Mediterranean House Gecko

Open encyclopedia reference

The Mediterranean house gecko (Hemidactylus turcicus) is a species of house gecko native to the Mediterranean region, from which it has spread to many parts of the world including parts of East Africa, South America, the Caribbean, and the Southern and Southeastern United States. It is commonly referred to as the Turkish gecko as represented in its Latin name and also as the moon lizard because it tends to emerge in the evening. A study in Portugal found H. turcicus to be totally nocturnal, with its highest activity around 02:00. It is insectivorous, rarely exceeds 15 cm (5.9 in) in length, has large, lidless eyes with elliptical pupils, and purple or tan-colored skin with black spots, often with stripes on the tail. Its belly or undersides are somewhat translucent. What impact this gecko has on native wildlife in the regions to which it has been introduced is unknown. In many parts of the world, the range of H. turcicus is increasing, and unlike many other reptiles, it appears to be highly resistant to pesticides.

Wikipedia contributors, Mediterranean house gecko; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T11:24:10.795493+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Hemidactylus turcicus (Linnaeus, 1758)

Name authority

(Linnaeus, 1758)

Common name

Mediterranean House Gecko

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Reptilia

Order

Squamata

Family

Gekkonidae

Genus

Hemidactylus

Extinction status

Not supplied by this source

Classification family tree

Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.

1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
2. kingdomAnimalia
3. phylumChordata
4. subphylumVertebrata
5. infraphylumGnathostomata
6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
7. megaclassTetrapoda
8. classReptilia Laurenti, 1768
9. orderSquamata Oppel, 1811
10. suborderGekkota
11. familyGekkonidae
12. genusHemidactylus
13. speciesHemidactylus turcicus (Linnaeus, 1758)

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Hemidactylus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

Browse 1,242 records assigned to Gekkonidae.

Names & synonyms

Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.

Documented distribution

Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.

Source literature & publication evidence

References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.

1. https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Hemidactylus&species=turcicus Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references

Origins, evidence & remaining research

Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.

Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.

Dataset citation & attribution

This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11

Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.

Stable key: col:3KNFX. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.