Tobago least gecko

{{Speciesbox

| image = Sphaerodactylus molei 01-Barbour 1921.jpg

| image_caption = Sphaerodactylus molei,
drawing by E.N. Fischer from Barbour, 1921

| status = LC

| status_system = IUCN3.1

| status_ref = {{cite iucn |author=Hoogmoed, M. |author2=Ouboter, P. |author3=Schargel, W. |author4=Rivas, G. |author5=Murphy, J. |date=2016 |title=Sphaerodactylus molei |volume=2016 |page=e.T66080240A66080245 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-1.RLTS.T66080240A66080245.en |access-date=18 November 2021}}

| genus = Sphaerodactylus

| species = molei

| authority = Boettger, 1894

| synonyms = *Sphaerodactylus molei
{{small|Boettger, 1894}}

Sphaerodactylus buergeri
{{small|F. Werner, 1900}}
Sphaerodactylus venezuelanus
{{small|Roux, 1927}}
Sphaerodactylus molei
{{small|— King, 1962}}

| synonyms_ref =

| range_map =

| range_map_caption =

}}

The Tobago least gecko (Sphaerodactylus molei) is a species of lizard in the family Sphaerodactylidae. The species is endemic to the Caribbean and northern South America.

Etymology

The specific name, molei is in honor of British naturalist Richard Richardson Mole (1860–1926) of Port of Spain, Trinidad.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}}. (Sphaerodactylus molei, p. 181).

Geographic range

S. molei is found in the Antilles, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela including Margarita Island.{{NRDB species|genus=Sphaerodactylus|species=molei|accessdate=24 February 2019}}

Habitat

The preferred habitat of S. molei is forest at altitudes of {{convert|0|-|500|m|ft|abbr=on}}.

Description

Adults of S. molei have a snout-to-vent length (SVL) of about {{convert|25|mm|in|abbr=on}}.Barbour (1921).

Reproduction

S. molei is oviparous. The adult female usually lays one egg, rarely two, in a rotten stump.King (1962). Average egg size is {{convert|7|mm|in|abbr=on}} by {{convert|5.0|-|5.5|mm|in|abbr=on}}.