserted that G. monarchus was rarely found in Singapore due to a loss of natural habitat. If G. monarchus numbers did decline over the years, then certainly the species has rebounded as it is extremely common and ubiquitous today ( Baker & Lim 2012). The possibility exists that Chou (1975) and Koh (1986) were basing their assessments on urban areas, despite G. monarchus being more of a forest species.

Occurrence. Ubiquitous. Common.

Singapore conservation status. Least Concern.

Conservation priority. Lowest.

IUCN conservation status. Least Concern [2021].

LKCNHM & NHMUK Museum specimens. Singapore (no locality) : BMNH 1883.1 .22.1 (no date) , BMNH 1896.4.17.6–7 (no date), ZRC.2.1043 (1897), ZRC.2.1055 (May-1897) , ZRC.2.1046 (1-Jun-1898) , ZRC.2.1047 (12-Jun-1898) , ZRC.2.1045 (Jul-1898) , ZRC.2.1048 (Mar-1951) , ZRC.2.1049 (11-1951), ZRC.2.1945 (1952), ZRC.2.1050 (11-1952); Barkers Estate : ZRC.2.1051– ZRC.2.1052 (21-Aug-1921) ; Botanic Gardens: ZRC.2.1042 (Jul-1897) , ZRC.2.1044 (Feb-1898) , ZRC.2.1486 (16-Feb-1962) ; Bras Basah Road: ZRC.2.6299 (27-Dec-1963) ; Bukit Kalang [ SRF] : ZRC.2.6832 (no date); Bukit Timah Nature Reserve : ZRC.2.3480 (13-Sep-1994) ; Chun Tin Road: ZRC.2.4756 (15-Dec-1996) ; Greenbank Park: ZRC.2.4568 (11-1998); Hindhede Drive : ZRC.2.3479 (01-Oct-1989) , ZRC.2.2533 (20-Feb-1990) ; Holland Woods [= CF] : ZRC.2.7153– ZRC.2.7154 (01-Nov-2006) ; Kent Ridge Campus [ NUS] : ZRC.2.3368 (03-Aug-1992) , ZRC.2.5005 (1999), ZRC.2.4829 (17-Aug-2000) ; Lower Peirce Forest : ZRC.2.3297 (30-Jan-1992) ; Pulau Ubin: ZRC.2.1053 (26-Feb-1921) , ZRC.2.1054 (27-Feb-1921) ; RAF Tengah [= Tengah Air Base ] : BMNH 1983.947 (no date); St. John’s Island : ZRC.2.7083 (23-Jun-2014) ; Tan Tock Seng Hospital: ZRC.2.3481 (16-Jun-1990) ; Yishun Ring Road: ZRC.2.3399 (11-Feb-1995) .

Additional Singapore museum specimens. Singapore (no locality): CAS, FMNH, NMW, ROM, SMNS, USNM, UWBM, ZMB, ZMUC; Botanic Gardens: UMZC.

Singapore localities. Alexandra Woodlands—Barkers Estate—Bras Basah Road—Bukit Batok Nature Park— Bukit Timah Nature Reserve—Chun tin Road—Clementi Forest—Greenbank Park—Hindhede Drive— Hort Park—Kent Ridge Park—King Albert Park—Lorong Gambas—Lower Peirce Forest—MacPherson Industrial Estate—MacRitchie Reservoir—Mandai Bird Park—Mandai Range Forest—Mount Faber Road—National University of Singapore Kent Ridge Campus—Nee Soon Swamp Forest—Night Safari—Pang Sua Woodland—Pasir Ris Park—Pulau Semakau—Pulau Sudong—Pulau Tekong—Pulau Ubin—Rainforest Park North—Saint John’s Island—Sentosa—Sime Road Forest—Singapore Botanic Gardens—Singapore Island Country Club—Singapore Zoo—Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve—Tan Tock Seng Hospital—Tengah Air Base—Upper Seletar North Forest—Upper Seletar Reservoir Park—Yishun Ring Road.

Genus Hemidactylus Oken, 1817 (4 species)

Hemidactylus Oken, 1817: 1183 (type species: Gecko tuberculosus Daudin, 1803 , by monotypy; gender masculine).

Figures

FIGURE 13. A) Gekko horsfieldii, B) Gekko hulk, C) Gekko kuhli, D) Gekko monarchus, E) Hemidactylus brookii, F) Hemidactylus craspedotus, G) Hemidactylus frenatus, and H) Hemidactylus platyurus. Photographs by: Evan S.H. Quah [A], Francis L.K. Lim [B], Kelvin K.P. Lim [C, G], Alex Figueroa [D, H], Joys Tan [E], and Holly Siow [F].