Cnemaspis flavolineata (Nicholls)

Grismer, L. Lee, Grismer, Jesse L., Wood, Perry L. & Onn, Chan Kin, 2008, The distribution, taxonomy, and redescription of the geckos Cnemaspis affinis (Stoliczka 1887) and C. flavolineata (Nicholls 1949) with descriptions of a new montane species and two new lowland, karst- dwelling species from Peninsular Malaysia, Zootaxa 1931, pp. 1-24 : 9-11

Cnemaspis flavolineata (Nicholls)

Titi Wangsa Rock Gecko

Figure 2

Cnemaspis flavolineatus Nicholls, L. 1949:47 . A new gekkonid from the Malay Peninsula. Bulletin of the Raffles

Museum 19:47–49. Type locality: “the Gap below Fraser’s Hill, on the Pahang-Selangor boundary”, Peninsular

Malaysia. Cnemaspis kendallii Smith 1922:268 Cnemaspis affinis Grandison 1972:80 Cnemaspis affinis Dring 1979:223 Cnemaspis flavolineata Kluge 1993:6 Cnemaspis flavolineatus Manthey & Grossmann 1997:211 Cnemaspis (Cnemaspis) flavolineata Rösler 2000:62

Diagnosis. Adult males reaching 40.2 mm SVL, adult females reaching 41.2 mm SVL; 8–10 supralabials; 7– 10 infralabials; large, lateral postmentals separated at midline by one or two smaller postmentals; forearm scales, subtibials, ventrals, subcaudals, and dorsal tubercles keeled; 22–24 paravertebral tubercles; tubercles on flanks, relatively small, not linearly arranged; lateral caudal tubercles within lateral caudal furrow; ventrolateral caudal tubercles present anteriorly; median subcaudal row not enlarged; no enlarged, keeled, row of median subcaudals; caudal tubercles encircle tail; femoral pores absent; continuous row of five precloacal, pore-bearing scales; two or three postcloacal tubercles; subtibials not shield-like; no enlarged, metatarsal scales; 23–26 subdigital lamellae on fourth toe; no distinct, large, dark spots on neck; no white markings on flanks; no dark shoulder patch enclosing ocelli; no light, postscapular band; distinct, dark, caudal bands absent; subcaudal region pigmented, not immaculate.

Description. Head oblong in dorsal profile, moderate in size, somewhat narrow, flattened, distinct from neck; snout short, slightly concave in lateral profile; postnasal region constricted medially, flat; scales of rostrum keeled, raised, slightly larger than those on occiput; supraorbital ridges weak; shallow frontorostral sulcus; canthus rostralis nearly absent, smoothly rounded; eye large; extra-brillar fringe scales largest anteriorly; pupil round; ear opening oval, taller than wide; rostral slightly concave, usually divided dorsally by longitudinal groove; rostral bordered posteriorly by supranasals and 1–3 small azygous scales and laterally by first supralabials; 8–10 raised supralabials of similar size; 8–10 infralabials, decreasing in size posteriorly; nostrils elliptical, oriented posterodorsally; bordered posteriorly by small, granular, postnasal scales; mental large, triangular, bordered posteriorly by two, large, postmentals separated medially by two smaller scales; gular and throat scales keeled, raised.

