This list of reptiles of Trinidad and Tobago is derived from The Reptile Database which includes a total of 116 species of reptiles recorded on Trinidad, The reptiles of Trinidad are made up of 55 species of snakes, 49 species of lizards, 3 species of crocodilians and 14 species of turtles.
On the island of Tobago, 57 species of reptiles were recorded. Table of contentsTurtles: Cheloniidae · Dermochelyidae · Emydidae · Geoemydidae · Kinosternidae · Podocnemididae · TestudinidaeCrocodilians: Alligatoridae · CrocodylidaeLizards: Amphisbaenidae · Dactyloidae · Gekkonidae · Gymnophthalmidae · Iguanidae · Phyllodactylidae · Polychrotidae · Scincidae · Sphaerodactylidae · Teiidae · TropiduridaeSnakes: Aniliidae · Anomalepididae · Boidae · Colubridae · Dipsadidae · Elapidae · Leptotyphlopidae · Typhlopidae · ViperidaeReferences
Turtles (Testudines) Trinidad has a total of 14 species of turtles that are grouped into 7 families. Among them, there are 5 marine species, almost all of them in danger of extinction.
Tobago has a total of 7 species of turtle that are grouped into 4 families.
Cheloniidae
Order: Testudines · Family: Cheloniidae
Sea turtles (Cheloniidae) are a family of large turtles found in all tropical seas and some subtropical and temperate seas. Sea turtles developed from land turtles about 120 million years ago and are well adapted to life in the sea. They feed mainly on jellyfish, crustaceans and squid. 4 chelonids were recorded in both Trinidad and Tobago.
Caretta caretta (Linnaeus, 1758) EN Chelonia mydas (Linnaeus, 1758) EN Eretmochelys imbricata (Linnaeus, 1766) CR Lepidochelys olivacea (Eschscholtz, 1829) VU
Dermochelyidae
Order: Testudines · Family: Dermochelyidae
The leatherback sea turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) is the largest of all existing turtles and can reach a length of and a weight of more than . It is found in all tropical or subtropical seas. Unlike most sea turtles, leatherbacks are often found in the colder waters of temperate zones. It is the only extant species of the Dermochelyidae family and is considered critically endangered. All other species in this family are only known as fossils. This species occurs in both Trinidad and Tobago.
Dermochelys coriacea (Vandelli, 1761) CR
Chelidae
Order: Testudines · Family: Chelidae
Chelus fimbriatus (Schneider, 1783) Mesoclemmys gibba (Schweigger, 1812)
Emydidae
Order: Testudines · Family: Emydidae
The emydidae (Emydidae) are a family of carnivorous aquatic and semi-aquatic turtles. They live most of the time in ponds, reservoirs and rivers, coming to land when they have to find suitable places to lay their eggs. This family is made up of 10 genera that contain more than 50 species. One of them occurs in Trinidad.
Trachemys scripta (Thunberg in Schoepff, 1792)
Geoemydidae
Order: Testudines · Family: Geoemydidae
Rhinoclemmys punctularia (Daudin, 1801)
Kinosternidae
Order Testudines · Family: Kinosternidae
Kinosternon scorpioides (Linnaeus, 1766)
Podocnemididae
Order: Testudines · Family: Podocnemididae
Podocnemis expansa (Schweigger, 1812) Podocnemis unifilis Troschel, 1848 VU
Testudinidae
Order: Testudines · Family: Testudinidae
Chelonoidis carbonarius (Spix, 1824) Chelonoidis denticulatus (Linnaeus, 1766)
Crocodilians (Crocodylia)
Alligatoridae
Order: Crocodylia · Family: Alligatoridae
The alligatoridae (Alligatoridae) are a family of crocodilian sauropsids (reptiles) native to the Americas, including alligators and caimans. It includes the extant genera Alligator, Caiman, Melanosuchus and Paleosuchus, as well as numerous extinct genera. Of the 7 species that inhabit America, 2 occur in Trinidad.
