Sphaerodactylus beattyi, also known commonly as the Saint Croix's sphaero, Beatty's least gecko, and the cotton ginner gecko, is a species of lizard in the family Sphaerodactylidae. The species is endemic to Saint Croix in the United States Virgin Islands. There are two recognized subspecies.
Taxonomy The specific name, beattyi, is in honor of Crucian naturalist Harry Andrew Beatty (1902–1989).Beolens B, Watkins M, Grayson M (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . (Sphaerodactylus beattyi, p. 20). The subspecies seamani is named in honor of Crucian George A. Seaman.Thomas & Schwartz (1966). p. 196.
Two subspecies are recognized as being valid, including the nominotypical subspecies. Sphaerodactylus beattyi beattyi Sphaerodactylus beattyi seamani
Ecology The preferred habitats of S. beattyi are shrubland and forest at altitudes of .
S. beattyi is oviparous.
References
Further reading Grant C (1937). "Herpetological Notes with New Species from the American and British Virgin Islands, 1936". Journal of the Department of Agriculture of Puerto Rico 21: 503–522. (Sphaerodactylus beattyi, new species, p. 508). Rösler H (2000). "Kommentierte Liste der rezent, subrezent und fossil bekannten Geckotaxa (Reptilia: Gekkonomorpha) ". Gekkota 2: 28–153. (Sphaerodactylus beattyi, p. 110). (in German). Schwartz A, Henderson RW (1991). Amphibians and Reptiles of the West Indies: Descriptions, Distributions, and Natural History. Gainesville, Florida: University of Florida Press. 720 pp. . (Sphaerodactylus beattyi, p. 471). 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. (Sphaerodactylus beattyi, p. 145). Thomas R, Schwartz A (1966). "Sphaerodactylus (Gekkonidae) in the Greater Puerto Rico Region". Bulletin of the Florida State Museum, Biological Sciences 10 (6): 193–260. (Sphaerodactylus beattyi seamani, new subspecies, pp. 251–253, Figure 10).