R屬守宮——魔物守宮（地衣卷尾守宮）
Rhacodactylus chahoua, the Mossy Prehensile-tailed Gecko
魔物守宮（地衣卷尾守宮）
Rhacodactylus?chahoua, the Mossy Prehensile-tailed Gecko, is a species that inhabits the northern, middle, and southern regions of Grande Terre, and regions of Pine Island. Bavay, in 1869, scientifically identified and classified this species.?R. chahoua?is arboreal and lives in moderate sized trees in the forest, usually located near rivers.
魔物守宮，又稱(chēng)“地衣卷尾守宮”，是一種棲居于格朗德特爾島北部、中部和南部以及松島地區(qū)的R屬守宮。1869年，拜維對(duì)該物種進(jìn)行了科學(xué)鑒定和分類(lèi)。魔物守宮是樹(shù)棲動(dòng)物，生活在森林里通常位于河流附近的中等大小的樹(shù)木上。
The beautiful moss-like pattern and coloration of Grande Terre’s R. chahoua?varies from a background of mottled tans, dark browns, grays, rust, and moss greens covered with red and orange mottling or banding. According to de Vosjoli, R. chahoua?from Pine Island, appear to have more vivid colors and patterns than those found on Grande Terre (de Vosjoli and Fast, 2003).
主島的魔物守宮擁有地衣般的美麗花紋和色彩，其底色有斑駁的棕色、深褐色、灰色、鐵銹色和苔蘚綠色，上面覆有紅色和橙色斑影或帶紋。德·沃斯若利認(rèn)為，松島魔物守宮的色彩和花紋似乎比主島魔物守宮更加鮮艷（德·沃斯若利&法斯特，2003）。
These geckos have a long, slender body with a snout to vent length of approximately 5” (14 cm) and a narrow tail almost the same length as the body. As a defense behavior, R. chahous has the unique ability to completely coil its tail. The tail will coil into a spiral. If they feel threatened, R. chahoua?will drop from a limb to the ground, curl into a ball, and “play dead” by remaining motionless until it feels the threat of danger is gone. This is the only Rhacodactylus?species to exhibit this unique behavior.
這些守宮身體細(xì)長(zhǎng)，肛吻距約為5英寸（約合14厘米），細(xì)窄的尾巴幾乎和身體一樣長(zhǎng)。魔物守宮具有尾巴完全卷起的獨(dú)特能力，這也是它們的一種防御行為。魔物守宮會(huì)將尾巴卷成螺旋狀。如果受到威脅，魔物守宮會(huì)從樹(shù)枝掉到地上，蜷成一團(tuán)，一動(dòng)不動(dòng)地“裝死”，直到它覺(jué)得危險(xiǎn)的威脅已經(jīng)消失。所有R屬守宮中，只有魔物守宮才擁有這種獨(dú)特行為。
The diet of R. chahoua?in the wild has not been sufficiently studied to know exactly what they eat. However, since they readily eat crickets and various fruits in captivity, it is presumed their diet, like the other Rhacodactylus?species, probably consists of insects and fruits.
魔物守宮的飲食尚未得到充分研究，人們也不清楚它們到底以什么為食。不過(guò)，由于人工飼養(yǎng)的魔物守宮喜食蟋蟀和各種水果，人們推測(cè)它們的飲食和其他R屬守宮一樣，大致由昆蟲(chóng)和水果組成。
R. chahoua is now being successfully bred in captivity. Sexual maturity usually occurs by the age of 12 months. Males can be distinguished from females by the presence of hemipenal bulges. Males cannot be housed together as they will become aggressive towards each other. Many breeders prefer breeding R. chahoua?in pairs or very small groups of one male and two to three females. They believe there is less aggression and competition resulting in a higher egg production. Breeding can occur anytime between March and September with the female laying two eggs at a time. Incubation and hatch times are similar to the other Rhacodactylus?species. Eggs incubated at 82 F will usually hatch in 60 to 65 days. For various reasons, the hatch rate for R. chahoua?seems to be lower than other Rhacodactylus eggs. This could be due to their tough leathery shells that are more calcified making it difficult for the neonates to slit and to hatch.
目前，人們已經(jīng)成功培育出魔物守宮。魔物守宮通常在12個(gè)月大時(shí)通常達(dá)到性成熟。雄性擁有突起的半陰莖囊，因此容易與雌性區(qū)分。雄性不宜放一起養(yǎng)，否則它們會(huì)攻擊彼此。許多飼養(yǎng)者更喜歡成對(duì)飼養(yǎng)魔物守宮，或者飼養(yǎng)由一只雄性和兩三只雌性組成的小型群體。他們認(rèn)為，這樣做可以減少攻擊和競(jìng)爭(zhēng)，提高產(chǎn)蛋量。魔物守宮可在3月至9月之間的任何時(shí)候繁殖，雌性每次產(chǎn)蛋兩枚。孵化的條件和孵化時(shí)間與其他R屬守宮類(lèi)似。在82華氏度的溫度下，守宮蛋通常會(huì)在60至65天內(nèi)孵化。出于各種原因，魔物守宮的孵化率似乎低于其他R屬守宮。這可能是因?yàn)樗鼈儓?jiān)硬的革質(zhì)蛋殼更容易鈣化，使新生兒難以破殼而出。
At the present time, R. chahoua?in New Caledonia is considered vulnerable due to the species’ scattered isolated populations and because of increased habitat destruction. Another threat is a high infestation of an introduced and destructive ant species (Wasmannia auropunctata) in the R. chahoua?habitat.
目前，人們認(rèn)為新喀里多尼亞的魔物守宮十分脆弱，這是因?yàn)樗鼈兊姆N群彼此分散隔離，棲息地日益遭到破壞。而具有破壞性的外來(lái)螞蟻物種（小火蟻）大肆入侵魔物守宮的棲息地，無(wú)疑構(gòu)成另一重威脅。
R. chahoua remains one of my favorite geckos being offered in the reptile trade. A few breeders are now successfully breeding R. chahoua?with R. ciliatus, producing hybrids that exhibit new colors and patterns.
魔物守宮一直是我最喜歡的守宮之一。現(xiàn)在有些育種者已成功雜交魔物守宮和睫角守宮，繁殖出具有全新色彩花紋的雜交品系。
With continued interest and successful breeding in captivity, the future of these beautiful and charming geckos will be assured.
只要人們興趣不減，成功推進(jìn)人工繁殖，美麗迷人的魔物守宮必將前景光明。
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