Cnemaspis girii, Mirza, Zeeshan A., Pal, Saunak, Bhosale, Harshal S. & Sanap, Rajesh V., 2014

Mirza, Zeeshan A., Pal, Saunak, Bhosale, Harshal S. & Sanap, Rajesh V., 2014, A new species of gecko of the genus Cnemaspis Strauch, 1887 from the Western Ghats, India, Zootaxa 3815 (4), pp. 494-506 : 495-502

Cnemaspis girii sp. nov.

( Figs. 1 & 2 , Plates 1–3)

Holotype—INDIA, Maharashtra, Satara district, Kass plateau (17°43'25.57"N, 73°49'9.44"E, elevation 1,203m), adult male BNHS 2299, collected by Harshal Bhosale & Zeeshan Mirza, 25 January 2013.

Paratypes—male BNHS 2079 H. Bhosale and N. Chandak, female BNHS 2078 collected by H. Bhosale and N. Chandak, male BNHS 2081 collected by A. Shaikh, female BNHS 2080 collected by S. Chikane. All specimens collected on 29 July 2010,three males CESL 856–858, 1 female CESL 855, collected by Harshal Bhosale & Zeeshan Mirza, 25 January 2013. Locality data same as for holotype.

Diagnosis: A small sized Cnemaspis , SVL less than 35 mm (21.52–33.65, n=9). Dorsal scales on trunk heterogeneous, granular scales intermixed with large smooth scales and large keeled conical tubercles. Paired postmentals, inner postmentals separated by a single enlarged chin shield. Spine-like tubercles absent on flank. Ventral scales on trunk smooth, imbricate, 26–28 scales across the belly between the lowest rows of dorsal scales. Subdigital scansors smooth, entire, unnotched; lamellae under digit IV of pes 17–20. Males with four femoral pores on each side and no pre-cloacal pores. Original tail sub-cylindrical, with 6 rows of large (much larger than those on the dorsum), posteriorly pointed in males dorsal tubercles; median row of sub-caudals smooth, imbricate and not enlarged.

Cnemaspis girii sp. nov. may be distinguished from all other peninsular Indian congeners on the basis of the following differing or non-overlapping characters: spine-like tubercles absent on flank [spine-like tubercles present on flank in C. goaensis (Sharma) , C. indraneildasii , C. jerdonii (Theobald) , C. littoralis , C. monticola (Manamendra-Arachchi, Batuwita & Pethiyagoda) , C. mysoriensis , C. nilagirica (Manamendra-Arachchi, Batuwita & Pethiyagoda)]; scales on dorsal aspect of trunk heterogeneous [scales homogenous in C. boiei (Gray) , C. indica (Gray) , C. jerdonii , C. kolhapurensis , C. littoralis , C. mysoriensis , C. nilagirica ]; tail with smooth imbricate median row of sub-caudals scales not enlarged [smooth enlarged median row of sub-caudals in C. boiei , C. goaensis , C. gracilis (Beddome) , C. heteropholis (Bauer) , C. indica , C. jerdonii , C. kolhapurensis , C. nairi (Inger, Marx & Koshy) , C. nilagirica , C. ornata (Beddome) , C. sisparensis (Theobald) , C. wynadensis (Beddome) ]; C. monticola intermixed with keeded subcaudals, C. australis (Manamendra-Arachchi, Batuwita & Pethiyagoda) with keeled sub-caudals); males with 4 femoral pores on each side (femoral pores absent where as pre-cloacal pores present in C. beddomei (Theobald) , C. nairi , C. ornata ; males with pre-cloacal as well as femoral pores: C. australis , C. goaensis , C. gracilis , C. mysoriensis , C. otai (Das & Bauer) , C. yercaudensis (Das & Bauer) ; pores absent in both sexes of C. boiei ; males with femoral pores 6 in C. heteropholis , 5 in C. indica , 8 in C. jerdonii , 14–18 femoral pores in C. littoralis , 7–8 in C. sisparensis , 4-6 in C. wynadensis . For comparison with Sri Lankan Cnemaspis refer to Manamendra-Arachchi et al. (2007)

