Cnemaspis sakleshpurensis, Khandekar & Thackeray & Agarwal, 2022
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publication ID |
https://dx.doi.org/10.3897/vz.72.e76308 |
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publication LSID |
lsid:zoobank.org:pub:62E690DF-174B-45FD-B2A6-1595F7782E43 |
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persistent identifier |
https://treatment.plazi.org/id/390EDF17-4D01-43AE-88C6-192BCA012671 |
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taxon LSID |
lsid:zoobank.org:act:390EDF17-4D01-43AE-88C6-192BCA012671 |
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treatment provided by |
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scientific name |
Cnemaspis sakleshpurensis |
| status |
sp. nov. |
Cnemaspis sakleshpurensis sp. nov.
Figs 7B-7 View Figure 7 , 8 View Figure 8 , 9 View Figure 9 , 10 View Figure 10 , 11A View Figure 11 , 16B View Figure 16
Holotype.
BNHS 2814 (AK 862), adult male, from the vicinity of Mookanana Resort, Hongadahalla village, Sakleshpur (12.7811°N, 75.7079°E; elevation ca. 850 m), Hassan District, Karnataka, India, collected by Akshay Khandekar, Swapnil Pawar and Tejas Thackeray on 5th June 2019.
Paratypes.
NRC-AA-1165 (AK 864), adult female, NRC-AA-1164 (AK 863), sub-adult female, same collection data as holotype.
Etymology.
The specific epithet is a toponym for Sakleshpur in Hassan district of Karnataka, the place where the species is currently known from.
Suggested Common Name.
Sakleshpur dwarf gecko.
Diagnosis.
A small-sized Cnemaspis , snout to vent length less than 32 mm (n =3). Dorsal pholidosis heterogeneous; weakly keeled, granular scales on the vertebral and paravertebral region with a few scattered enlarged keeled tubercles, intermixed with irregularly arranged rows of large, keeled, tubercles on flank; upper most row strongly keeled and weakly conical, rest much enlarged, weakly keeled and spine-like; eight or nine rows of dorsal tubercles at mid-body; ventral scales smooth, imbricate, 23-26 scales across belly, 118-127 longitudinal scales from mental to cloaca; subdigital scansors smooth, entire, unnotched; 9-11 lamellae under digit I of manus and 11 lamellae under digit I of pes, 14-16 lamellae under digit IV of manus and 16-20 lamellae under digit IV of pes; male (n =1/3) with three or four femoral pores, separated by 10 or 11 poreless scales from continuous series of two precloacal pores; each pore bearing scale flanked posteriorly with enlarged spine-like scale; tail with enlarged, strongly keeled, distinctly pointed, conical tubercles forming whorls; a median row of sub-caudal scales slightly enlarged, smooth only at anterior half of the tail, rest strongly keeled. Dorsal colouration grey-brown with a discontinuous, poorly defined light brown mid-dorsal streak extending from occiput to tail base, with yellow diffuse blotches and a few small black spots forming eight indistinct bars on dorsum; dark medial ocellus on occiput and another slightly smaller just anterior to forelimb insertions; original tail banded.
Comparison with members of C. goaensis clade.
Cnemaspis sakleshpurensis sp. nov. can be morphologically distinguished from all other described members of the Cnemaspis goaensis clade on the basis of the following differing or non-overlapping characters: male with three or four femoral pores on each thigh, separated by 10 or 11 poreless scales from continuous series of two precloacal pores (versus three or four femoral pores on each thigh, separated by seven or eight poreless scales from continuous series of three or four precloacal pores in C. amboliensis Sayyed, Pyron and Dileepkumar, 2018; two or three femoral pores, separated by eight or nine poreless scales from continuous series of three precloacal pores in C. ranganaensis ); 23-26 scales across belly at mid-body (versus 19-22 ventral scales across belly at mid-body in C. amboliensis ; 27-32 ventral scales across belly at mid-body in C. goaensis ; 30 or 31 ventral scales across belly at mid-body in C. ranganaensis ); 118-127 longitudinal ventral scales from mental to cloaca (versus 93-101 longitudinal ventral scales from mental to cloaca in C. ranganaensis ); scales on upper arm and thigh unicarinate (versus scales on upper arm and thigh tricarinate in C. amboliensis ); internasal scales absent, supranasals in strong contact with each other on snout (versus one or two internasal scales present, supranasals separated from each other by one or two internasal scales on snout in C. goaensis ).
