Stephen's Island gecko

The Stephen's Island gecko (Toropuku stephensi), also known commonly as the Cook Strait striped gecko,[3] Stephen's sticky-toed gecko, and the striped gecko, is a species of gecko in the genus Toropuku in the family Diplodactylidae.[4] The species is endemic to New Zealand.

Stephen's Island gecko
Stephen's Island gecko on Maud Island in the Marlborough Sounds
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Family: Diplodactylidae
Genus: Toropuku
Species:
T. stephensi
Binomial name
Toropuku stephensi
(Robb, 1980)
Synonyms[2]
  • Hoplodactylus stephensi
    Robb, 1980
  • Toropuku stephensi
    — Nielsen et al., 2011

Etymology

The genus name, Toropuku, derives from the Maori word for "secret" or "stealthy".[2]

The specific name, stephensi, refers to Stephens Island, New Zealand.[5]

Taxonomy

The holotype of T. stephensi is in the collection of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.[6]

Toropuku was believed to be a monotypic genus until the 2020 description of Toropuku inexpectatus.[4]

Habitat

The preferred natural habitats of T. stephensi are forest and shrubland, at altitudes from sea level to 225 m (738 ft).[1]

Reproduction

T. stephensi is viviparous.

Conservation status

As of 2012 the Department of Conservation (DOC) classified the Stephen's Island gecko as Nationally Vulnerable under the New Zealand Threat Classification System.[3]

In 2020, T. stephensi was split into two species, and so a re-evaluation of its conservation status is necessary as T. stephensi is now believed to be restricted to only three islands.[4]

References
  1. Hitchmough R, van Winkel D, Lettink M, Chapple D (2019). "Toropuku stephensi ". The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2019: e.T10253A120187688. Downloaded on 19 July 2019.
  2. Species Toropuku stephensi at The Reptile Database www.reptile-database.org.
  3. Hitchmough, Rod; Anderson, Peter; Barr, Ben; Monks, Jo; Lettink, Marieke; Reardon, James; Tocher, Mandy; Whitaker, Tony. "Conservation status of New Zealand reptiles, 2012" (PDF). Department of Conservation. The Government of New Zealand. Retrieved 18 July 2015.
  4. Hitchmough, Rodney A.; Nielsen, Stuart V.; Bauer, Aaron M. (2020-12-04). "Earning your stripes: a second species of striped gecko in the New Zealand gecko genus Toropuku (Gekkota: Diplodactylidae)". Zootaxa. 4890 (4): 578–588. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4890.4.9. ISSN 1175-5334.
  5. Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore, Maryland: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Hoplodactylus stephensi, p. 253).
  6. "Hoplodactylus stephensi Robb, 1980; holotype". Collections Online. Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. Retrieved 17 July 2010.

Further reading
  • Nielsen, Stuart V.; Bauer, Aaron M.; Jackman, Todd R.; Hitchmough, Rod A.; Daugherty, Charles H. (2011). "New Zealand geckos (Diplodactylidae): Cryptic diversity in a post-Gondwanan lineage with trans-Tasman affinities". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 59 (1): 1-22. (Toropuku, new genus; T. stephensi, new combination).
  • Robb, Joan (1980). "Three new species of gekkonid lizards, genera Hoplodactylus Fitzinger and Heteropholis Fischer, from New Zealand". Nat. Mus. New Zealand Rec. 1 (19): 305–310. (Hoplodactylus stephensi, new species).
  • Rösler H (2000). "Kommentierte Liste der rezent, subrezent und fossil bekannten Geckotaxa (Reptilia: Gekkonomorpha)". Gekkota 2: 28–153. (Hoplodactylus stephensi, p. 90). (in German).


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