NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
(Sulawesi) Sailfin Lizard
Hydrosaurus celebensis (Peters, 1872)
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Hydrosaurus celebensis, male, Pattunuang, Sulawesi.
Andrea Glässer-Trobisch & Dietmar Trobisch · CC BY 3.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
The Sulawesi black sailfin lizard (Hydrosaurus celebensis) is a species of agamid native to Indonesia.
It is the second-largest species of sailfin dragon, with only the Sulawesi giant sailfin dragon being larger, exceeding 1.00 m in total length, possibly 1.200 m. Its head, neck, gular region, and shoulder are completely black; a row of enlarged flat, sometimes conical scales occurs on either side of the neck; its nuchal and dorsal crests are continuous; a group of dirty white, enlarged, flat scales are seen on the anterior part of the dorsum; few (<10) additional enlarged scales exist roughly at midbody and before the hind limbs. Dorsal colouration of this lizard is typically yellowish, sometimes dark orange, interspersed with black spots; ventrally it is beige, and its limbs are black with a few yellow spots; the scales under fourth and fifth toes are broad with several keels from near the base of the toe; the tail is black, sail black, or dark violet with black stripes.
Wikipedia contributors, Hydrosaurus celebensis; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T11:17:46.824408+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Hydrosaurus celebensis (Peters, 1872)
- Name authority
- (Peters, 1872)
- Common name
- (Sulawesi) Sailfin Lizard
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Reptilia
- Order
- Squamata
- Family
- Agamidae
- Genus
- Hydrosaurus
- 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.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classReptilia Laurenti, 1768
- orderSquamata Oppel, 1811
- suborderIguania
- familyAgamidae
- subfamilyHydrosaurinae
- genusHydrosaurus
- speciesHydrosaurus celebensis (Peters, 1872)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Hydrosaurus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Philippine Sailfin LizardHydrosaurus pustulatus (Eschscholtz, 1829) | AgamidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Weber's Sailfin LizardHydrosaurus weberi Barbour, 1911 | AgamidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Lophura celebensis Peters, 1872 Peters, 1872 | synonym |
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.
- https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Hydrosaurus&species=celebensis 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:8H5XZ. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.