Hemiphyllodactylus kiziriani, Nguyen, Truong Quang, Botov, Andreas, Le, Minh Duc, Nophaseud, Liphone, Zug, George, Bonkowski, Michael & Ziegler, Thomas, 2014

Nguyen, Truong Quang, Botov, Andreas, Le, Minh Duc, Nophaseud, Liphone, Zug, George, Bonkowski, Michael & Ziegler, Thomas, 2014, A new species of Hemiphyllodactylus (Reptilia: Gekkonidae) from northern Laos, Zootaxa 3827 (1), pp. 45-56 : 48-55

Hemiphyllodactylus kiziriani sp. nov.

( Figs. 2 , 3 )

Holotype. IEBR A.2014.3, adult male, collected by Truong Quang Nguyen, Nicole Schneider, and Liphone Nophaseud on 10 August 2013, on limestone wall of a small cave (19o48.708’N, 102o06.188’E, 637 m a.s.l. elevation), near Ban Xieng Muak Village, Luang Prabang District, Luang Prabang Province, Laos.

Paratypes. Nine specimens from the same locality as the holotype: three adult males IEBR A.2014.4, VNMN A.2014.1 and ZFMK 95702 and two adult females NUOL R- 2014.1, VNMN A.2014.2, collected on 10 August 2013; two females IEBR A.2014.5, NUOL R- 2014.2, collected on 7 August (19o48.629’N, 102o06.124’E, 594 a.s.l. m); ZFMK 95703, adult female, collected on 11 August (19o48.813’N, 102o05.887’E, 628 m a.s.l. elevation); ZFMK 95704, adult female, collected on 16 August (19o48.772’N, 102o06.181’E, 597 m a.s.l. elevation).

Diagnosis. A bisexual taxon; SVL of adult males 35.1–40.1 mm, of adult females 36.3–40.8 mm; dorsal scale rows 18–27; ventral scale rows 11–15; chin scales bordering mental and first infralabial distinctly enlarged; digital lamellae formulae 3-4-4-4 (forefoot) and 4-4/5-4/5-4 (hindfoot); femoral pores 0–4, total precloacal pores 10–13 in males, 8–10 pitted precloacal scales in females; cloacal spurs present in both sexes,1 or 2; dorsal trunk pattern of dark brown with two rows of irregular transverse bands; dark lateral head stripe distinct; upper zone of flank with a dark brown stripe; caecum and gonadal ducts unpigmented.

Description of the holotype. Body dorsolaterally flattened, size small SVL 40.1mm, tail regenerated (TaL 19+ 11.8 mm), trunk length (TrunkL) 19.7mm, head slightly longer than wide (HeadL 7.4mm, HeadW 6.7mm), eye moderate (EyeD 2.7mm), ear opening oblique (EarD 0.8mm), nare-eye length (NarEye 3.2mm), snout-eye length (SnEye 4.2mm), internarial distance (SnW 1.7mm). Proportions: TrunkL/SVL 49.1%, HeadL/SVL 18.5%, HeadW/SVL 16.7%, HeadW/HeadL 90.5%, SnEye/HeadL 56.8%, NarEye/HeadL 43.2%, EyeD/HeadL 36.5%, SnW/HeadL 23%, EyeD/NarEye 84.4%, SnW/HeadW 25.4%.

Scalation. Rostral very large, wider than high (rostral width 1.7mm, rostral height 0.9mm), with a shallow, but distinct suture; supralabials 11/11, enlarged from rostral to below eye, smaller in subocular rictus; nare in contact with rostral, first supralabial, supranasal, and two nasals posteriorly on each side; supranasals separated from each other by three small granular internasals; snout flat, covered by granular scales; pupil vertical; ear opening oblique, oval, approximately 29.6% of the eye diameter, without bordering enlarged scales; mental triangular, wider than long; infralabials 10/10; three enlarged postmentals, outer ones distinctly larger than the middle scale, in contact with mental and first infralabials anteriorly; nine chin scales, all enlarged and of same size; dorsal scale rows 21–23 at midbody (contained within one eye diameter), enlarged tubercles absent, ventral scales larger than dorsal scales in 13 or 14 rows at midbody (contained within one eye diameter); dorsal surface of fore and hindlimbs covered with granular scales; terminal two phalanges free, claws absent on first finger, minute on first toe, present on second to fifth digit of fore and hindfoot; pads of digits II–V each with large triangular lamella, digital formula 3-4- 4-4 (forefoot) and 4-4-5-4 (hindfoot); femoral and precloacal pore series continuous, 13 in total, asymmetrically arranged (femoral pores four on the left side, absent on the right side); cloacal spurs one; lamellae five on first fingers, five on first toes; dorsal caudal scales granular; subcaudals flat, slightly larger than dorsal caudal scales.

