A Community of Introduced Geckos in Southern Florida

Meshaka, Walter; Bass, Oron; Yaccabucci, Jan

A report that compares distribution, habitat, and diet, of a mixed community of introduced geckos from a single site in extreme southern Florida and comments on future trends. Ten species of geckos are established in Florida; Cosymbotus platyurus (Meshaka and Lewis, 1994), Gekko gecko(Wilson and Porras, 1983), Gonatodes albogularis (Carr, 1939), Hemidactylus frenatus (Meshaka et al., 1994), H. garnotii (King and Krakauer, 1966; Wilson and Porras, 1983), H. mabouia (Lawson et al., 1991), H. turcicus (Fowler, 1915), Sphaerodactylus argus (Savage 1954), .S.. elegans (Stejneger, 1922), and .S.. notatus. Of these, .S.. notatus is arguably native; .S.. elegans, possibly so. Among the known exotic geckos, Q. albogularis, H. turcicus, and .S. . .argys. are the oldest established species known to Florida, having been recorded from between the tum of the century to early 1900s. Gekko gecko and H. garnotii can be traced from the 1950s to early 1960s (RD. Bartlett, pers. comm.; Wilson and Porras, 1983). Cosym.botus platyurus, H. frenatus, and H. mabouia, were probably not in Florida until the 1980s. Two more geckos, Tarentola mauritanica and I. annularis, were observed on the walls of an abandoned amphibian and reptile dealership in Ft. Myers, Lee Co., Florida (Bartlett, 1996). The latter species is rumored to be in Dade Co. but lacks verifciation(Bartlett, 1996; R.D. Bartlett, pers. comm.). Field studies on exotic geckos, particularly in Florida, place far behind the rate at which new species are recorded. Here, we compared distribution, habitat, and diet, of a mixed community of introduced geckos from a single site in extreme southern Florida and comment on future trends.