Caiman crocodilus (Linnaeus, 1758) Paleosuchus palpebrosus (Cuvier, 1807)
Crocodylidae
Order: Crocodylia · Family: Crocodylidae
Crocodilians (Crocodylidae) are a family of archosaur sauropsids (reptiles) commonly known as crocodiles. This family includes 14 species of large semi-aquatic reptiles that inhabit tropical areas of the world. Crocodiles tend to congregate in freshwater habitats, such as rivers, lakes, wetlands, and sometimes brackish water. They are ambush hunters who usually wait for their prey, generally fish or land animals, to approach, before attacking them. They feed mainly on vertebrates such as fish, reptiles and mammals, and sometimes invertebrates such as mollusks and crustaceans, depending on the species. As cold-blooded predators, they have a slow metabolism and can therefore survive long periods without food. Despite their slow appearance, crocodiles are very fast over short distances, even out of water. However, these 2 species are considered waifs to the island. Meaning, that Trinidad and Tobago is not in their natural distribution. With these two species likely coming in from the surrounding waterways of Venezuela.
Crocodylus acutus (Cuvier, 1807) VU Crocodylus intermedius (Graves, 1819) CR
Lizards (Squamata - suborder Lacertilia) In Trinidad, 49 species of lizards were recorded, which are grouped into 11 families.
Amphisbaenidae
Order: Squamata · Family: Amphisbaenidae
Amphisbaena alba Linnaeus, 1758 Amphisbaena fuliginosa Linnaeus, 1758 Amphisbaena varia Laurenti, 1768
Dactyloidae
Order: Squamata · Family: Dactyloidae
Anolis aeneus Gray, 1840 Anolis ahli Barbour, 1925 Anolis alutaceus Cope, 1861 Anolis delafuentei Garrido, 1982 Anolis extremus Garman, 1887 Anolis gingivinus Cope, 1864 Anolis guamuhaya (Garrido, Pérez-Beato & Moreno, 1991) Anolis planiceps Troschel, 1848 Anolis rejectus Garrido & Schwartz, 1972 Anolis trinitatis Reinhardt & Lütken, 1862 Anolis vanidicus Garrido & Schwartz, 1972 Anolis wattsi Boulenger, 1894
Gekkonidae
Order: Squamata · Family: Gekkonidae
Gekko carusadensis Linkem, Siler, Diesmos, Sy & Brown, 2010 Hemidactylus brookii Gray, 1845 Hemidactylus mabouia (Moreau de Jonnés, 1818) Hemidactylus palaichthus Kluge, 1969
Gymnophthalmidae
Order: Squamata · Family: Gymnophthalmidae
Bachia heteropa (Wiegmann, 1856) Gymnophthalmus underwoodi Grant, 1958 Riama shrevei (Parker, 1935)
Iguanidae
Order: Squamata · Family: Iguanidae
Iguana iguana (Linnaeus, 1758)
Phyllodactylidae Order: Squamata · Family: Phyllodactylidae
Gymnodactylus geckoides Spix, 1825 Thecadactylus rapicauda (Houttuyn, 1782)
Scincidae
Order: Squamata · Family: Scincidae
Copeoglossum aurae Hedges & Conn, 2012 Copeoglossum nigropunctatum (Spix, 1825) Varzea bistriata (Spix, 1825)
Sphaerodactylidae
Order: Squamata · Family: Sphaerodactylidae
Gonatodes albogularis (Duméril & Bibron, 1836) Gonatodes ceciliae Donoso-Barros, 1966 Gonatodes ferrugineus (Cope, 1864 [resurrected from synonymy by Pinto et al. 2019]) Gonatodes vittatus (Lichtenstein, 1856) Sphaerodactylus molei Boettger, 1894
Teiidae
Order: Squamata · Family: Teiidae
Ameiva ameiva (Linnaeus, 1758) Ameiva atrigularis Garman, 1887 Cnemidophorus lemniscatus (Linnaeus, 1758) Cnemidophorus murinus (Laurenti, 1768) Kentropyx striata (Daudin, 1802) Tupinambis teguixin (Linnaeus, 1758)
Tropiduridae
Order: Squamata · Family: Tropiduridae
Plica caribeana Murphy & Jowers, 2013
Snakes (Squamata - suborder Serpentes)
Trinidad has 55 species of snakes, grouped into 10 families.
