goniurosaurus orientalis toyamai yamashinae kuroiwae splendens hainanensis lichtenfelderi luii araneus catbanensis bawalingensis huuliensis

Tonaki - Cave Gecko

	Goniurosaurus orientalis is one of the most beautiful geckoes. It originally lives on the island of Ie-Jiima, Tonaki-Shima, Aka-Shima and Tokashiki-Shima. This species becomes up to 16 cm and it has deep red eyes. Its basic color is dark brown or black with an orange or red pattern.

There are different color pattern of Goniurosaurus orientalis. Some exemplars are almost completely dark brown with only very thin orange lines on their body. Others have a very prominent, yet irregular pattern of orange red color. This species varies very much. I would like to know if the differences in color are due to the geckoes’ place of origin (depending on the island they live on).

striped female	striped male	spotted female

Recently hatched geckoes are black with deep orange red lines. They have deep red eyes similar to Goniurosaurus kuroiwae. The tail is black with white rings.

When growing up, there is a change in color taking place. In the black areas between the orange lines, tiny orange red dots become visible. After a while, these dots can even become bigger. The pattern of some exemplars becomes rather irregular, others have horizontal (head to tail) or vertical (side to side) line pattern. I personally think that Goniurosaurus orientalis is the most fascinating gecko ever.

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