Williams' Dwarf Gecko

Open encyclopedia reference

Lygodactylus williamsi is a critically endangered species of lizard in the family Gekkonidae. The species is endemic to a small area of Tanzania. Common names include turquoise dwarf gecko, William's dwarf gecko and, in the pet trade, electric blue gecko or electric blue day gecko. Illegally wild-caught specimens are widely sold in the pet trade, often falsely promoted as captive-bred. Although L. williamsi breeds in captivity, the young require a lot of specific care, making large-scale breeding difficult. There is some specialist breeding, with one very large breeder claiming to have produced about a thousand individuals as of 2017, but no large-scale professional breeding. A captive breeding project and studbook was initiated by EAZA-registered zoos in 2013. L. williamsi, as a species, was placed under EU Appendix B protection (December 2014) and EU Appendix A protection (January 2017), and given CITES Appendix I protection in January 2017, as well. The gecko may not be kept or sold in the EU without documentation and permits, renewable every three years, and geckos must now be registered.

Wikipedia contributors, Lygodactylus williamsi; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T09:34:19.943673+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Lygodactylus williamsi Loveridge, 1952

Name authority

Loveridge, 1952

Common name

Williams' Dwarf Gecko

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Reptilia

Order

Squamata

Family

Gekkonidae

Genus

Lygodactylus

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. genusLygodactylus
13. speciesLygodactylus williamsi Loveridge, 1952

Close classified relatives

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

Browse 1,242 records assigned to Gekkonidae.

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=Lygodactylus&species=williamsi 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. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.

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:3WQ5H. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.