<i>Tarentola mauritanica</i> (Squamata: Phyllodactylidae) Conquering the Greek Mainland: Three New Populations from Aetoloakarnania, Western Greece

Abstract

Tarentola mauritanica, also known as Moorish Gecko, is a trans-Mediterranean gecko with a large distribution, ranging from Israel and North Africa, to southern Europe, as well as on many large Mediterranean islands. In Greece, the Moorish Gecko is distributed across several islands, and the only mainland occurrences reported are from the Peloponnese (in the west and north) and very recently, from Athens. Here we present three new records of the Moorish Gecko from localities in the Aetoloakarnania prefecture (Western Greece), and briefly discuss potential scenarios of introduction and expansion of this species on the Greek mainland.

The Moorish gecko, Tarentola mauritanica Linnaeus, 1758 (Squamata, Phyllodactylidae), in Albania

“…1A), but with a low level of genetic variability across Europe (Rato et al 2016), which might indicate an introduced origin in at least some parts of its range (Mačát et al 2014). In the Balkan Peninsula, it lives in isolated populations in Zadar and Hvar in Croatia (Lisičić et al 2012) and various locations in Greece (Mačát et al 2014, Strachinis et al 2020. It is known from a single observation from Slovenia (Portorož, Krofel et al 2009) and from a dubious sighting from Montenegro (Ada Bojana, Ljubisavljević et al 2018).…”

“…Currently, there is no barrier for the species to spread in the area of Vlorë and Albania and this can be a conservation issue in the future, but also an interesting new research topic along with the investigation of other presumably newly-established populations, for example, in Greece (Mačát et al 2014, Strachinis et al 2020. It can also have effects on local invertebrates as the main prey source and on herpetofauna, most likely competition with H. turcicus as observed by Lisičić et al (2012).…”