photo by Sumio Okada, Aki-gun, July 1998

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Description : Adult 9-13 cm TL, 5-7cm SVL. Tawa geckos are gray, dark gray with dark spots or stripes on their backs. Bright color bands are clear on a dorsal tail. This species lacks enlarged dorsal tubercles and preanal pores. It has a single cloacal spur on each side of the tail. Male's cloacal spur is larger than female.

Habitat and Habits : Tawa geckos inhabit rocky mountains or outcrops along the shore. This species is active at night and feeds on insects. They hibernate in sunny rock crevices in late October to April.

Breeding : A female usually deposits 2 eggs in a sunny rock crevice in mid June to early August. Eggs become hard after laying. Each eggs are 13-17mm in length, 9-11mm in width. Incubation requires from 51 to 60 days under room temperature. Hatchlings are 50-62mm TL. Females may use a same crevice every year. The mountain populations are smaller than the costral one.

Range : The Tawa gecko ranges around the Inland Sea of Japan. In Hiroshima, this species is found from islands and mountains of coast. The highest location of this species is about 600m in elve. in a mountain, Hiroshima-shi.

Memos : Rare species of RDB Hiroshima. Tawa means a pass and type locality of this species. Tawa geckos are called "shichibu"(= about 2 cm), it means that an affected part is rotted 2 cm a day by gecko bite, but they are harmless. In north part of Hiroshima, Hynobius are called shichibu, too. Probably people thought that they are poisonous, because they are strange, ugly and poisonous-looking creatures.