Lygodactylus ulli, Vences & Multzsch & Gippner & Miralles & Crottini & Gehring & Rakotoarison & Ratsoavina & Glaw & Scherz, 2022

Vences, Miguel, Multzsch, Malte, Gippner, Sven, Miralles, Aurélien, Crottini, Angelica, Gehring, Philip-Sebastian, Rakotoarison, Andolalao, Ratsoavina, Fanomezana M., Glaw, Frank & Scherz, Mark D., 2022, Integrative revision of the Lygodactylus madagascariensis group reveals an unexpected diversity of little brown geckos in Madagascar’s rainforest, Zootaxa 5179 (1), pp. 1-61 : 44-46

Lygodactylus ulli sp. nov.

Lygodactylus sp. 21: Gippner et al. (2021)

Holotype. ZSM 154 /2005 ( FGZC 2811 ), adult male, collected by F. Glaw, M. Vences, and R. D. Randrianiaina at Marojejy National Park , at Camp 1 “Mantella”, North-East of Madagascar, geographical coordinates S14.4377, E49.7756, 481 m a.s.l., on 14 February 2005 ( Fig. 15 ).

Referred material. UADBA-R uncatalogued ( MSZC 0272 ), female, collected by M.D. Scherz, J. Razafindraibe, and A. Razafimanantsoa at the same locality as the holotype, at night on 23 November 2016 .

Diagnosis. Lygodactylus ulli sp. nov. corresponds to a lineage forming part of subclade A5 of Domerguella , and is the second representative of this subclade reaching northern Madagascar. It is characterized by the presence of distinct lateral spine-like scales at the base of the tail in males, as is found in several representatives of A5 from eastern Madagascar but not in other Domerguella . The smallest genetic distances are 10.7% uncorrected 16S distance to specimens of L. guibei . It can also be assigned to the subgenus Domerguella by an undivided mental scale with two postmentals, absence of a claw on the first finger, and 7 preanal pores in males. Within Domerguella , the new species (together with L. winki ) is one of only two species of subclade A5 known from northern Madagascar, and the only species of Domerguella so far known from the rainforests of the Marojejy Massif.

It differs from the nominal species of Domerguella occurring in northern Madagascar and belonging to subclades A1–A4 as follows: from L. expectatus by non-enlarged dorsolateral scales (longitudinal count of dorsal scales>250 vs. <170); from L. rarus by lack of regular crossbands on tail (vs. presence) and different body shape with less elongated limbs (relative hindlimb length 0.47 vs.>0.55); from L. petteri , L. tantsaha , L. salvi , L. roellae , and L. hapei by a higher longitudinal count of dorsal scales (253 vs. <241); and from L. madagascariensis as well as most of the previously mentioned species by a small but distinct spine-like tubercle at the base of the tail in males. From the other nominal species in subclade A5 ( L. miops , and L. guibei and L. winki ) the new species differs by higher longitudinal counts of dorsal scales (253 vs. 170–242) and ventral scales (110 vs. 87–109). We did not detect haplotype sharing in RAG1 or CMOS between L. ulli and the other nominal species in subclade A5 ( L. miops , and L. guibei and L. winki ). Haplotpe sharing was detected only at the CMOS marker with L. sp. 20.

For a distinction from additional species newly named and described herein, see the respective diagnoses below.

Etymology. We are pleased to dedicate this species to Ulrich “Ulli” Joger, director emeritus of the Braunschweig Natural History Museum, in recognition of his contribution to the taxonomy of reptiles, especially geckos. The species epithet name is defined as a noun in apposition (not a noun in the genitive case) to avoid ending with a non-euphonious double-i.

Description of the holotype. Adult male, hemipenes everted, in moderate state of preservation, tail is broken and missing, right forelimb is removed as source of tissue for molecular analysis ( Fig. 15 ). SVL 28.8 mm, TAL 2.6 mm; for other measurements see Table 1 . Head broader than body. The distance from the tip of the snout to the anterior border of the eye (3.5 mm) is lesser than the interorbital distance anteriorly (3.9 mm), and greater than the distance between the eye and ear opening. Snout covered with granular scales larger than those on the rest of the dorsum. Nostril surrounded by five scales: rostral, first supralabial, and three supranasals. Mental scale undivided; no contact between posterior projection of mental scale and first infralabial; three asymmetrical postmental scales with five postpostmental scales; six infralabial scales; seven supralabial scales; two internasal scales; granular dorsal scales; dorsum with small, homogeneous, granular, and unkeeled scales of similar size to those on trunk, no distinct size difference to scales on limbs; 253 dorsal scales longitudinally along the body; 110 ventral scales between mental and cloaca; venter with large homogeneous smooth scales; first finger present but very small, not bearing a claw; three pairs of subdigital lamellae on the fourth toe; two not very distinct dorsolateral tubercles, each consisting of one scale; seven preanal pores; tail without whorls; small lateral spines at the base of the tail.

Based on available photographs ( Fig. 21 ), the live holotype displays a brownish to grayish pattern on the dorsum and the limbs. From the snout, a narrow black stripe runs irregularly to two elongated spots on the shoulder. At the forelimb level two symmetrical black spots are present on the spine ( Fig. 21A ). After 16 years in ethanol, the preserved specimen is more grayish. The ventral side is whitish. While there are only a few small brown spots on the venter, multiple larger brown spots are irregularly scattered on the throat.

Variation. Comparing the two photographed specimens, dorsal coloration and patterns are less pronounced on the male ( Fig. 21A ), maybe because it appears to be close to skin shedding. The female has a blackish and grayish alternating dorsal pattern, surrounded by a yellowish base layer ( Fig. 21B +C). The female is laterally darker than the male ( Fig. 21A +B), has a white throat and yellow venter and ventral tail.

Natural history. Specimens were collected in primary rainforest.

Distribution. L. ulli is only known from its type locality, the Marojejy Massif in the North East region of Madagascar.

Figures

FIGURE 15. Dorsal and ventral views of preserved holotypes of new species of the Lygodactylus madagascariensis group named in the current study.

FIGURE 21. Photos of Lygodactylus ulli sp. nov., specimen from Marojejy in life. A, male holotype ZSM 154/2005 (FGZC 2811). B, C, D, female specimen UADBA-R-MSZC 272 in dorsolateral, dorsal, and ventral views. Not to scale.