Japanese Journal of Herpetology 12 (3): 127-130 ., Jun. 1988 (C) 1988 by The Herpetological Society of Japan

In this paper, I report the external morphology A of the Genus of a female gecko with the same common from Taka-shima Island, Hirado, characteristics as the above . The gecko was collected from Taka-shima Island (33°11'N, Nagasaki, Japan (Reptilia: Lac- 129°21'E, Fig. 1), Hirado, Nagasaki, Japan on ertilia) August 26, 1980. There has been no report on geckos from the island. Among the neigh- SHOJI TOKUNAGA boring islands, G. japonicus was found on Azuchio-shima Island, Ikitsuki-jima Is., Fukue- Abstract: A female gecko collected from Taka- jima Is., and Uku-jima Is. (Shibata, 1983; shima Island (33°11'N, 129°21'E) had characteristics Ikezaki, 1988). of both G. hokouensis and G. japonicus. It had The gecko was collected by the author in one pair of cloacal spurs, like G. hokouensis, and a room of a small shrine near (within 50m) the enlarged tubercles on the back of the body, the seashore. The snout-to-vent length, head width forearms, the crura, and the thighs, like G. japon- head length, and body weight measured in icus. These characteristics coincide with those of life were 63.1, 1.41, 17.9mm, and 6.35g, some geckos recorded from the Goto Islands and Danjo-gunto Islands. Although the published records respectively. The gecko had a regenerated tail. and specimens of more than 1,300 geckos belonging The length of the original and regenerated parts to G. hokouensis and G. japonicas were examined, was 20.6 and 32.3mm, respectively. The no gecko had both characteristics together. original part had seven autotomy segments. Key words: Lacertilia; G. hokouensis; G. japonicus; The tail broke in the original part after measure- Nagasaki; External morphology ments. The color of the specimen when alive was not recorded. The external morphology of the gecko was as Recently, Japanese geckos previously as- follows (Figs. 2 and 3): (1) One cloacal spur signed to Gekko japonicus collectively (eg. on each side. (2) Enlarged tubercles on the Okada, 1936, Nakamura and Ueno, 1963) have dorsal and lateral surfaces of the body and the been separated into two distinct species. neck. (3) The crura and the thighs with Shibata (1981) first noticed the existence of two enlarged tubercles. The forearms with en- groups in them: G. japonicus Type A (from larged tubercles smaller than those on the hind Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu) and G. japonicus Type B (form the Ryukyu Islands). Zhou et al. (1982) showed that the external morpholo- gy fo G. japonicus hokouensis differed con- siderably from that of other G. japonicus. They treated G. japonicushokouensis as a distinct species, G. hokouensis. Based on Zhou et al. (1982), Shibata (1983) assigned G. japonicus Type A to G. japonicus and G. japonicus Type B to G. hokouensis. Zhou et al. (1982) found no specimens inter- mediate between the two species. In addition to the differences in the external morphology, they reported ecological differences and sympatric distribution. Karyotypic differences also support the distinction between the two species (Chen et al., 1986). Some geckos, however, were reported to have characteristics of the two species. A gecko from Fukue-jima Island, one from Nakadori- jima Is., and some from Me-shima Is. had one pair of cloacal spurs, like G. hokouensis, and FIG. 1. The geographic location of Taka-shima enlarged tubercles on the limbs, like G. japonicus Island and neighboring islands. A., F., I., N., M. (Matsuo et al., 1988; Ikezaki, 1988). and U. show Azuchio-shima Island, Fukue-jima Is., Ikitsuki-jima Is., Nakadori-jima Is., Me-shima Is. Accepted 30, May 1988 and Uku-jima Is., respectively. 128 Jpn. J. Herpetol. 12 (3). 1988 limbs. The upperarms without enlarged tuber- The characteristics (1), (2) and (3) of the gecko cles. (4) The internasal surrounded by five are common to those of the geckos reported by granular scales on the posterior side. The ratio Matsuo et al. (1988) and Ikezaki (1988). G. of the length of the internasal to the scales hokouensis and G. japonicus did not have behind the granular scales was 1.47. The ratio characteristics (1) and (3) together, although the of the breadth to the length of the anteriormost, records and specimens of more than 1,300 median gular scale was 1.0. (5) One pair of geckos belonging to the two species were caudal tubercles on the distal edge of the first examined (1,018 geckos from China, Zhou et al., autotomy segment of the tail. 1982; about 130 from Japan, Shibata, 1983;

FIG. 2. A female gecko from Taka-shima Island, Nagasaki, Japan. The dorsal view of the gecko (A). The back of the forelimbs (B and C) and the hind limbs (D and E). The base of the tail showing one pair of cloacal spurs (F and G). TOKUNAGA-GECKO 129

The present gecko may belong to G. hokouen- sis or G. japonicus with hitherto unknown morphological variation. Considering the uni- que set of characteristics, the gecko might belong to an undescribed species. The pre- sence of the geckos with the same characteristics on neighboring islands suggests that this type of gecko is widely distributed in Kyushu, centering on Nagasaki. Further surveys on Taka-shima Is. and neighboring islands are needed to clarify the taxonomic status of this type of gecko.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.-I am grateful to Dr. Y. Ono and Mr. Y. Shibata for encouragement and valuable advice. I express thanks to Dr. K. Zhou for reviewing an earlier draft of the manuscript. I also thank the Masunaga family for lodging on Taka-shima Is. This study was in part supported by The Nippon Life Insurance Foundation (1981) and The TOYOTA Foundation (1987).

