Gekko adleri, Nguyen, Wang, Yang, Lehmann, Le, Ziegler & Bonkowski, 2013

Nguyen, Truong Quang, Wang, Ying-Yong, Yang, Jian-Huan, Lehmann, Tanja, Le, Minh Duc, Ziegler, Thomas & Bonkowski, Michael, 2013, A new species of the Gekko japonicus group (Squamata: Sauria: Gekkonidae) from the border region between China and Vietnam, Zootaxa 3652 (5), pp. 501-518 : 510-516

Gekko adleri sp. nov.

( Figs. 4 and 5 )

Holotype: IEBR A.2012.24 , adult male, from karst forest near Ban Coong Village (22o43.666’N, 106o39.054’E, at an elevation of 588 m a.s.l.), in Duc Quang Commune, Ha Lang District , Cao Bang Province, northern Vietnam, collected on 15 October 2011 by T. Q. Nguyen and C. T. Pham.

Paratypes (13 adult males, 7 adult females, 4 subadults): Seven specimens from Tongling Canyon, Qingzhou City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China (23o00.185’N, 106o40.037’E, at elevations between 450−550 m): SYS r000457, adult male, collected by Jian-Huan Yang (JHY hereafter), Run-Lin Li (RLL hereafter) at 2:35 on 20 August 2011 ; SYS r000263, adult male, collected by JHY at 17:30 on 6 August 2010 ; SYS r000458, adult female, collected by JHY and RLL at 1:32 on 20 August 2010 ; SYS r000456, adult male, collected by JHY and RLL at 1:44 on 20 August 2011 ; SYS r000459, SYS r000460−r0000461, subadult males, collected by JHY and RLL between 1:21−3:00 on 20 August 2011.

Seventeen specimens from Cao Bang Province, Vietnam: In Ha Lang District: one subadult ZFMK 93993 collected on 18 May 2011 by T. Ziegler and T. Q. Nguyen in Thanh Nhat Commune (22o41.267’N, 106o40.275’E, at an elevation of 380 m); three males IEBR A.2012.25–2012.27 and one female IEBR A.2012.28 collected on 13, 15, and 16 October 2011 by T. Q. Nguyen, C. T. Pham, and D. T. Le near Ban Coong Village, Duc Quang Commune (22o43.153’N, 106o39.540’E, at elevations between 420–480 m); one male VNMN A.2012.4 collected on 17 October 2011 by T. Q. Nguyen, C. T. Pham, and D. T. Le near Ban Man Village, Duc Quang Commune (22o44.146’N, 106o39.044’E, at an elevation of 520 m); two males VNMN A.2012.5–2012.6 collected on 7 and 9 April 2012 by TQN, H.T. An, T. Lehmann, and S. Herbst (TQN et al. hereafter) near Ban Tao Village and Lung Tung Village, Kim Loan Commune (22°43.908’N, 106°36.779’E, at an elevation of 473 m); one female ZFMK 93994 collected on 10 April 2012 by TQN et al. near Ban Chao Village, An Lac Commune (22°43.272’N, 106°36.875’E, at an elevation of 446 m); one male ZFMK 93995 and one female ZFMK 93996 collected on 13 April 2012, and two males ZFMK 93997–93998 and one female ZFMK 93999 collected on 5, 22 and 24 May 2012, all by TQN et al. near Ban Coong Village, Duc Quang Commune (22°43.342’N, 106°39.962’E, at an elevation of 454 m). In Trung Khanh District: one male IEBR A.2012.29 collected on 19 April 2012 by TQN et al. near Lung Chuong Village, Ngoc Chung Commune (22°52.647’N, 106°28.116’E, at an elevation of 694 m a.s.l.), one female IEBR A.2012.30 and one male IEBR A.2012.31 collected on 20 and 21 April 2012 by TQN et al. near Ban Hau, Cao Thang Commune (22°47.989’N, 106°34.265’E, at an elevation of 576 m).

