Abstract
A new sphaerodactylid gecko of the genus Gonatodes is described from La Blanquilla Island, located 170 km north of the Venezu- elan mainland. This new species exhibits the following suite of characters that immediately separate it from other taxa in the genus: verti- cally elliptic pupil, small size, uniformly reddish brown, non-sexually dimorphic coloration, and a subcaudal scale pattern type C (1'1). The new species is the fourth Gonatodes endemic to Caribbean islands, the other three being G. antillensis (Bonaire, Curacao, the archipelagos of Las Aves and Los Roques), G. daudini (Union Island, The Grenadines), and G. ocellatus (Tobago). Finally, we discuss the close phylogenetic relationship (based on nuclear genes c-mos and NT3) between the new species and Gonatodes daudini, as well as its zoogeographical implica- tions, showing interesting parallels with that of other Caribbean lizards.
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