Body slender, elongate; small, keeled, dorsal scales equal in size throughout body, intermixed with several large, multicarinate tubercles more or less randomly arranged; tubercles extend from occiput to base of tail; tubercles on flanks not enlarged, moderate in size; pectoral and abdominal scales keeled, raised, slightly elongate, subimbricate, equal in size throughout; ventral scales slightly larger than dorsal scales; five precloacal, pore-bearing scales not separated medially by intervening scales; precloacal depression absent; femoral pores absent; forelimbs moderately long, slender; dorsal scales of brachium raised, keeled; dorsal scales of forearm same as brachials, those on anterior margin keeled; ventral scales of brachium raised, juxtaposed; scales beneath forearm, raised, keeled, juxtaposed; palmar scales smooth, juxtaposed, raised; digits long with an inflected joint; claws recurved; lamellae beneath first phalanges granular proximally, widened distally; lamellae beneath phalanx immediately following inflection granular, lamellae of distal phalanges wide; interdigital webbing present; fingers increase in length from first to fourth with fourth and fifth equal in length; hind limbs slightly longer and thicker than forelimbs; dorsal scales of thigh keeled, raised, juxtaposed; scales of anterior margin of thigh keeled; ventral scales of thigh raised, keeled; subtibial scales keeled, raised with no enlarged, anterior row; plantar scales smooth, juxtaposed, raised; no enlarged, submetatarsal scales beneath first metatarsal; digits elongate with an inflected jointed; claws recurved; lamellae beneath first phalanges granular proximally, widened distally; lamellae beneath phalanx immediately following inflection granular, lamellae of distal phalanges wide; interdigital webbing weak; toes increase in length from first to fourth with fourth and fifth equal in length; 23–26 subdigital lamellae on fourth toe; caudal scales arranged in segmented whorls; anterior, dorsal, caudal scales raised, keeled, juxtaposed; shallow middorsal caudal furrow; deeper, single lateral furrow; no enlarged, median subcaudal scale row; subcaudal scales keeled; no median row of enlarged, keeled, subcaudal scales; a paravertebral and lateral longitudinal row of large, keeled caudal tubercles on either side of midline; tubercles within anterior one-third to one-half of lateral furrow; ventrolateral row of caudal tubercles anteriorly, fading posteriorly; transverse tubercle rows encircle tail; two or three enlarged postcloacal tubercles on lateral surface of hemipenial swellings at base of tail; tail 1.3% of SVL.

Coloration. Dorsal ground color yellow-brown to olive-brown overlain by faint, orange reticulum in juveniles; small dark and light markings on top of head with a thin, black, interorbital bar; faint, dark lines radiating out from eye; paired, dark markings on nape followed by small, dark, paravertebral blotches alternating with diffuse yellowish blotches extending to base of tail; many specimens have a wide, yellowish, vertebral stripe extending from nape onto anterior portion of tail; yellow blotches on flanks tend to be transversely arranged in specimens with vertebral stripe but more randomly arranged in specimens lacking stripe; black shoulder patches absent; no distinct, white to yellow postscapular band; very faint, dark and light bands encircling tail; irregularly shaped, dark and light markings on limbs; faint, dark and light bands encircling digits; ventral surfaces of head, body, and limbs dull beige, immaculate; subcaudal region darker, pigmented, not immaculate; juveniles more boldly marked. There is no sexual dimorphism in color pattern.

Distribution. Cnemaspis flavolineata is known from the Titi Wangsa Range at Cameron Highlands, Pahang ( Lim et al. 2002; Manthey & Grossmann 1997) and Fraser’s Hill, Pahang ( Leong & Lim 2003). It also occurs on Gunung Benom, Pahang ( Grandison 1972) along the western flank of the Titi Wangsa Range approximately 38 km east of Fraser’s Hill ( Fig. 1).

Remarks. The original description of Cnemaspis flavolineata ( Nicholls 1949) was based on an immature male (SVL 27.7 mm) from Fraser’s Hill, Pahang thought to be unique in having a pentagonal mental scale and a yellow vertebral stripe. Dring (1979) noted that mental scale morphology varied considerably in the southern Thai populations of Cnemaspis which prompted him to consider C. flavolineata a junior synonym of C. affinis . Additionally, we have seen both stripped and unstriped individuals of C. flavolineata ( Fig. 2). However, as detailed below, there are numerous other differences in scalation and color pattern to justify the recognition of these lineages as separate species.

Material examined. Pahang: Cameron Highlands LSUHC 9110, HC 303, Fraser’s Hill LSUHC 8079; Gunung Benom BM 1967.2781.