Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-t5tsf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-11T10:51:02.746Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Comparison of a native and a non-native insular reptile species

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 September 2015

Daniel J. Nicholson ,
Christopher Hassall  and
Julius A. Frazier
Daniel J. Nicholson*
Affiliation:
School of Biology, University of Leeds, Woodhouse Lane, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK Operation Wallacea, Wallace House, Old Bolingbroke, Spilsby PE23 4EX, UK
Christopher Hassall
Affiliation:
School of Biology, University of Leeds, Woodhouse Lane, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK
Julius A. Frazier
Affiliation:
Operation Wallacea, Wallace House, Old Bolingbroke, Spilsby PE23 4EX, UK Biological Sciences Department, 1 Grade Ave, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obisbo, CA 93405, USA
*
1 Corresponding author. Email: danielnicholson49@gmail.com
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract:

This study compared the life histories of Hemidactylus frenatus, a significant invasive gecko, and Phyllodactylus palmeus, a Honduran endemic, over 10 wk, June–August 2013 at 12 study sites on the Honduran island of Cayo Menor of the Cayo Cochinos archipelago where H. frenatus arrived in 2008. Three different life-history traits related to invasion success were measured: body size, fecundity and population size. During the study 140 natives and 37 non-natives were captured, weighed, measured and marked uniquely. The number of gravid females and number of eggs were also recorded. Phyllodactylus palmeus was the significantly larger of the two species (60% larger mass, 25% longer SVL) and had higher population abundance at all 12 study sites with some sites yielding no H. frenatus individuals. However, H. frenatus had a larger proportion of gravid females. Observations that the native species is more common despite being sympatric with a known aggressive invader suggest two possibilities: the island is at the start of an invasion, or that the two species co-exist in a more stable fashion.

Keywords

Cayos CochinosHemidactylusHonduraslife historiesPhyllodactylus
Type
Short Communication
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 31 , Issue 6 , November 2015 , pp. 563 - 566
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2015 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

LITERATURE CITED

BERMINGHAM, E., COATES, A., CRUZ, D., EMMONS, G., FOSTER, L., LESCHEN, R. B., SEUTIN, R., THORN, G., W., S. WCISLO & WERFEL, B. 1998. Geology and terrestrial flora and fauna of the Cayos Cochinos, Honduras. Revista de Biología Tropical 46:15–37.Google Scholar
BOBACK, S. M. & GUYER, C. 2003. Empirical evidence for an optimal body size in snakes. Evolution; International Journal of Organic Evolution 57:345–351.Google ScholarPubMed
BOLGER, D. T. & CASE, T. J. 1992. Intra- and interspecific interference behaviour among sexual and asexual geckos. Animal Behaviour 44:21–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
CASE, T. J. & BOLGER, D. T. 1991. The role of introduced species in shaping the distribution and abundance of island reptiles. Evolutionary Ecology 5:272–290.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
CASE, T. J., BOLGER, D. T. & PETREN, K. 1994. Invasions and competitive displacement among house geckos in the tropical Pacific. Ecology 75:464–477.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
DANIEL, J. A., BAKER, K. A. & BONINE, K. E. 2006. Retention rates of surface and implantable marking methods in the Mediterranean house gecko (Hemidactylus turcicus), with notes on capture methods and rates of skin shedding. Herpetological Review 37:319–321.Google Scholar
HANLEY, K. A., PETREN, K. & CASE, T. J. 1998. An experimental investigation of the competitive displacement of a native gecko by an invading gecko: no role for parasites. Oecologia 115:196–205.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
HOSKIN, C. J. 2011. The invasion and potential impact of the Asian house gecko (Hemidactylus frenatus) in Australia. Austral Ecology 36:240–251.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
KING, M. 1977. Reproduction in the Australian gekko Phyllodactylus marmoratus (Gray). Herpetologica 33:7–13.Google Scholar
KONDO, J. & DOWNES, S. J. 2004. Using visible implant elastomer to individually mark geckos. Herpetofauna 34:19–22.Google Scholar
MCCRANIE, J. R. & HEDGES, S. B. 2013. A new species of Phyllodactylus (Reptilia, Squamata, Gekkonoidea, Phyllodactylidae) from Isla de Guanaja in the Honduran Bay Islands. Zootaxa 3694:51–58.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
MCCRANIE, J. R., WILSON, L. D. & KOHLER, G. 2005. Amphibians and reptiles of the Bay Islands and Cayo Cochinos, Honduras. Bibliomania, Salt Lake City. 210 pp.Google Scholar
MORIN, P. J. 2011. Community ecology. (Second edition). Blackwell Science, Inc., Oxford. 407 pp.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MUELLEMAN, P. J., MONTGOMERY, C. E., TAYLOR, E., FRAZIER, J. A., AHLE, J. C. & BOBACK, S. M. 2009. Hemidactylus frenatus Cayo Menor. Herpetological Review 40:452.Google Scholar
NAGANUMA, K. H. & ROUGHGARDEN, J. D. 1990. Optimal body size in Lesser Antillean anolis lizards. Ecological Monographs 60:239–256.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
OTA, H. 1994. Female reproductive cycles in the northernmost populations of the two gekkonid lizards, Hemidactylus frenatus and Lepidodactylus lugubris. Ecological Research 9:121–130.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
PETREN, K. & CASE, T. J. 1996. An experimental demonstration of exploitation competition in an ongoing invasion. Ecology 77:118–132.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
PETREN, K. & CASE, T. J. 1998. Habitat structure determines competition intensity and invasion success in gecko lizards. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 95:11739–11744.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
PULLIN, A. 2004. Conservation biology. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. 347 pp.Google Scholar
SHIGESADA, N. & KAWASAKI, K. 1997. Biological invasions: theory and practise. Oxford University Press, Oxford. 206 pp.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
WAUDBY, H. P. & PETIT, S. 2011. Comments on the efficacy and use of visible implant elastomer (VIE) for marking lizards. The South Australian Naturalist 85:7–13.Google Scholar
WILSON, L. D. & CRUZ DIAZ, G. A. 1993. Herpetofauna of the Cayo Cochinos, Honduras. Herpetological Natural History 1:13–23.Google Scholar