Cnemaspis sakleshpurensis sp. nov. is morphologically similar to its sympatric species C. schalleri Khandekar, Thackeray and Agarwal, 2021 of Cnemaspis monticola clade in body size, having spine-like scales on flanks and presence of both femoral and precloacal pores in males. However, the new species can be easily distinguished from C. schalleri by having eight or nine irregularly arranged rows of dorsal tubercles at mid-body (versus 14-16 regularly arranged rows of dorsal tubercles at mid-body), and having only a few scattered tubercles in paravertebral region on body between forelimb and hindlimb insertion (versus a regular series of 17-20 tubercles in paravertebral rows on the body between forelimb and hindlimb insertions). Comparison against C. vijayae sp. nov. is provided after its description.
Description of the holotype.
Adult male in good state of preservation except body slightly bent towards left and tail tip towards left, and a 3.7 mm long incision in the sternal region for liver tissue collection (Fig. 8A, B View Figure 8 ). SVL 31.8 mm, head short (HL/SVL 0.23), wide (HW/HL 0.64), not strongly depressed (HD/HL 0.39), and distinct from neck. Loreal region marginally inflated, canthus rostralis indistinct. Snout half of the head length (ES/HL 0.50), more than twice of the eye diameter (ES/ED 2.53); scales on snout and canthus rostralis large, weakly keeled, and weakly conical; twice the size than those on forehead and interorbital region; occipital and temporal region with much smaller, weakly keeled granules sparsely intermixed with slightly larger, weakly keeled, conical tubercles (Fig. 9A View Figure 9 ). Eye small (ED/HL 0.19); with round pupil; orbit with nine or 10 extra-brillar fringe scales, largest scales on anterior side; supraciliaries not elongate; six interorbital scale rows across narrowest point of frontal; 27 scale rows between left and right supraciliaries at mid-orbit (Fig. 9A View Figure 9 ). Ear-opening deep, oval, small (EL/HL 0.09); eye to ear distance greater than diameter of eye (EE/ED 1.46) (Fig. 9C View Figure 9 ). Rostral two times wider (1.3 mm) than long (0.6 mm), incompletely divided dorsally by a strongly developed rostral groove for more than half of its height; a single enlarged supranasal on each side, slightly larger than upper postnasal and almost twice the size than lower postnasal, supranasals in contact with each other on snout; rostral in contact with nostril, supranasal, supralabial I and marginally with upper postnasals on each side; nostrils oval, each surrounded by rostral, supranasal, upper and lower postnasals, and supralabial I on each side; one or two rows of scales separate the orbit from the supralabials (Fig. 9C View Figure 9 ). Mental enlarged, subtriangular, slightly wider (1.6 mm) than long (1.1 mm); two pairs of postmentals, inner pair larger than outer pair, rectangular, an enlarged chin scale prevent the contact between them below mental; inner pair bordered by mental, infralabial I, outer postmental and two enlarged chin shields on each side; outer postmentals roughly square, bordered by inner postmentals, infralabial I, and three enlarged chin shields on left and by inner postmentals, infralabial I, and four enlarged chin shields on right side; three enlarged gular scales prevent contact between left and right outer postmentals; chin shields bordering postmentals and one or two rows bordering infralabials flat, smooth, slightly smaller than outermost postmentals, decreasing in size posteriorly (Fig. 9B View Figure 9 ). Eight supralabials up to angle of jaw on each side, six supralabials on left and seven or right side at midorbital position; supralabial I largest, decreasing in size posteriorly; seven infralabials up to angle of jaw on each side; six infralabials on left and five on right side at midorbital position; infralabial I largest, decreasing in size posteriorly (Fig. 9B View Figure 9 ).
