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Family : GEKKONIDAE
Species :  Cyrtodactylus darmandvillei
Size (snout to vent) : 8.5 cm
Size (total length) : 18.7 cm

D'armandville's Bow-fingered Gecko was first described by Weber in 1890 (as Gymnodactylus d'armandvillei), based on a specimen from Sikka Regency, Flores, Indonesia.

The specimen illustrated here was found by day, clinging to a tree trunk at the edge of coastal secondary scrub forest at Labuanbajo, Flores. It appears to share some features with  D'armandville's Bow-fingered Gecko, particularly the numerous rows of conical tubercles arranged alternately along the length of the body.

This specimen measured around 7 cm snout-to-vent, with a tail of around 9 cm (the posterior part of which has regrown). The body of this specimen is robust, flattened and with a ridge along the vertebral line. The head is large, the eyes are large, the forehead is concave and the snout is somewhat pointed. Its ground colour is light brown to buff, and the dorsum is adorned with irregular, blotchy, dark brown bands which continue onto the tail. There is a dark brown band behind the eye.

In addition to the island of Flores, D'armandville's Bow-fingered Gecko occurs on a number of other islands in central and eastern Indonesia, including Komodo, but the current populations probably represent a complex of species which require further study to ascertain their relation to each other.

Fig 1 : Cyrtodactylus cf. darmandvillei on a tree trunk at the edge of coastal secondary scrub forest at Labuanbajo, Flores, Indonesia.

Fig 2 : Coastal secondary scrub forest at Labuanbajo, Flores, Indonesia.

Fig 3 : Close up of the rows of alternately-arranged conical tubercles on the dorsum of the Labuanbajo specimen.


References :

Weber, M. (1890) Reptilia from the Malay Archipelago. 1. Sauria, Crocodylidae, Chelonia. In: Weber, M. (Ed), Zoologische Ergebnisse einer Reise in Niederländse Ost-Indien. Volume 1. E.J. Brill, Leiden, pp. 158–177.