The Marlborough green gecko, also known as the manuka gecko,Tony Jewell, photos by Rod Morris, "''Reptiles and Amphibians of New Zealand''", New Holland, 2008 (''Naultinus manukanus'') is a small species of

gecko Geckos are small, mostly carnivorous lizards that have a wide distribution, found on every continent except Antarctica. Belonging to the infraorder Gekkota, geckos are found in warm climates. They range from . Geckos are unique among lizards ...

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. It grows to a maximum of 70mm, and is green, with some individuals displaying gold markings. The underside of the gecko is a lighter green in females, and silvery in males. The

holotype A holotype (Latin: ''holotypus'') is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of s ...

is in the collection of the

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is New Zealand's national museum and is located in Wellington. Usually known as Te Papa ( Māori for ' the treasure box'), it opened in 1998 after the merging of the National Museum of New Zealand ...

Description

''Naultinus manukanus'' is a green gecko usually about long from snout to vent; the tail is longer than the body. The geckos weigh only about . In colour, Marlborough geckoes are usually green on their backs, and sometimes have along the sides of their backs rows of irregular markings or spots that range from pale green or yellow to white. A defining characteristic of the species is enlarged and raised scales, which are located on their snout, around the head and

nape The nape is the back of the neck. In technical anatomical/medical terminology, the nape is also called the nucha (from the Medieval Latin rendering of the Arabic , ). The corresponding adjective is ''nuchal'', as in the term ''nuchal rigidity'' ...

of their necks, along the side of their backs.

Conservation status

In 2012 the Department of Conservation classified the Marlborough gecko as ''At Risk'' under the

New Zealand Threat Classification System The New Zealand Threat Classification System is used by the Department of Conservation to assess conservation priorities of species in New Zealand. The system was developed because the IUCN Red List, a similar conservation status system, had s ...

. It was judged as meeting the criteria for ''At Risk'' threat status as a result of it having a low to high ongoing or predicted decline. This gecko is also regarded as being ''Conservation Dependent''.

References

External links

New Zealand Herpetological Society Page on Marlborough gecko
{{Taxonbar, from=Q3729357 Naultinus Endemic fauna of New Zealand Reptiles described in 1955 Taxa named by Charles McCann Endemic reptiles of New Zealand