A monitor lizard, which measures close to three-quarters-of-a-metre in length, is making itself at home in a new display at Hastings Blue Reef Aquarium.
The emerald green monitor lizard, who is five years old, came from the Rock-a-Nore Road’s sister attraction, the Blue Planet Aquarium in Cheshire.
His arrival is part of an ongoing expansion programme for the aquarium’s ‘Jungle Room’ area which is home to a variety of exotic reptiles, amphibians, spiders and insects from around the world.
Blue Reef Aquarium’s Leanna Lawson said: “He’s a truly impressive looking lizard. He didn’t have a name at his previous home so we weren’t sure what to call him.
“However one of our aquarists overheard a young visitor call him ‘Tictac’ and the name has stuck ever since,” she added.
Originally from New Guinea and its surrounding islands, the emerald green monitor lizard is renowned for its bright colouring which can range from bright green to turquoise.
The lizards are mainly tree-dwellers and are found in mangroves, rainforests and palm forests. They have long, prehensile tails which they use to hold on to branches.
They also have long claws and specially-adapted scales on the soles of their feet which help them climb.
The emerald green monitor lizards is also the only known type of monitor lizard that is omnivorous; eating a diet that includes berries, fruit, insects, frogs, lizards and other small animals.
Although not officially endangered, the emerald green monitor lizard is on Appendix II of the CITES list (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) which means they are thought to be at risk of extinction.