Body slender (BW/AGL 0.42), trunk less than half of SVL (AGL/SVL 0.39) without ventrolateral folds; spine-like scales present on flank on each side. Dorsal pholidosis heterogeneous; weakly keeled, granular scales on the vertebral and paravertebral region with a few scattered enlarged keeled tubercles, intermixed with irregularly arranged rows of large, keeled, tubercles on each flank; upper most row strongly keeled and weakly conical, rest much enlarged, weakly keeled and spine-like; nine dorsal tubercles rows at mid-body including spine-like scales (Fig. 10A View Figure 10 ). Ventral scales more than thrice the size than granular scales on dorsum, those on belly smooth, imbricate, subequal from chest to vent; mid-body scale rows across belly between lowest rows of enlarged tubercles on flank 24; 118 scales from mental to anterior border of cloaca (Fig. 10B View Figure 10 ). Scales on throat slightly smaller than those on belly; gular region with much smaller, flattened scales with those on chin bordering postmentals, enlarged, juxtaposed and flattened (Fig. 9B View Figure 9 ). Three femoral pores on left thigh and four on right, separated by 11 poreless scales on left and 10 on right side from continuous series of two precloacal pores; each pore baring scale flanked posteriorly with enlarged spine-like scale (Fig. 9D View Figure 9 ).
Scales on dorsal aspect of manus heterogenous, upper arm with scales much larger than dorsal granules, strongly keeled, imbricate; those near forelimb insertion small and granular; dorsal aspect of lower arm and elbow with scales slightly smaller than those on upper arm, strongly keeled, flat, subimbricate; dorsal aspect of hand predominantly bearing large, flattened, weakly keeled, imbricate scales. Ventral aspect of upper arm with smooth, roughly subcircular, subimbricate scales; scales on lower arm and wrist large, smooth, subimbricate; scales on palm and sole smooth, flat and subcircular, subimbricate. Scales on dorsal and anterio-lateral aspect of thigh much larger than those on dorsal granules, strongly keeled, subimbricate except those near hindlimb insertion which are granular, much smaller than dorsal granules and somewhat conical; scales on posterior-lateral aspect of thigh with scales similar in shape to granular scales on mid-body dorsum, marginally larger, becoming smaller, circular and smooth posteriorly. Scales on dorsal aspect of knee slightly smaller than those on dorsal aspect of thigh, weakly keeled; scales on shank still smaller, strongly keeled, subimbricate; dorsal aspect of foot predominantly bearing large flattened, weakly keeled, imbricate scales. Scales on ventral aspect of thigh and shank more or less similar in size to those on mid-body ventrals, smooth, imbricate (Fig. 8A, B View Figure 8 ).
Fore-limbs and hind-limbs slightly long, slender (LAL/SVL 0.15); (CL/SVL 0.17); digits long, with a strong, recurved claw, distinctly inflected, distal portions laterally compressed conspicuously. Series of unpaired lamellae on basal portion of digits, separated from unpaired, narrower distal lamellae by a single large scale at the inflection; proximal lamellae series: 2-4-5-4-4 (right manus), 2-4-5-7-5 (right pes), 2-4-5-4-4 (left manus; Fig. 9E View Figure 9 ), 2-4-5-7-4 (left pes; Fig. 9F View Figure 9 ); distal lamellae series: 9-10-13-12-10 (right manus), 9-10-14-13-13 (right pes), 9-10-12-12-10 (left manus; Fig. 9E View Figure 9 ), 9-10-13-13-13 (left pes; Fig. 9F View Figure 9 ). Relative length of digits (measurements in mm in parentheses): IV (3.0) > III (2.7) > V (2.6) = II (2.6) > I (1.9) (left manus); IV (4.2) > III (3.6) > V (3.3) > II (3.0) > I (2.0) (left pes).
