Indo-Pacific gecko
Kingdom
Phylum
Subphylum
Class
Order
Family
Genus
SPECIES
Hemidactylus garnotii

The Indo-Pacific gecko (Hemidactylus garnotii ) also known as Garnot's house gecko, the fox gecko, or the Assam greyish brown gecko, is a species of gecko found in India, the Philippines, Southeast Asia, Australia, and throughout Polynesia. Adults are about 4 to 5 in (10 to 13 cm) in total length (including tail). They are seen as dark gray or brown with light markings in daylight and a pale, translucent colour at night. The belly is orange or yellow. The head has a long, narrow snout, hence the name fox gecko. The flattened tail has a row of spiny scales on the lateral edges. The species is parthenogenic – all individuals are female and lay eggs that hatch without requiring male fertilisation.

Show More

In Hawaii, the species is thought to be a long-term resident. Formerly considered a house gecko, it has been displaced to natural habitats by the more recently arrived common house gecko. In Florida and Georgia it has become established as an invasive species of concern.

Show Less

Animal name origin

The specific name, garnotii, is in honor of French naturalist Prosper Garnot.

Appearance

Snout obtusely pointed, longer than the distance between the eye and the ear-opening, 1.5 to 1.6 times the diameter of the orbit; forehead slightly concave; ear-opening small, rounded. Body and limbs moderate. A slight but distinct fold of the skin along the flanks, and another bordering the hind limb posteriorly. Digits free or with a very slight rudiment of web, moderately dilated, inner well developed; infradigital lamellae oblique, 6 or 7 under the inner digits, 10 to 12 under the fourth finger, and 11 to 14 under the fourth toe. Upper surfaces and throat covered with minute granular scales, a little larger on the snout; abdominal scales moderate, imbricate. Rostral subquadrangular, with median cleft above; nostril pierced between the rostral and three nasals; 12 or 13 upper and 9 to 11 lower labials; mental large, triangular, in contact posteriorly with a pair of pentagonal chin-shields, followed by a second smaller pair; the anterior pair of chin-shields in contact with the first infralabial, and with each other mesially; the posterior pair separated from each other, and also completely or nearly completely from the labials. Tail depressed, flat beneath, with sharp denticulated lateral edge; the scales on the upper surface very small, equal; those on the lower surface larger, imbricate, with a median series of large, transversely dilated plates.

Show More

Brownish grey above, uniform or with more or less distinct brown and whitish spots; lower surfaces uniform whitish.

Snout to vent length (SVL) 2.3 in (5.8 cm); tail 2.6 in (6.6 cm).

Show Less

Distribution

Geography

Sikkim, Burma, Malay Peninsula and Malay Archipelago, South Pacific Islands.

Show More

NE Bangladesh, NE India (Darjeeling, Assam, Sikkim), Nepal, Bhutan,Thailand, Myanmar (= Burma), Malaysia,southern China (Hong Kong, Guangdong, Hainan, southern Yunnan), Taiwan,Philippine Islands, New Zealand (introduced),Indonesia (Sumatra, Nias, Borneo, Java),New Caledonia, Loyalty Islands, Polynesia, Fiji, Western Samoa.

Introduced into Hawaii, Florida, and the Bahamas.

Type locality: "l'Ile de Taiti ".

Show Less

Habits and Lifestyle

Diet and Nutrition

Mating Habits

H. garnotii is a parthenogenetic species.

Population

References

1. Indo-Pacific gecko Wikipedia article - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indo-Pacific_gecko

More Fascinating Animals to Learn About