THE HERPETOLOGY OF HISPANIOLA 



93 



distal phalanges; basal dilated portion with five pairs of lamellae 

 under the inner toe and seven under the middle one in addition to the 

 large unpaired terminal one; tail cylindrical, somewhat depressed, 

 covered above with small flattened granules slightly larger than those 

 on the snout; tail at the base with eight, distally with six, longitudinal 

 rows of conical tubercles in whorls about six scales apart; under side 

 with a median series of large plates about two to a whorl; the regen- 

 erated tip of the tail with irregularly arrayed scales without regular 

 plates below. 



Dimensions: Snout to posterior ear, 1 7 mm. ; head and body, 58 mm. ; 

 tail (tip reproduced), 60 mm. 



Color (in alcohol): Drab above, mottled with fine darker spots; 

 generally cream-buff below, immaculate; upper labials with a few 

 heavier dark markings most prominent on the upper margins. 



Relationships. — This genus is one that estabhshes itself readily in 

 new situations. Found on the west coast of Africa, it was undoubtedly 

 carried to the West Indies by the slave trade and now appears to be 

 established on Hispaniola, as well as in Cuba and Puerto Rico. To 

 assign limits to the ranges of Hemidactylus mabouia and H. brookii 

 remains for a more general faunistic study than this one. It suffices 

 to record the fact that both species now occur in Hispaniola. Meer- 

 warth's haitianus, it seems, had best not be recognized as a subspecies, 

 as the chances are negligible that a fixed subspecies could have been 

 evolved in so short time even in the new environment. An adequate 

 study of variations can be significant only from one who is in a position 

 to make a surv^ey of the genus as a whole. 



Specimens examined. — As listed in table 16. 