Description of adult male holotype BNHS 2299: The holotype (Plate 1a) is generally in good condition with an entire, original tail. SVL 32.28 mm. Head short (HL//SVL = 0.18), wide (HW/HL = 0.98), not strongly depressed (HD//HL = 0.59), distinct from neck. Loreal region slightly inflated, canthus rostralis not prominent. Snout slightly longer (SE/HL = 0.76); longer than eye diameter (OD/SE = 0.34); scales on snout and canthus rostralis large, keeled, juxtaposed; slightly larger than those on forehead and interorbital region; occipital and temporal region with much smaller, granular scales intermixed with larger tubercles (Plate 1c). Eye small (OD/HL = 0.26); pupil approximately round in life; superciliaries not elongated. Ear opening deep, almost circular, small (EL/HL = 0.05); eye to ear distance greater than diameter of eyes (EE/OD = 2.19) (Plate 1b). Rostral wider than long, divided by rostral groove for more than half its length; two swollen, equal sized supranasals separated by a single swollen internasal and two postnasals; rostral in contact with nostril, supralabial I, first supranasal, and internasal; supralabial I in narrow contact with nasal; two rows of scales separate orbit from supralabials. Mental enlarged, triangular, wider than rostral and slightly wider than long; two pairs of postmentals, inner pair larger, subtriangular; outer postmentals small, about half the length of the innerone in size (left venter) and slightly smaller than the inner one on the other side (right venter); inner postmental bordered by mental, infralabial I, outer postmental and two enlarged chin shields; outer postmental bordered by infralabials I, II, inner postmental and three enlarged chin shields; undifferentiated scales separate infralabials from chin shields (Plate 1d). Chin shield are flat, smooth and are slightly smaller than outer right postmental shield.

Supralabials to midorbital position 7, supralabials to angle of jaws 8; infralabials to angle of jaws 7 (Plate 1b; interorbital scale rows between left and right superciliaries in front of the eye 17, at midorbit 27 (Plate 1c). Body relatively slender, not elongate (TRL/SVL = 0.44) without ventrolateral folds. Dorsal scales on trunk heterogeneous; granular scales intermixed with large depressed smooth scales and large keeled conical tubercles (Plate 1e).

Ventral scales larger than dorsal, smooth, imbricate, slightly larger on abdomen than on chest; midbody scale rows across belly to lowest row of tubercles 26–28 (Plate 1f); gular region with still smaller, juxtaposed, smooth scales, anterior gular scales hexagonal (Plate 1d). Four femoral pores on either side (Plate 2b & c).

Scales on palm and sole smooth, slightly elongate scales on forelimb and dorsal aspect of hindlimb 3 – 4 times larger than dorsal granules, keeled, imbricate; those on inner surface of hindlimb slightly, smaller, keeled. Fore and hindlimbs relatively short, slender; forearm and tibia short (FL/SVL = 0.15; CL/SVL = 0.17); digits elongate, clawed; subdigital scansors smooth, entire, except for two to three fragmented ones at base, unnotched; an enlarged scansor near proximal interphalangeal joint is more than twice the width of more distal lamellae; interdigital webbing absent. Lamellae 9–13–15–15 –14 (right manus, Plate 2a), 9–13–16–20 –17 (right pes, Plate 2b & c); relative length of digits (measurements in mm): IV (3.5)> III (3.2)> V (3.0)> II (2.9)> I (2.1) (right manus); IV (3.5)> V (3.2)> III (3.1)> II (2.8)> I (1.9) (right pes) (Plate 2a & b).

PLATE 1. Holotype male Cnemaspis girii sp. nov. (BNHS 2299): a) dorsal aspect, b) lateral view of head, c) dorsal view of head, d) ventral view of head, e) dorsal view of trunk, f) ventral view of trunk and cloacal region.

PLATE 2. Holotype male Cnemaspis girii sp. nov. (BNHS 2299): a) ventral view of manus, b) ventral view of pes, c) ventral view of colacal region showing femoral pores, d) ventral view of tail.

Tail cylindrical, flattened beneath, tail longer than snout-vent length (TL/SVL = 1.43); tail base distinctly swollen when viewed ventrally (Plate 2d); a large post cloacal spur present; tail covered above with large (much larger than those on the dorsum), posteriorly- pointed, subimbricate to imbricate; three sharply pointed, conical, keeled tubercles along each side of an indistinct median furrow (Plate 1a); ventral scales larger, imbricate, smooth, without a series of enlarged median sub-caudal scales (Plate 2d).

