Home/Species/ Cosmopolitan House Gecko

Hemidactylus mabouia

(Moreau de Jonnes, 1818)

Cosmopolitan House Gecko

G5Secure Found in 2 roadless areas NatureServe Explorer →

G5SecureGlobal Rank

Least concernIUCN

Identity

Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.104275

Element CodeARACD03050

Record TypeSPECIES

ClassificationSpecies

Classification StatusStandard

Name CategoryVertebrate Animal

IUCNLeast concern

Endemicoccurs (regularly, as a native taxon) in multiple nations

KingdomAnimalia

PhylumCraniata

ClassReptilia

OrderSquamata

FamilyGekkonidae

GenusHemidactylus

Other Common Names

Amerafrican House Gecko (EN)

Concept Reference

Crother, B. I. (editor). 2017. Scientific and standard English names of amphibians and reptiles of North America north of Mexico, with comments regarding confidence in our understanding. 8th edition. SSAR Herpetological Circular 43:1-104. [Updates in SSAR North American Species Names Database at: https://ssarherps.org/cndb]

Conservation Status

Review Date2005-05-06

Change Date1996-10-23

Edition Date2005-05-06

Edition AuthorsHammerson, G.

Range Extent Comments

Africa; Madagascar and Mozambique Channel islands; Ascension Island; South America (Uruguay to Guyana, along Rio Amazonas in Brasil, Ecuador, and Peru); Trinidad and Tobago; Caicos Islands, Turks Islands; the Bahamas (Buckner and Franz, 1994, Herpetol. Rev. 25:164); Cayman Islands (Echternacht and Burton, 2002, Herpetol. Rev. 33:148); and the Greater and Lesser Antilles, including Puerto Rico (mainly islas Mona, Vieques, and Culebra) and the U.S. and British Virgin Islands (see Schwartz and Henderson 1988, Schwartz and Henderson 1991, Mayer and Lazell 1988, and Powell et al. 1998 for specific islands). Well established in central and southern Florida, including many of the Keys (Lawson et al. 1991; Gunther et al., 1993, Herpetol. Rev. 24:66; Butterfield et al. 1993; Meshaka et al., 1994, Herpetol. Rev. 25:80-81, 165; Butterfield et al., 2000, Herpetol. Rev. 31:53; Townsend et al., 2002, Herpetol. Rev. 33:75; Klowden, 2002, Herpetol. Rev. 33:224; Blihovde and Owen, 2002, Herpetol. Rev. 33:224; Van Dyke, 2004, Herpetol. Rev. 35:82; Krysko et al. 2005). Apparently reached the Western Hemisphere by natural dispersal, then spread by accidental introductions by humans.

Ecology & Habitat

Habitat

Associated with buildings, piles of debris, or rocks, logs, and other objects on the ground; also found under the bark of dead trees (Philibosian and Yntema 1978, Lawson et al. 1991).

Eggs are laid under objects, sometimes in buildings; also in rock crevices, tree hollows, stone walls, walls of houses, etc. (Philibosian and Yntema 1978, Schwartz and Henderson 1991).

Reproduction

In the West Indies, eggs have been collected January-September; hatchlings February-November (Schwartz and Henderson 1991). Clutch size is 2.

Terrestrial Habitats

Suburban/orchardUrban/edificarian

Other Nations (1)

United StatesNNA

Province	Rank	Native
Florida	SNA	No

Roadless Areas (2)

Florida (1)

Area	Forest	Acres
Alexander Springs Creek	Ocala National Forest	2,954

Puerto Rico (1)

Area	Forest	Acres
El Toro Area	Caribbean National Forest	12,584

References (12)

Ashton, R. E., Jr., and P. S. Ashton. 1991. Handbook of reptiles and amphibians of Florida. Part two. Lizards, turtles & crocodilians. Revised second edition. Windward Pub., Inc., Miami. 191 pp.
Banks, R.C., R.W. McDiarmid, and A.L. Gardner. 1987. Checklist of the Vertebrates of the United States, the U.S. Territories, and Canada.U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Washington, D.C. 79 pp.
Butterfield, B. P., B. Hauge, and W. E. Meshaka, Jr. 1993. The occurrence of HEMIDACTYLUS MABOUIA on the United States mainland. Herpetol. Rev. 24:111-112.
Crother, B. I. (editor). 2017. Scientific and standard English names of amphibians and reptiles of North America north of Mexico, with comments regarding confidence in our understanding. 8th edition. SSAR Herpetological Circular 43:1-104. [Updates in SSAR North American Species Names Database at: https://ssarherps.org/cndb]
Hedges, S. B., R. Powell, R. W. Henderson, S. Hanson, and J. C. Murphy. 2019. Definition of the Caribbean Islands biogeographic region, with checklist and recommendations for standardized common names of amphibians and reptiles. Caribbean Herpetology 67: 1-53.
Lawson, R., P. G. Frank, and D. L. Martin. 1991. A gecko new to the United States herpetofauna, with notes on geckoes of the Florida Keys. Herpetol. Rev. 22:11-12.
Mayer, G. C., and J. D. Lazell, Jr. 1988. Distributional records for reptiles and amphibians from the Puerto Rican Bank. Herpetol. Rev. 19:23-24.
Philibosian, R., and J. A. Yntema. 1978. Records and status of some reptiles and amphibians in the Virgin Islands. II. 1975-1976. Herpetologica 34:47-51.
Powell, R., R. I. Crombie, and H.E.A. Boos. 1998. HEMIDACTYLUS MABOUIA. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles 674:1-11.
Rivero, J. A. 1978a. Los anphibios y reptiles de Puerto Rico. (The amphibians and reptiles of Puerto Rico.) Universidad de Puerto Rico, Editorial Universitaria. Mayaguez, Puerto Rico. 148 p. + plates.
Schwartz, A., and R. W. Henderson. 1988. West Indian amphibians and reptiles: a check-list. Milwaukee Pub. Mus., Contrib. Biological Geology No. 74:1-264.
Schwartz, A., and R. W. Henderson. 1991. Amphibians and Reptiles of the West Indies: Descriptions, Distributions, and Natural History. University of Florida Press, Gainesville, Florida. xvi + 720 pp.