DISTRIBUTION, HABITAT, SIZE, AND COLOR PATTERN OF
CNEMIDOPHORUS LEMNISCATUS (SAURIA: TEIIDAE) ON CAYO COCHINO
PEQUEN˜ O, HONDURAS
CHAD E. MONTGOMERY, ROBERT N. REED, HAYLEY J. SHAW, SCOTT M. BOBACK, AND
JAMES M. WALKER*

Department of Biological Sciences, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR 72701 (CEM, JMW)
Department of Biology, Southern Utah University, Cedar City, UT 84720 (RNR)
Department of Health and Sciences, Staffordshire University, Stoke on Trent, Staffordshire, ST3-2EW, United Kingdom (HJS)
Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487 (SMB)
Present address for CEM: Biology Department, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, 1725 State Street, La Crosse, WI 54601
Present address for RNR: U. S. Geological Survey, Fort Collins Science Center, 2150 Centre Avenue, Building C,
Fort Collins, CO 80526
Correspondent: jmwalker@uark.edu
ABSTRACT—Cayo Cochino Pequen˜o is a 0.64-km2 Caribbean island in the Cayos Cochinos archipelago,
Department of Islas de la Bahı´a, Honduras. One published report noted the presence of the rainbow
whiptail (Cnemidophorus lemniscatus) on Cayo Cochino Pequen˜o, but nothing is known about the biology
of this insular population. During a part of the dry season in July and August 2004, we used drift fences,
pitfall traps, and separate observational transects to elucidate the distribution and habitat use of C.
lemniscatus on the island. The only population of this species was located in a narrow coastal zone (width
to 60 m and length to 450 m) on the southern half of the eastern windward side of the island. We
analyzed the percentage of the canopy cover and the percentage of 4 ground coverage types along 2
transects 200 m long in this area to understand the basis of the suitability of the habitat for C.
lemniscatus. Descriptively, the area harboring this species on Cayo Cochino Pequen˜o consisted of the
remnants of a coconut palm grove with low-lying herbaceous vegetation and grasses, in which a mosaic
of small, open areas of sandy soil and coral fragments, with or without accumulations of debris, were the
foci of lizard activities. Also observed in this habitat were 2 individuals of the brown racer (Dryadophis
melanolomus), an actively foraging snake and likely predator on C. lemniscatus. Data obtained on rainbow
whiptails captured in pitfall traps and subsequently released were used to determine the size and color
patterns of hatchlings and adult males and females.