Colouration in life: Ground colour of dorsum greyish-brown, with five pairs of creamish/buff paravertebral blotches partially fused middorsally confluent to form an indistinct mid dorsal vertebral stripe; variegated with brown throughout; bright yellow patch on the edge of each of these paravertebral patches, nuchal region with a single faint black chevron mark followed by a rectangular black blotch; dorsum of original portion of tail with alternating dark brown and light grey bands; lighter ventrally; limbs and digits banded with ground cinnamon. Forehead variegated with brownish mottlings; supralabials dark barred alternately with brown and bright yellow; a dark brown line runs from nostril to orbit; one radiating line of same colour run from posterior margin of orbit to a little further than the tympanum. Post cloacal spur and spines on the lateral aspect of the tail close to the cloacal bright yellow.Venter mottled with brown on the edges with a clear creamish white band mid-ventrally from the chin to the cloaca.

Variation: Mensural data for the type specimens is presented in Table 1. Adult specimens range in the paratype series size 22 to 34 mm. All paratypes resemble the holotype in most respect excepts for the following characters:the number of lamellae on digit I of the manus is 8–10 and on digit IV it is 14–17, on digit I of the pes it is 8–10 and on digit IV 17–20. In female paratype CESL 855, supralabials to the angle of jaw is 7 and male paratype BNHS 2081 infralabialsto the angle of jaw is 8.Inner pair of postmentals in CESL 855 separated by two chin shields. Some paratypes are duller in overall appearance (Plate 3).

PLATE 3. Type series of Cnemaspis girii sp. nov.

Table 1. Mensural and meristic data for the type series of Cnemaspis girii sp. nov. Abbreviations as stated in Materials and Methods, * = damaged.

Etymology: The specific epithet is a patronym, honouring Dr. Varad Giri of Bombay Natural History Society for his immense contribution to Indian herpetology and continued support to the authors.

Distribution and natural history: Of the nine specimens of the type series, seven were collected from under boulders and two were collected from tree hollow ca. 2m above ground. The specimens were only seen along a stream which is surrounded with dense evergreen riparian forest (Plate 4c & d). All specimens were collected during the day during two different seasons (February and July) and were found to be inactive. Efforts made in three different seasons (monsoons, winter and summer) by us and Chikane & Bhosale (2012) to locate this species in the adjoining plateau were futile suggesting that this species occupies only the forested track along the stream. Forest microhabitats are more stable as opposed to the exposed plateau which is extremely harsh during summer when it dries completely. This probably restricts Cnemaspis girii sp. nov. and several other species to the forested areas. Sympatric species such as Geckoella deccanensis , Rhabdops olivaceus , Indotyphlus maharashtraensis, Raochestes ghatei were observed. ( Chikane & Bhosale 2012). Kaas plateau is located about 25 km northwest of Satara City at an altitude of about 1240 m a.s.l ( Fig. 3 , Plate 4a). The region is a lateritic rock outcrop and is characterized by relatively extreme conditions with highly patchy and temporally variable resources. The average annual precipitation is between 1,723 and 1,865 mm, and is limited to the monsoon season, which is when expansive water-logged areas are created that support a wide range of floral and faunal life. Most of this water subsequently runs off on the thin soil cover, causing drastic habitat changes towards the end of rainy season. Winters and summers are dry save for sporadic pre-monsoon showers towards the end of summer. Temperatures can be as low as 4–6°C in winter and reach 55°C on rock and soil surfaces in summer at air temperatures of up to 45°C ( Watve & Thakur, 2006, Mirza et al. 2013a). The plateau is thickly covered with vegetation during the monsoons, most of which dries up during the period of October-May, leaving behind dry grass interspersed with a few clusters of bushes. The microclimatic conditions vary from almost xeric to water-logged during the course of a year ( Watve & Thakur, 2006) and so create an extremely harsh physical environment for all life forms. Another species which has been described from similar biotope is Hemidactylus sataraensis Giri & Bauer, 2008 which is found on similar plateaus in an area less than 8 sq. km. ( Giri & Bauer 2008, Mirza et al, 2013b). The plateau is well known for its floral diversity which attracts tourists, and excess visitorship is of an immediate concern as a threat to this unique habitat. Kaas will likely benefit if it is elevated to the status of a wildlife sanctuary, which will eventually provide it with more protection.

PLATE 4. Habitat of C. girii sp. nov. at Kaas plateau. (a) view of the barren plateau and evergreen forest on the slope on the right, (b) close-up of dense evergreen forest, (c) dry stream bed in the dense forest from where the type series were collected.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Holotype male Cnemaspis girii sp. nov. (BNHS 2299) in life.

FIGURE 2. Paratype female Cnemaspis girii sp. nov. (CES 855) in life.

FIGURE 3. Map showing Kaas plateau (red square), the type locality of C. girii sp. nov. in Satara district of Maharashtra.