GECKOS OF THE GENUS LEPIDODACTYLUS (SQUAMATA, REPTILIA) IN MICRONESIA- DESCRIPTION OF A NEW SPECIES AND REEVALUATION OF THE STATUS OF GECKO-MOESTUS PETERS, 1867

Bisexual populations of the gekkonid genus Lepidodactylus from Belau a nd other Micronesian islands are reviewed taxonomically on the basis o f museum and newly collected materials. Specimens from the Ngerukewid Island Group of Belau, having an entire terminal scansor and a few div ided or deeply notched subterminal scansors on digits II to V, are dis tinct from other Micronesian congeneric populations and are assigned t o the species group which has previously been known from New Guinea an d other Melanesian islands. The Ngerukewid specimens, however, differ from any other members of this species group in several characteristic s such as a relatively few body scale rows; and, hence, it is describe d herein as a new species, Lepidodactylus paurolepis. Remaining specim ens from Micronesia, all having a divided terminal scanser on digits I I to V, include the parthenogenetic L. lugubris, one bisexual species, and possible hybrids between them. The bisexual form closely resemble s L. lugubris and L. aureolineatus from the Philippines but differs fr om them in having smaller body, characteristic dorsal pattern, and onl y barely developed lateral serrations on tail. Because the one extant syntype of Gecko moestus Peters, a species first described in 1867 fro m Belau but subsequently synonymized with L. lugubris, is apparently c onspecific with that bisexual form, we designate this specimen as lect otype and resurrect the validity of the species as Lepidodactylus moes tus (Peters).