Coloration in preservative. Ground color of dorsal surface of head and body yellowish grey; two dark brown streaks originating from posterior corner of eye on each side, the upper one extending to the neck but not forming a nuchal loop, the lower one connecting with a dark dorsolateral stripe extending along the flank to tail base; a dark brown band present on neck; neck and dorsum with a row of vertebral light spots; two rows of narrow dark brown bands present along dorsum but not connected with each other; dorsal surface of limbs grey with dark bars; upper and lower lips with dark bars; distinct postsacral mark with middorsal dark brown spot, bordered posteriorly and laterally by an U-shaped arm which can extend to posterior edge of abdomen; dorsal tail base with dark bands, generated part of the tail dark grey; throat, venter, and precloacal region cream, outer area with small dark brown dots; caecum and testis white, unpigmented. For color and pattern in life see Fig. 2 .

Variation. The scale counts vary among the type series: scales between supranasals two or three; supralabials 10 or 11; infralabials 9–11; chin scales 6–9; dorsal scale rows 18–27; ventral scale rows 11–15; cloacal spurs present in both sexes, 1 or 2, more distinct in males; femoral pores absent in all paratypes, precloacal pores 10–13 in males and 8–10 pitted precloacal scales in females; dorsal bands more distinct in two females (IEBR A.2014.5, ZFMK 95704) (see Tables 3, 4).

TABLE 2. Uncorrected (“p”) distance matrix showing percentage pairwise genetic divergence (ND2) between Hemiphyllodactylus species. ˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉ Species name 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

H. sp. nov. 2 ( JN393936 ) -

H. sp. nov. 8 ( JN393949 ) 24.6 -

H. sp. nov. 9 ( JN393935 ) 28.1 25.9 -

H. aurantiacus ( JN393933 ) 24.8 24.5 20.4 -

H. dushanensis ( FJ971017 ) 26.6 28.0 29.5 32.1 -

H. ganoklonis ( JN393950 ) 19.1 25.8 28.2 25.6 30.0 -

H. jinpingensis ( FJ971048 ) 27.3 18.7 28.3 24.6 29.6 28.3 -

H. kiziriani sp. nov. 28.6-28.9 27.2-27.4 25.6-25.7 25.3-25.5 20.7 28.8-29.1 27.2-27.6 -

( KJ676800 -2)

H. longlingensi ( FJ971049 ) 26.8 20.2 28.0 26.9 26.4 28.6 18.4 26.1-26.4 -

. H. titiwangsaensis ( JN393934 ) 28.4 27.6 28.6 29.3 30.0 28.2 29.0 30.7-31.2 28.1 -

. H. titiwangsaensis ( FJ971050 ) 28.8 28.0 29.3 29.2 30.0 27.8 29.0 31.8-32.3 28.1 0.0 -

. H. typus ( GQ257745 ) 19.3 26.2 29.0 25.2 30.3 17.7 28.0 27.6-27.7 29.3 29.6 29.8 -

. H. yunnanensis ( FJ971044 ) 25.9 26.3 27.6 29.9 23.1 28.3 27.6 22.1-22.4 25.4 28.3 28.3 27.6 -

. H. zugi ( KF575151 -3) 26.4-26.6 25.8-26.2 27.0-27.3 27.8-27.9 6.1-6.3 28.7-29.5 30.0-30.1 20.1-20.6 26.1-26.7 29.7-30.2 30.1-30.5 29.2-29.3 22.8-22.9 - Table 4. Scalation of the type series of Hemiphyllodactylus kiziriani sp. nov. from Luang Prabang Province, Laos.

Etymology. We name the new species in honour of Dr. David A. Kizirian, American Museum of Natural History (New York, USA), in recognition of his contribution to herpetological research in the Indochina region. As common names we suggest Kizirian’s Slender Gecko (English), Kizirians Halbblattfingergecko ( German), and Thạch sùng dẹp ki-zi-ri-an (Vietnamese).

Natural history. Hemiphyllodactylus kiziriani inhabits disturbed secondary limestone forests near a residential area at elevations between 590 and 640 m. Specimens were found at night on tree bark and limestone cliffs near cave entrances or on a limestone boulder near a forest path, ca. 0.2–1.2 m above the ground. Two female paratypes (IEBR A.2014.5, NUOL R-2014.2) were gravid with two shelled eggs each.

Distribution. The species is currently known only from Luang Prabang Province in northern Laos ( Fig. 4 ).

Figures

FIGURE 2. Latero-dorsal view of the male holotype of Hemiphyllodactylus kiziriani sp. nov. (IEBR A. 2014.3) (A) and the female paratype (NUOL R- 2014.2) from Luang Prabang Province, Laos. Photos T. Q. Nguyen.

FIGURE 3. Dorsal view (A), lateral view (B), and ventral view (C) of the head of the holotype of Hemiphyllodactylus kiziriani sp. nov. (IEBR A. 2014.3). Photos T. Q. Nguyen.

FIGURE 4. Type locality (black circle) of Hemiphyllodactylus kiziriani in Luang Prabang Province, Laos.