Celestus hewardi, also known commonly as Heward's galliwasp, the red-spotted galliwasp, and the three-streaked galliwasp, is a species of lizard in the family Diploglossidae. The species is endemic to Jamaica.[2]

Celestus hewardi
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Family: Diploglossidae
Genus: Celestus
Species:
C. hewardi
Binomial name
Celestus hewardi
Gray, 1845
Synonyms[2]

Etymology

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The specific name, hewardi, is in honor of British botanist Robert Heward.[3]

Habitat

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The preferred natural habitat of C. hewardi is forest, at altitudes of 120–718 m (394–2,356 ft).[1]

Description

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Moderately large-sized for its genus, C. hewardi may attain a snout-to-vent length (SVL) of 132 mm (5.2 in). The limbs are relatively long. The nasal is excluded from the frontal. The dorsal scales are keeled and striate. The ventrals are smooth to weakly striate, and number 113–135 between the mental and the vent. There are 49–59 scales around the body at midbody. There are 15–19 lamellae on the underside of the fourth toe. There is an angular subocular usually between supralabials seven and eight, less frequently between six and seven. The dorsal ground color is greenish tan-brown to very dark brown (almost black) or metallic tan, with or without dirty gray, median nuchal and postocular streaks. The middorsal spots are reddish brown to bronze. The flanks and sides of head are marked with alternating bars of black and green to yellow-green. The top of the head is olive and patternless. The limbs are flecked with metallic tan. Vertical subocular and loreal lines are absent. The labials and the throat are mottled or flecked with brown to black on a yellow-green to dull blue ground color extending as far posteriorly as the forelimb insertions. The dorsum of the tail is colored like the body, but distally has light bands of pale blue. The venter or underside of the tail is orange (Schwartz & Henderson 1991: 374).[2]

Behavior

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C. hewardi is terrestrial.[1]

Diet

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C. hewardi preys predominately upon slugs.[1]

Reproduction

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C. hewardi is ovoviviparous.[2]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Hedges, B.; Wilson, B.S. (2017). "Celestus hewardi ". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2017: e.T203031A2758749. Retrieved 16 December 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d Species Celestus hewardi at The Reptile Database www.reptile-database.org.
  3. ^ Beolens B, Watkins M, Grayson M (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Celestus hewardi, p. 122).

Further reading

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  • Boulenger GA (1885). Catalogue of the Lizards in the British Museum (Natural History). Second Edition. Volume II. ... Anguidae. London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xiii + 497 pp. + Plates I–XXIV. (Diploglossus hewardii, p. 291 + Plate XVII).
  • Gray (1845). Catalogue of the Specimens of Lizards in the Collection of the British Museum. London: Trustees of the British Museum. (Edward Newman, printer). xxviii + 289 pp. ("Three-streaked Galliwasp. Celestus Hewardii.", new species, p. 118).
  • Schwartz A, Henderson RW (1991). Amphibians and Reptiles of the West Indies: Descriptions, Distributions, and Natural History. Gainesville: University of Florida Press. 720 pp. ISBN 978-0813010496. (Celestus hewardi, p. 374).
  • Schwartz A, Thomas R (1975). A Check-list of West Indian Amphibians and Reptiles. Carnegie Museum of Natural History Special Publication No. 1. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Carnegie Museum of Natural History. 216 pp. (Diploglossus hewardi, p. 119).