Description of holotype. Size moderate, SVL 74.5 mm, TaL 81.6 mm, AG 34.6 mm; head longer than wide (HL 20.8 mm, HW 15.6 mm); rostral rectangular, wider than high (RW 3.4 mm, RH 1.7 mm) and wider than mental (MW 1.7 mm), without suture; supralabials 13/13; nares in contact with rostral, first supralabial, supranasal, and two nasals posteriorly; upper nasal smaller than lower nasal; internasal single, rectangular, half as large as supranasal; snout medially with flat, elongate cavity; lateral snout scales oval, somewhat convex, juxtaposed, two times larger than those in rostral and interorbital region; preorbitals 17 or 18; interorbitals 30; pupil vertical; upper ciliar scales 2 times as large as medial snout scales, 28/ 29 in number, 4/5 spinous tubercles posteriorly; a skin fold running from the last supralabial, backward about half way to tympanum; ear opening oblique, oval, about 35% of the eye diameter (maximum tympanum diameter 1.7 mm, horizontal eye diameter 4.8 mm), with a skin fold above; nuchal scales granular, as large as those in interorbital region; temporal region with several tubercles above tympanum; mental pentagonal, as wide as long (MW 1.7 mm, ML 1.6), smaller than first infralabials; infralabials 10/10; postmentals 2, trapezoidal, twice longer than wide, and longer than length of mental, in contact with mental and first infralabials anteriorly, medial suture between postmentals longer than the length of mental; postmental in contact with 6 gular scales posteriorly, outer gular scales larger than inner scales; dorsal tubercles 2–3 times as large as adjoining dorsal scales, round to oval, convex, smooth, surrounded by 8–9 dorsal scales, in 10 semiregular longitudinal rows at midbody; lateral fold weakly developed, without tubercles; ventrals between lateral folds 37; scales around midbody in 136 rows; ventral scales in a line between mental and cloacal slit 185; scales on upper and lower arm slightly enlarged; tubercles absent on dorsal surface of forelimbs; scales on anterior and ventral parts of thigh larger than those on dorsal and posterior parts; enlarged femoral scales absent; dorsal surface of tibia covered by granular scales, with 6 conical tubercles on each side; fingers and toes webbed basally (about 1/5); claws sheathed by 3 scales; subdigital lamellae under first finger 12/12, under fourth finger 15/13, under first toe 12/12, under fourth toe 13/13; precloacal pores 20, in an angular series; enlarged scales posterior to precloacal pores in 3 rows; postcloacal tubercle 1/1, blunt; tail not thickened at base, with some tubercles on dorsal surface of tail base; dorsal caudal scales as approximately twice the size of dorsal scales, squarish, flat, in regular transverse rows; third whorl in width of 8 dorsal scales; subcaudals flat, enlarged.

Coloration in life: Dorsal surface of head, body, limbs, and tail blackish grey; snout and interorbital region vermiculate; some small light spots present in temporal region and lateral sides of neck; lower jaw with some light bars; dorsal neck with a light grey blotch; dorsum without vertebral stripe, with five narrow light bands between shoulder and sacrum; some light spots present along lateral sides between limb insertions; a row of light spots present along lateral folds; limbs with small light spots and bars; dorsal tail with 9 light bands; throat, venter, and precloacal region yellowish cream with dark marbling; under surface of tail dark grey, posterior part with two narrow light bands. Coloration in preserved specimens is similar to coloration in life but with a paler venter.

Variation. Measurements and scalation characters of the paratypes are given in Tables 5 and 6 . The scale counts vary among the type series: supralabials from 10–14, infralabials from 9–13, interobitals from 27–36, and scale rows around midbody from 123–144. Tubercles on dorsal surface of the tibiae are absent in three specimens (IEBR A.2012.26, A.2012.29, and ZFMK 93998). Ground color on upper surface of head, body and tail is also different among each individual from yellowish grey to blackish grey.

Etymology. We name the new species in honor of Professor Dr Kraig Adler, Cornell University (New York, USA), in recognition of his contribution to herpetological research in China and Vietnam. As common names we suggest Adler’s Gecko (English) , Adlers Gecko ( German) , and Tắc kè ad-lơ (Vietnamese).

Natural history. Gekko adleri sp. nov. inhabits secondary limestone forests, with mixed small hardwoods, shrubs and vines at elevations between 380–694 m ( Fig. 6 ). Most specimens were found at night, however some individuals were sighted on the rock in the shade during the day. The new gecko species is a rock-dwelling specialist. Specimens of this species were found on walls in cave entrances, limestone cliffs and crevices, as well as on isolated limestone boulders in the valley near forest edges, about 0.5–6 m above the ground, but often at 1– 3 m. The temperature during the field surveys ranged from 19.1–27.8°C and the relative humidity varied between 63 and 90%.

Most common prey of Gekko adleri sp. nov. were spiders (50% of the prey items). Remains of crickets (Orthoptera) were found in two stomachs (IEBR A.2012.26 –A.2012.27), remains of a wasp (Hymenoptera) were found in one stomach (IEBR A.2012.28), and remains of a moth (Lepidoptera) were found in one stomach (VNMN A.2012.4). One of the six dissected stomachs was empty (IEBR 2012.25).

