Puerto Rican boa

This is a list of the reptiles of the archipelago of Puerto Rico. The Puerto Rican archipelago consists of the main island of Puerto Rico, two island municipalities, Vieques and Culebra, one minor uninhabited island, Mona and several smaller islands and cays.

This list only includes animals with verifiable established populations in the archipelago of Puerto Rico. Many species of reptiles are imported, both legally (mainly through the pet industry) and illegally, to the archipelago of Puerto Rico every year, with some of these species being subsequently released into the wild. However, non-viable introduced species do not constitute a breeding population and hence they lack inclusion in this list.

The following tags help provide additional information regarding the status of each species.

Reptiles

Family Emydidae

Species Common name Puerto Rico Culebra Vieques Mona Other
Trachemys stejnegeri stejnegeri Puerto Rican slider X
Trachemys scripta elegans [i] Red-eared slider X
Trachemys decorata [i] Hispaniolan slider X
Chrysemys picta picta Eastern painted turtle X

Family Dermochelyidae

Species Common name Puerto Rico Culebra Vieques Mona Other
Dermochelys coriacea coriacea Leatherback sea turtle X X

Family Cheloniidae

Species Common name Puerto Rico Culebra Vieques Mona Other
Caretta caretta caretta Loggerhead sea turtle X
Chelonia mydas mydas Green sea turtle X X X X X [5]
Eretmochelys imbricata imbricata Hawksbill sea turtle X X X X [11]
Lepidochelys olivacea Olive ridley sea turtle X

Family Testudinidae

Species Common name Puerto Rico Culebra Vieques Mona Other
Geochelone monensis [ext] X
Geochelone denticulata [ext] South American yellow-footed tortoise X

Infraorder Gekkota

Species Common name Puerto Rico Culebra Vieques Mona Other
Hemidactylus mabouia [i] Tropical house gecko X X X X
Phyllodactylus wirshingi [e] Puerto Rican leaf-toed gecko X X [5]
Sphaerodactylus nicholsi [e] Nichols' dwarf gecko X X [9]
Sphaerodactylus townsendi [e] Townsend's dwarf gecko X X X [5]
Sphaerodactylus roosevelti [e] Roosevelt's dwarf gecko X X [5][9]
Sphaerodactylus gaigeae [e] Gaige's dwarf gecko X X X [7]
Sphaerodactylus klauberi [e] Puerto Rico upland dwarf gecko X
Sphaerodactylus monensis [e] Mona dwarf gecko X
Sphaerodactylus levinsi [e] Desecheo dwarf gecko X [8]
Sphaerodactylus grandisquamis Big-scaled dwarf gecko X
Sphaerodactylus inigoi [e] Vieques dwarf gecko X X
Sphaerodactylus macrolepis [e] Big-scaled dwarf gecko X X [11]
Sphaerodactylus micropithecus [e] Monito dwarf gecko X [10]

Family Teiidae

Species Common name Puerto Rico Culebra Vieques Mona Other
Pholidoscelis exsul Greater Puerto Rican ameiva X X X X [5][7]
Pholidoscelis wetmorei [e] Blue-tailed ground lizard X X [5][9]
Pholidoscelis alboguttatus Mona ameiva X
Pholidoscelis desechensis Desecheo ameiva X [8]

Family Scincidae

Species Common name Puerto Rico Culebra Vieques Mona Other
Spondylurus nitidus Puerto Rican skink X X X
Spondylurus culebrae Culebra skink X X
Spondylurus monae Mona skink X
Spondylurus monitae Monito skink X

Family Anguinidae

Species Common name Puerto Rico Culebra Vieques Mona Other
Diploglossus pleii Puerto Rican galliwasp X

Family Iguanidae

Species Common name Puerto Rico Culebra Vieques Mona Other
Anolis cuvieri [e] Puerto Rican giant anole X X
Anolis roosevelti [e] [ext] Culebra Island giant anole X
Anolis occultus [e] Puerto Rican twig anole X
Anolis evermanni [e] Emerald anole X
Anolis stratulus Barred anole X X X X [7]
Anolis gundlachi [e] Yellow-chinned anole X
Anolis cristatellus Crested anole X X X X [6][7][9]
Anolis desechensis [e] Desecheo anole X [8]
Anolis cooki [e] Cook's anole X X [5]
Anolis monensis [e] Mona anole X X [10]
Anolis pulchellus Puerto Rican anole X X X X [7][6]
Anolis krugi [e] Upland grass anole X
Anolis poncensis [e] Dryland grass anole X
Cyclura pinguis [ex] Anegada ground iguana X
Cyclura portoricensis [ext] Puerto Rican iguana X
Cyclura nubila nubila [i] Cuban ground iguana X
Cyclura cornuta stejnegeri [e] Mona ground iguana X
Iguana iguana [i] Green iguana X X X
Iguana delicatissima Lesser Antillean iguana X

Family Amphisbaenidae

Species Common name Puerto Rico Culebra Vieques Mona Other
Amphisbaena bakeri [e] Baker's worm lizard X
Amphisbaena caeca [e] Puerto Rican worm lizard X
Amphisbaena schmidti [e] Schmidt's worm lizard X
Amphisbaena xera [e] Puerto Rican dryland worm lizard X X [5]

Family Typhlopidae

Species Common name Puerto Rico Culebra Vieques Mona Other
Typhlops platycephalus Flat-headed blindsnake X X
Typhlops richardi Richard's blind snake X X
Typhlops rostellatus [e] Puerto Rican wetland blind snake X
Typholps granti Grant's blind snake X
Typhlops monensis [e] Mona blind snake X
Typhlops hypomethes Coastal blindsnake X

Family Boidae

Species Common name Puerto Rico Culebra Vieques Mona Other
Chilabothrus inornatus [e] Puerto Rican boa X
Chilabothrus monensis [e] Mona Island boa X
Chilabothrus granti [e] Virgin Island tree boa X X

Family Colubridae

Species Common name Puerto Rico Culebra Vieques Mona Other
Borikenophis portoricensis [e] Puerto Rican racer X X X X X [7]
Magliophis exiguus Puerto Rican garden snake X X X [7]

See also

Footnotes

  1. endemic This species is endemic to the archipelago of Puerto Rico.
  2. extinct This species is extinct.
  3. extirpated This species no longer occurs in the archipelago Puerto Rico but other populations exist elsewhere.
  4. introduced This species was introduced to the archipelago of Puerto Rico.
  5. Caja de Muertos This species occurs in Caja de Muertos Island.
  6. Cayo Batata This species occurs in Cayo Batata.
  7. Cayo Santiago This species occurs in Cayo Santiago.
  8. Desecheo This species occurs in the island of Desecheo.
  9. Magueyes This species occurs in Magueyes island.
  10. Monito This species occurs in the island of Monito.
  11. Culebrita This species occurs in the island of Culebrita.

References

Categories