Peringuey's leaf-toed gecko

{{speciesbox

| name = Peringuey's leaf-toed gecko

| status = LC

| status_system = IUCN3.1

| status_ref = {{cite iucn |author=Conradie, W., Weeber, J., Alexander, G.J., Pietersen, D. & Tolley, K.A. |date=2022 |title=Cryptactites peringueyi |volume=2022 |page=e.T41229A197402765 |url=https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/41229/197402765 |access-date=30 July 2022}}

| genus = Cryptactites

| parent_authority = Bauer et al., 1997

| species = peringueyi

| authority = (Boulenger, 1910)

| synonyms = *Phyllodactylus peringueyi
{{small|Boulenger, 1910}}

Cryptactites peringueyi
{{small|— Bauer, Good & Branch, 1997}}

| synonyms_ref ={{EMBL species|genus=Cryptactites|species=peringueyi}}. www.reptile-database.org.

}}

Peringuey's leaf-toed gecko (Cryptactites peringueyi), also known commonly as the salt marsh gecko, is a species of lizard in the family Gekkonidae. The species is endemic to South Africa.

Etymology

The specific name, peringueyi, is in honor of French entomologist Louis Péringuey.Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. {{ISBN|978-1-4214-0135-5}}. (Cryptactites peringueyi, p. 203).

Description

C. peringueyi is particularly tiny, not growing more than about {{convert|5|cm}} in total length (including tail), making it the smallest lizard in the region, along with the striped dwarf leaf-toed gecko of the Western Cape.{{citation needed|date=July 2016}} It has a red-brown body sometimes with thin, pale dark stripes.{{citation needed|date=July 2016}}

Behavior and reproduction

Peringuey's leaf-toed gecko is nocturnal and lives in matted marsh vegetation where it lays two minute eggs in summer.{{citation needed|date=July 2016}}

Geographic range and habitat

C. peringueyi is endemic to South Africa, being restricted to a few salt marshes in the Eastern Cape.{{citation needed|date=July 2016}}

Conservation status

C. peringueyi was believed to be extinct for a long time, but a tiny population was rediscovered in 1992 by the estuary of the Kromme river.{{citation needed|date=July 2016}}