St. Christopher Ameiva

The St Christopher ameiva has a maximum snout-vent length of 140 mm (5.5 in) in males and 103 mm (4.1 in) in females. The back and sides have a dark olive green background colour with darker vermiculations, darkest on the sides. The head is also dark olive green, but as the lizard grows this becomes progessively redder: there is a small area of pink on the snout of juveniles, but in larger specimens the red colour extends to behind the ears. The chin and throat are white, frequently showing some orange tint, and the underside is white. The juveniles also have four thin cream stripes, two on the back and one on each side, but these fade as the individual grows. There are rows of blue scales along the lower sides in the larger adults; in large males this blue extends onto the upper parts of the legs.

The St Christopher ameiva is endemic to the islands of the Saint Christopher Bank. it is abundant on Sint Eustatius but is only locally common on St Kitts and Nevis, possibly due to predation by the introduced Small Indian mongoose (Urva auropunctata) on these islands. It can be found in forests, parks and gardens.

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