Hemiphyllodactylus typus
Bleeker, 1860
heh-mee-FILL-oh-DAK-til-us — TIE-pus
SSAR 9th Edition Comments:
Native to southeastern Asia and the Pacific. It was introduced in California (Shaw, 1946, Herpetologica 3: 125–126) and is established in Hawai'i (Stejneger, 1899, Proceedings of the United States National Museum 21: 783–813; McKeown, 1996, A Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians in the Hawaiian Islands. Diamond Head Publishing, Incorporated, Los Osos, California; Kraus, 2009, Alien Reptiles and Amphibians: A Scientific Compendium and Analysis. SpringerVerlag, Heidelberg, Germany).
(Krysko, Kenneth and Travis W. Taggart. 2025. Established Exotic Species. Pages 64-87 in Kirsten E. Nicholson (Editor), Scientific and Standard English Names of Amphibians and Reptiles of North America North of Mexico, with Comments Regarding Confidence in Our Understanding, 9th Edition. Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles, Lawrence, Kansas. 87 pp.)
Errata/Changes: Page 79: The (Kraus, 2009) reference should be "Kraus, 2009, Alien Reptiles and Amphibians: A Scientific Compendium and Analysis. Springer, Dordrecht, The Netherlands". — (06/11/2025)
Range maps are based on curated specimens and provided gratis by CNAH.
(Created by Travis W. Taggart; Version: 2025.04.03.12.33.03)
Download GeoJSON polygon range file: - 0.69 MB
Province/State Distribution:
United States: Hawaii
Taxonomic Etymology:
A representative species of a slender-toed gecko genus.
Hemiphyllodactylus — From Greek hemi- (“half”), phyllon (φύλλον), “leaf,” and dactylos (δάκτυλος), “finger.” Refers to the leaf-like, flattened digits that lack full adhesive pads—literally “half-leaf finger.”
typus — Latin for “type” or “model.” Indicates that this species was the type or representative for the genus at the time of description.
First instance(s) of published English names:
No historic English names have been assigned to this taxon yet.
Catalog of American Amphibians and Reptiles
The Reptile Database
GenBank
USGS - Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database
Selected References:
|
1860
|
Bleeker, Pieter. Reptilien van Agam. [Reptiles of Agam] Natuurkundig Tijdschrift voor Nederlandsch Indie, Batavia. [Physics Journal for Dutch Indies, Batavia.] 20:325-329
|
|
1899
|
Stejneger, Leonhard H. The land reptiles of Hawaiian Islands. Proceedings of the United States National Museum 21(1174):783-813
|
|
1979
|
Jones, Richard E. Hawaiian lizards--their past, present and future. Bulletin of the Maryland Herpetological Society 15(2):37-45
|
|
1996
|
McKeown, Sean. A Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians in the Hawaiian Islands. Diamond Head Publishing, Inc., Los Osos, California. pp.
|
|
2009
|
Kraus, Fred. Alien Reptiles and Amphibians: A Scientific Compendium and Analysis. Springer, Dordrecht, The Netherlands. 563pp.
|