111 D.M.S. S. Karunarathna y a.a. t. aMaraSinghe - hemidactylus maculatus hunae preDation HEMIDACTYLUS MACULATUS HUNAE (REPTILIA: GEKKONIDAE) PREYS ON BANDICOTA BENGALENSIS (MAMMALIA: RODENTIA) IN THE GALOYA NATIONAL PARK, SRI LANKA D.M.S. Suranjan Karunarathna 1,3 anD a.a. thaSun aMaraSinghe 2,3 1 IUCN – Sri Lanka Country offce, No. 53, Horton Place, Colombo 7, Sri Lanka. 2 Taprobanica Nature Conservation Society, No. 146, Kendalanda, Homagama, Sri Lanka. abstract: The Spotted giant gecko, Hemidactylus maculatus hunae, is the largest gecko recorded in Sri Lanka and it is considered to be endemic of the island. There are few records of geckos feeding on vertebrates, and this is the frst record of a gecko feeding on a rat species. More research is needed about the behaviour and other aspects of the biology of H. m. hunae. Key words: Spotted giant gecko, mole rat, predation, feeding behaviour, Sauria, lizard. resumen: D.M.S. S. Karunarathna y a.a. t. amarasinghe. “Hemidactylus maculatus hunae (reptilia: gekkonidae) depreda sobre Bandicota bengalensis (Mammalia: rodentia) en el Parque nacional galoya, Sri Lanka”. El geco gigante manchado, Hemidactylus maculatus hunae, es el gecko de mayor tamaño registrado en Sri Lanka y es considerado endémico de la isla. Hay pocos registros de gecos que se alimentan de vertebrados, y este es el primer registro de un geco alimentándose de una especie de rata. Se necesita más investigación acerca del comportamiento y otros aspectos de la biología de H. m. hunae. Palabras Clave: Geco gigante manchado, rata topo, depredación, comportamiento alimentario, Sauria, lagarto. 111 3 Send correspondence to / Enviar correspondencia a: dmsameera@gmail.com, aathasun@gmail.com herPetOtrOPiCOS Vol. 5(2):111-113 ISSN 1690-7930 (Printed) ISSN 1856-9285 (Online) Printed in Venezuela. All rights reserved Copyright © 2011 Univ. Los Andes intrODuCtiOn Forty two species or subspecies belonging to eight genera of geckos, family Gekkonidae, have been recognized from Sri Lanka and 31 (71%) of them are endemic to the island (Amarasinghe et al. 2009; Somaweera and Somaweera 2009). The gecko genus Hemidactylus comprises eight species or subspecies and the spotted giant gecko, Hemidactylus maculatus hunae, is an arboreal species found on granite caves, rock-out boulders, anthropogenic habitats and trees in the shaded areas in the dry and intermediate zones of Sri Lanka (Das and de Silva 2005, de Silva et al. 2004a). Hemidactylus maculatus hunae is the largest gecko in the country (Deraniyagala 1953). It is locally known as “Daventha Thith Hoona” (de Silva et al. 2004b) or “Thalagoi Hoona” (in Sinhala language) and attains a snout-vent length of over 120 mm and tail lengths of over 140 mm. This subspecies is considered endemic to Sri Lanka (Wickramasinghe and Somaweera 2008) and may be a distinct species (Amarasinghe et al. 2009). Hemidactylus m. hunae is often observed during the period 19:00-23:00 h and is exclusively nocturnal. Males, females and juveniles live in the same habitats. Hemidactylus m. hunae is highly carnivorous and mainly feeds on invertebrates, especially insects. However, H. m maculatus actively preys on small vertebrates such as geckos, skinks, agamid lizards, small birds and small mammals (“All these records are from India”; Daniel 2002). Here we report, with photographic evidence, the feeding habit of H. m. hunae, while predating on a pest rat species. OBSerVatiOn Observations were made on 8 of August 2009 in the ‘Makarae’ (=Dragon Mouth), Galoya National Park (112 m elevation; 07°11’44.88”N, 81°26’13.81”E, Fig. 1) in Monaragala District of Uva Province, Sri Lanka. Observations were made without disturbing the gecko. A mature male H. m. hunae (approx. 300 mm in total length) was observed from a distance of 2 m at 22:10 h on a large rock boulder (4 m height and 6 m wide). It then moved slowly to the forest foor where there were two small rat holes nearby, one belonging to an antelope rat (Tatera indica) and the other to a mole rat (Bandicota bengalensis). After about 20 minutes, we heard a small noise – ‘crivk crivk crivk’. At this time the gecko quickly came out of the mole rat hole with a juvenile mole rat (5 cm long) in its mouth (Fig. 2). Then the gecko dashed the prey three times on the granite rock wall and repeated this action eight to ten times. It then swallowed the prey head frst at about 22:45 h. After fve minutes, the gecko immediately retreated Published / Publicado: 10 MAY 2011