Reproductive ecology of the Kandyan Day Gecko, Cnemaspis kandiana, in Gannoruwa Forest Reserve

Breeding habitats and environmental conditions preferred by Cnemaspis kandiana, its oviposition and reproduction aspects, its interactions with other species in the nesting habitat, and the mode of oviposition were investigated at the Gannoruwa Forest Reserve, Sri Lanka, during fortnightly field surveys from June 2005 to January 2006. Eleven egg clusters in five caves at Gannoruwa were sampled and data on the environmental conditions inside the caves, number of hatched and unhatched eggs, hatchlings, adults and other faunal species in the nesting habitat recorded. Six eggs were incubated in the laboratory. At the nesting sites, ambient temperature varied from 23-30 ºC and light intensity from 0-350 lux. The eggs were predominantly laid as pairs (on 85% occasions) suggesting that C. kandiana has invariant clutch size. The hatched and unhatched eggs at each location varied from 1 to over 100, though the maximum number of unhatched developing eggs found at a given time was 18, i.e., a cluster size to vary from 1-18 eggs. Eggs tend to hatch in pairs, after an apparent incubation period of 39-58 days. The hatchlings had a total length of 23.5-25.8 mm. No interaction with regard to reproduction was found between C. kandiana and any other animals at the breeding sites. The egg-laying in this species is probably a combined effect of site fidelity of a female and communal nesting. This might be due to relative scarcity of preferred habitats in the study area.

Keywords: Clutch size, cnemaspis kandiana, communal nesting, Gecko, reproduction, Sri Lanka.  

doi: 10.4038/jnsfsr.v37i1.453

J.Natn.Sci.Foundation Sri Lanka 2009 37(1): 13-22