During the survey in Guangxi, China, in August 2011, we saw two gecko eggs, most likely of Gekko adleri sp. nov., in a rock crevice. At the same time, three adults (SYS r000456–000458) and three juveniles (SYS r000459– 000461) were found approximately 5–20 m away from the rock crevice and one juvenile was collected on the same rock.

Distribution. The species is currently known only from Tongling Canyon, Jingxi County, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in southern China and from Cao Bang Province in northern Vietnam ( Fig. 7 ).

Figures

FIGURE 4. Dorsal view of the male holotype of Gekko adleri sp. nov. (IEBR A. 2012.24) from Cao Bang Province, Vietnam (A) and the male paratype (SYS r 000457) from Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China (B). Photos by T. Q. Nguyen and J. H. Yang.

FIGURE 5. Dorsal view (A), ventral view (B) and lateral view (C) of the head, and precloacal region and ventral view of tail (D) of the holotype of Gekko adleri sp. nov. (IEBR A. 2012.24). Photos T. Q. Nguyen.

FIGURE 6. Habitat of Gekko adleri sp. nov. in Cao Bang Province, Vietnam (A) and in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China (B). Photos by T. Q. Nguyen and J. H. Yang.

FIGURE 7. Distribution of Gekko adleri sp. nov.: 1) Ha Lang and Trung Khanh, Cao Bang Province in Vietnam and 2) Jingxi, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in China.

Tables

TABLE 5. Measurements (in mm) of the type series of Gekko adleri sp. nov. (Abbreviations defined in text, STDEV: standard deviation).

	Holotype IEBR A.2012.24	Males (holotype and paratypes, n = 14) Min Max Average STDEV	Min	Females (paratypes, n = 7) Max Average STDEV	Min	Subadults (paratypes, n = 4) Max Average STDEV
SVL	74.5	58.4 75.0 69.0 5.62	61.4	75.3 69.0 5.72	29.5	48.2 35.2 8.75
TaL	81.6	74.0 62.5 82.6 8.23 (n = 8)	70.0	71.2 72.4 1.65 (n = 2)	28.0	36.7 51.1 12.57 (n =3)
AG	34.6	26.8 34.75 31.5 3.07	27.1	34.4 30.1 3.08	11.6	19.8 15.2 3.38
HL	20.8	16.0 20.8 18.9 1.50	17.0	19.9 18.7 1.20	8.4	13.3 10.3 2.11
HW	15.6	12.1 15.6 14.2 1.22	12.9	14.9 13.9 0.69	6.2	9.4 7.3 1.41
HH	8	6.1 8.5 7.3 0.73	6.0	7.6 7.0 0.61	3.7	4.8 4.0 0.52
SE	9.5	7.3 9.5 8.6 0.78	7.2	8.9 8.4 0.72	4.5	5.8 4.9 0.66
EE	7.2	5.0 7.2 6.2 0.69	5.1	6.6 6.1 0.65	2.7	4.0 3.2 0.58
RW	3.4	2.8 3.6 3.2 0.29	2.9	3.3 3.1 0.18	1.6	2.2 1.8 0.26
RH	1.7	1.1 1.7 1.4 0.20	1.1	1.5 1.3 0.17	0.7	0.9 0.8 0.10
MW	1.7	1.5 2.0 1.7 0.17	1.6	2.1 1.8 0.19	0.9	1.1 1.0 0.09
ML	1.2	1 1.6 1.3 0.21	1.1	1.5 1.3 0.17	0.8	1.1 0.9 0.14

TABLE 6. Scalation of the type series of Gekko adleri sp. nov. (Abbreviations defined in text).

	Holotype	Males	Females		Subadults
	IEBR	(holotype and paratypes, n = 14)	(paratypes, n = 7)		(paratypes, n = 4)
	A.2012.24	Min Max	Min	Max	Min	Max
CS	4/5	3 5	3	6	4	4
N	3	3 4	3	4	3	3
I	1	1 1	1	1	1	1
SPL	13/13	10 13	11	13	12	14
IFL	10/10	9 13	9	13	10	12
IO	30	27 36	29	35	27	36
PM	2	2 2	2	2	2	2
GP	6	4 7	4	6	4	5
DTR	10	8 11	8	11	7	9
GSDT	8−9	7 11	7	11	8	11
SMC	185	169 187	168	190	176	186
SR	136	123 144	126	144	136	142
V	37	36 44	35	44	36	43
LF1	12/12	10 13	10	13	10	12
LF4	15/13	11 15	11	15	13	15
LT 1	11/12	11 14	11	14	11	12
LT4	13/13	11 15	12	15	12	15
PP	20	17 21	0	0	19	20
PAT	1/1	1 1	1	1	1	1