LITERATURE CITED FIG. 3. The dorsal (upper) and ventral (below) CHEN, J., X. PENG AND D. YU. 1986. Studies on scales of the snout. ag. anteriormost gular; an, the karyotypes of three species of the genus anterior nasal; i, internasal; m, mental; n, nostril; Gekko. Acta Herpetol. Sinica. 5 (1): 24-29, pm, postmental; r, rostral. Drawn from photo- pls. 2. (in Chinese, with English summary) graphs. IKEZAKI,Y. 1988. Two species of geckos in Fukue- jima Island, Goto Islands. Nihon no Seibutsu (The Natural History of Japan) 2 (5): 61. (in 121 from Fukuoka city, Tokunaga, 1984; 80 Japanese) from Okinawa Island, Tokunaga, this study). MATSUI,T. ANDY. OKADA. 1968. A new species of The distribution of enlarged tubercles on the Gekko found in Yakushima, one of the small hind limbs is rare, even if this gecko is island south of Kyushu. Acta Herpetol. Jap. assumed to be G. japonicus (only two geckos in 3(1): 1-4. 121 G. japonicus from Fukuoka had enlarged MATSUO,K., M. EJIMA AND K. MATSUNAGA.1988. tubercles on the thighs as dense as on the crura, A species of gecko belonging to genus Gekko in Nakadori-jima Island, Goto Islands. Nihon Tokunaga, 1984). no Seibutsu (The Natural History of Japan) Some geckos have been reported to be 2 (2): 61. (in Japanese) intermediate between the two species. Shibata NAKAMURA,K. AND S. -I. UENO. 1963. Japanese (1981) found that three specimens from Me- and Amphibians in Colour. Hoiku-sha, shima Is., Danjo-gunto Islands, and one from Osaka. p. 92. (in Japanese) Yaku-shima Is., Kagoshima, Japan, had one OKADA, Y. 1936. Studies on the lizards of Japan. pair of cloacal spurs, but had one or some Contribution I. . Sci. Rep. Tokyo characteristic(s) common to G. japonicus in Bunrika Daigaku (B) 2 (42): 233-289, pls. 15-19. scales of the snout. However, their relation- SHIBATA, Y. 1980. Gekko tawaensis in Osaka, Japan. Nature Study 26 (2) : 14-19. (in Japa- ship to the present gecko is not confirmed, nese) because he reported neither the distribution of SHIBATA,Y. 1981. A new record of the gekkonid enlarged tubercles on the limbs nor quantitative lizard, Gekko yakuensis from the Tanega-shima description of the scales of the snout. Island, Kyushu, Japan (Reptilia: Sauna). The present gecko is different from other Shizenshi-Kenkyu (Occas. Pap. Osaka Mus. Nat. geckos of the genus Gekko, G. tawaensis and Hist.) 1(15): 149-154. (in Japanese, with English G. yakuensis. Although these also have a pair of summary) cloacal spurs, G. tawaensis lacks enlarged SHIBATA, Y. 1983. The Japanese gecko (Gekko japonicus) in Japan consists of two species. tubercles on the back and limbs, and G. yakuensis Nature Study 29 (3): 27-29. (in Japanese) has a pair of distinct caudal tubercles from the TOKUNAGA,S. 1984. Morphological variation and base to the tip of the tail and lacks enlarged sexual dimorphism in Gekko japonicus from tubercles on the limbs (Matsui and Okada, Fukuoka, northern Kyushu, Japan. Jpn. J. 1968; Shibata, 1980, and 1981). Herpetol. 10 (3): 80-88. 130 Jpn. J. Herpetol. 12(3). 1988

ZHOU, K., Y. LIU AND D. LI. 1982. Three new Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, species of Gekko and remarks on Gekko hokouensis Kyushu University, Fukuoka, 812 JAPAN (Lacertiformes, Gekkonidae). Acta Zootaxon. Sinica 7 (4): 438-446, pls. 1-2. (in Chinese, with English summary)

要 旨 長崎県平戸市高島で捕獲 されたGekko 属の ヤモ リ 徳永 章二 江 島及び男女 群島の女島で捕獲 されたヤモ リの 高 島(長 崎 県,平 戸 市)に お い て 捕 獲 さ れ た 特徴 と一致 してい る。Gekko hokouensisとG. 1頭 の 雌 ヤ モ リ はCekko hokouensisとG. japonicusに ついて 日本,中 国各地 か らの1300 japonicusの 両 方 の 形 質 を 兼 ね 備 え て い た 。 個体以上 の記録,捕 獲個 体を検 討 したが,こ れ Gloacal spurが1対 で あ る 点 は 前 者 と 同 じで, らの特徴 に一致 す る個体 を見 つけ られなか った.

胴 体,前 腕,大 腿,下 腿 の 背 面 に 粒 状 の 大 型 鱗 (812福 岡市東 区箱 崎6-10-1九 州 大学理学部 (enlarged tubercle)が 存 在 す る 点 は 後 者 と 共 通 生物学 教室) である。これ らの特徴は五島列島の中通島と福