NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Psychedelic Rock Gecko
Cnemaspis psychedelica Grismer, Ngo & Grismer, 2010
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.
Open encyclopedia reference
Cnemaspis psychedelica, also known as the psychedelic rock gecko (Tac ke duoi vang in Romanized Vietnamese), is an endangered species of gecko, only scientifically described in 2010, and is endemic to Hon Khoai Island and adjacent Hon Tuong Isle in Vietnam. It is up to ~7.5 cm (3 in) in snout–vent length, and (as suggested by its name) it is quite brightly colored in yellow, orange, black and grey-blue.
This diurnal gecko inhabits granite boulders in densely vegetated landscapes where it retreats into crevices or under the rocks if startled. These locations also used for sleeping at night. Each female typically lays two white eggs that are attached 0.3–3.5 m (1–11.5 ft) above the ground to the underside of a rock ledge (in captivity, they will use various elevated surfaces, not just rocks) and several females may use the same location, forming a communal nest with up to ten eggs. Newly hatched young are quite dull, but the adult colours are already evident when two months old.
Wikipedia contributors, Cnemaspis psychedelica; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T10:09:32.417138+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Cnemaspis psychedelica Grismer, Ngo & Grismer, 2010
- Name authority
- Grismer, Ngo & Grismer, 2010
- Common name
- Psychedelic Rock Gecko
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Reptilia
- Order
- Squamata
- Family
- Gekkonidae
- Genus
- Cnemaspis
- 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
- suborderGekkota
- familyGekkonidae
- genusCnemaspis
- speciesCnemaspis psychedelica Grismer, Ngo & Grismer, 2010
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Cnemaspis. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Argus Rock GeckoCnemaspis argus Dring, 1979 | GekkonidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Mumpuni Rock GeckoCnemaspis mumpuniae Grismer, Wood, Anuar, Riyanto, Ahmad, Muin, Sumontha, Grismer, Onn, Quah & Pauwels, 2014 | GekkonidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Siamese Rock GeckoCnemaspis siamensis (Smith, 1925) | GekkonidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Ornate Day GeckoCnemaspis ornata (Beddome, 1870) | GekkonidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Chanthaburi Rock GeckoCnemaspis chanthaburiensis Bauer & Das, 1998 | GekkonidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Kottiyoor Day GeckoCnemaspis kottiyoorensis Cyriac & Umesh, 2014 | GekkonidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Adang-Rawi Rock GeckoCnemaspis adangrawi Ampai, Rujirawan, Wood, Stuart & Aowphol, 2019 | GekkonidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Ajija’s Day GeckoCnemaspis ajijae Sayyed, Pyron & Dileepkumar, 2018 | GekkonidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Golden banded dwarf geckoCnemaspis bangara Agarwal, Thackeray, Pal & Khandekar, 2020 | GekkonidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Butewes’ day geckoCnemaspis butewai Karunarathna, Poyarkov, de Silva, Madawala, Botejue, Gorin, Surasinghe, Gabadage, Ukuwela & Bauer, 2019 | GekkonidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Cnemaspis chengodumalaensis Cyriac, Palot, Deuti & Umesh, 2020 | GekkonidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Yellow-bellied Day GeckoCnemaspis flaviventralis Sayyed, Pyron & Dahanukar, 2016 | GekkonidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
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=Cnemaspis&species=psychedelica 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:WGNQ. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.