Tail original, entire, subcylindrical, slender, longer than snout-vent length (TL/SVL 1.32; Fig. 8C, D View Figure 8 ). Dorsal scales on tail base weakly keeled, granular, similar in size and shape to granular scales on mid-body dorsum, gradually becoming larger, flattened, imbricate posteriorly, intermixed with enlarged, strongly keeled, distinctly pointed, conical tubercles; enlarged tubercles on the tail forming whorls; six tubercles each on first 10 whorls, four in 11-15th whorls, rest of the tail with only paravertebral tubercles (Fig. 8C View Figure 8 ). Scales on ventral aspect of tail much larger than those on dorsal aspect, subimbricate, smooth only at anterior half of the tail, rest strongly keeled; median series slightly larger than rest, roughly pentagonal; scales on tail base slightly smaller than those on mid-body ventrals, smooth, imbricate; a single enlarged, conical, and smooth postcloacal spur on each side (Fig. 8D View Figure 8 ).
Colouration in life (Fig. 11A).
Dorsal ground colouration of head, body, limbs and tail grey-brown; head mottled with smaller dark speckles. An indistinct fine darker vertical streak runs between the orbits; indistinct slightly darker preorbital streak runs from orbit to supranasal, two darker postorbital streaks extending onto neck; labials light yellow with indistinct darker bars; supraciliaries dirty yellow. A dark medial ocellus on occiput and another slightly smaller just anterior to forelimb insertions. A discontinuous, poorly defined light brown mid-dorsal streak extends from occiput to tail base, with yellow diffuse blotches and a few small black spots forming eight indistinct bars on dorsum. Lower flank much lighter with straw coloured enlarged spine-like tubercles on each side; tail colouration light brown with 13 alternating darker bands, post cloacal tubercles and pointed tubercles on lateral rows in alternating whorls dull-white. Dorsum of limbs with few indistinct light and dark bands, digits with distinct alternating dark and light bands, a strong dark streak on the posterior of femur. Ventral surfaces dull-white, underside of head and neck throat dirty white with light yellow on lateral sides, fine black spots under forelimbs, belly, hindlimbs and tail white with fine black speckles. Pupil black, outlined by bronze iris.
Variation and additional information from type series.
Mensural and meristic data and additional character states evaluation data for both female paratypes are given in Tables 3 View Table 3 - 5 View Table 5 . The two female paratypes (NRC-AA-1164, sub-adult and NRC-AA-1165, adult) having 23.7 and 32 mm SVL respectively. Both paratypes resemble holotype in overall morphology and colouration except as follows: outer postmental bordered by inner pair, infralabial I and II and three enlarged gular scales on either side in both the paratypes. Both the paratypes with incomplete tails and both with head and neck slightly bent towards right as an artefact of the preservation (Fig. 7B View Figure 7 ).
Distribution and Natural history.
Cnemaspis sakleshpurensis sp. nov. is currently known only from its type locality (in and around Mookanana Resort, Hongadahalla village, Sakleshpur, Hassan District, Karnataka), at an elevation of ca. 850 m. (Fig. 1 View Figure 1 ). The type locality is part of Central Western Ghats and dominated by semi-evergreen forest. Approximately 10 individuals of the new species were encountered during two days of fieldwork. Individuals were seen active during the day time (0800-1700 hrs) on rocky faces in shaded areas alongside streams, on tree trunks and occasionally on building walls at a height of 2-5 m above ground (Fig. 16B View Figure 16 ). The holotype ( BNHS 2814) was collected from a rock crevice in a forested patch just after moderate rain showers, a sub-adult female (NRC-AA-1164) was found active on a mossy tree trunk in the afternoon hours, and an adult female (NRC-AA-1165) was collected early morning (0700 hrs) from a building wall. Sympatric lizards sighted by us at the type locality include Cnemaspis magnifica , C. schalleri , Hemidactylus frenatus and Monilesaurus rouxii ( Duméril and Bibron, 1837).
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