Oceanic/Polynesian geckos

[Sinosauropteryx]

Hey guys,

I wasn't sure whether this would go in the n00b central or the Gecko ID forum but since I am still very much a n00b ro this board I thought I would place it here. Plus it saves me from looking unexpectedly stupid.

Anyway, two years back when I was still going to university in Nanaimo, B.C., I partook in a field school to the Cook Islands in the south Pacific. Part of the fieldschool involved taking a course in island biodiversity and we identified a few native lizard species. The guy who taught the course runs a project called the Cook Islands Biodiversity Project and I was able to find more lizard species we hadn't covered (or atleast I don't remember covering) so I was wondering if anyone here was familiar with the gecko species identified in the site.

Here they are:

Stump-toed Gecko (Gehyra mutilata)
Oceanic Gecko (Gehyra oceanica)
House Gecko (Hemidactylus frenatus)
Fox Gecko (Hemidactylus garnotii)
Tree Gecko (Hemiphyllodactylus typus)
Mournful Gecko (Lepidodactylus lugubris)
Mournful Parent Gecko (Lepidodactylus ???)
Pacific Slender-toed Gecko (Nactus pelagicus)

I figured most of you probably know about the house gecko, the oceanic gecko and the mournful gecko but I haven't seen any of these other species covered in the reptile sites and forums I have been to. Anybody have any additional info on them? Or even know that they exist? I'm also curious as to whether (aside from the three I mentioned) any of these species are seen in the pet trade and how common they are there.

 

[Geitje]

Hi,

These species are not easy to find in captivity, but you can be sure that all of them are being kept - I keep all of these with the single exception of Hemi. fresnatus. Probably the rarest at the moment would be the Nactus pelagicus. Your second Lepidodactylus photo appears to be lugubris too.

Jon

 

[Sinosauropteryx]

Second Lepidodactylus species

I take it you live down around Florida then, as I have heard the H. frenatus house geckos run rampant there. That is usually why a lot of people don't go out of their way to get them. And yeah, you would think the second mournful gecko species was the same thing as L. lugubris but apparently they are identified as a completely new species. I think more research needs to be done on this matter though, as Gerald didn't seem to cover the second species in his lectures.