Aniliidae
Order: Squamata · Family: Aniliidae
Anilius scytale (Linnaeus, 1758)
Anomalepididae
Order: Squamata · Family: Anomalepididae
Typhlophis squamosus (Schlegel, 1839)
Colubridae
Order: Squamata · Family: Colubridae
Chironius carinatus (Linnaeus, 1758) Chironius scurrulus (Wagler, 1824) Chironius septentrionalis Dixon, Wiest & Cei, 1993 Drymarchon corais (Boie, 1827) Leptophis ahaetulla (Linnaeus, 1758) Leptophis coeruleodorsus Oliver, 1942 Leptophis riveti Despax, 1910 Leptophis stimsoni Harding, 1995 Mastigodryas amarali (Stuart, 1938) Mastigodryas boddaerti (Sentzen, 1796) Oxybelis aeneus (Wagler, 1824) Pseustes poecilonotus (Günther, 1858) Spilotes pullatus (Linnaeus, 1758) Spilotes sulphureus (Wagler, 1824) Tantilla melanocephala (Linnaeus, 1758)
Boidae
Order: Squamata · Family: Boidae
Boa constrictor Linnaeus, 1758 Corallus hortulanus (Linnaeus, 1758) Corallus ruschenbergerii (Cope, 1876) Epicrates cenchria (Linnaeus, 1758) Epicrates maurus Gray, 1849 Eunectes beniensis Dirksen, 2002 Eunectes murinus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Dipsadidae
Order: Squamata · Family: Dipsadidae
Atractus trilineatus Wagler, 1828 Clelia clelia (Daudin, 1803) Dipsas variegata (Duméril, Bibron & Duméril, 1854) Erythrolamprus aesculapii (Linnaeus, 1758) Erythrolamprus bizona Jan, 1863 Erythrolamprus cobella (Linnaeus, 1758) Erythrolamprus melanotus (Shaw, 1802) Erythrolamprus reginae (Linnaeus, 1758) Helicops angulatus (Linnaeus, 1758) Hydrops triangularis (Wagler, 1824) Imantodes cenchoa (Linnaeus, 1758) Leptodeira annulata (Linnaeus, 1758) Ninia atrata (Halowell, 1845) Oxyrhopus petolarius (Linnaeus, 1758) Pseudoeryx relictualis Schargel, Rivas-Fuenmayor, Barros, Péfaur & Navarette, 2007 Sibon nebulatus (Linnaeus, 1758) Siphlophis cervinus (Laurenti, 1768) Siphlophis compressus (Daudin, 1803)
Elapidae
Order: Squamata · Family: Elapidae
Micrurus circinalis (Duméril, Bibron & Duméril, 1854) Micrurus lemniscatus (Linnaeus, 1758) Micrurus psyches (Daudin, 1803)
Leptotyphlopidae
Order: Squamata · Family: Leptotyphlopidae
Epictia goudotii (Duméril & Bibron, 1844) Epictia magnamaculata (Taylor, 1940) Epictia tenella (Klauber, 1939)
Typhlopidae
Order: Squamata · Family: Typhlopidae
Amerotyphlops brongersmianus (Vanzolini, 1976) Amerotyphlops trinitatus (Richmond, 1965)
Viperidae
Order: Squamata · Family: Viperidae
Bothrops atrox (Linnaeus, 1758) Lachesis muta (Linnaeus, 1766)
References