Gekko paucituberculatus, Wang & Qi & Zhou & Wang, 2024
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publication ID |
https://dx.doi.org/10.3897/vz.74.e113899 |
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publication LSID |
lsid:zoobank.org:pub:BCDCB720-4442-4AFC-97CE-6F2DAD451FF0 |
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persistent identifier |
https://treatment.plazi.org/id/C2814152-01A1-4558-892B-9D538ED1FE9D |
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taxon LSID |
lsid:zoobank.org:act:C2814152-01A1-4558-892B-9D538ED1FE9D |
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treatment provided by |
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scientific name |
Gekko paucituberculatus |
| status |
sp. nov. |
Gekko paucituberculatus sp. nov.
Figures 3 View Figure 3 , 4 View Figure 4 and 5 View Figure 5
Holotype.
SYS r002806 (Figs 3A View Figure 3 and 4 View Figure 4 ), adult male, from Tianyang District (23°42′55″N, 106°59′14″E; 120 m a.s.l.), Baise City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China, collected on 3 August 2023 by Dan-Yang Zhou.
Paratype.
SYS r002807 (Figs 3B View Figure 3 and 5 View Figure 5 ), adult female, data identical to the holotype.
Diagnosis.
Gekko paucituberculatus sp. nov. is distinguished from all congeners in the subgenus G. (Japonigekko) by a combination of the following morphological characters: (1) moderate body size, SVL 77.2 mm in the adult male and SVL 85.9 mm in the adult female; (2) nares in contact with rostral, internasal absent; (3) two enlarged postmentals; (4) tubercles flattened, only present along dorsolateral trunk and absent on other regions; (5) ventral scales between mental and cloacal slit 189-192; (6) mid-body scale rows 136-140; (7) ventral scale rows 42-44; (8) subdigital lamellae on first fingers 10-11, on fourth fingers 12-13, on first toes 11, on fourth toes 11-13 and fingers and toes webbing weakly developed; (9) continuous precloacal pores 12 in the male, absent in the female; (10) a single postcloacal tubercle on each side; (11) a light-coloured vertebral line from nape to tip of tail; (12) dorsum greyish-brown, with 7-8 dirty-white bands between nape and sacrum.
Etymology.
The specific name paucituberculatus means few tubercles in Latin and refers to its tubercles being fewer than other congeners. According to its type locality, we suggest the common name as "Baise gecko" in English and Chinese formal name as "bǎi sè bì hǔ” (百色壁虎).
Description of holotype.
Adult male, moderate size, SVL 77.2 mm; head depressed (HH/HL 0.38), length longer than width (HL/HW 1.24), distinct from neck; snout rounded at tip, elongate (SNT/HL 0.44), larger than eye (SNT/ED 1.69); rostral regular rectangular, nearly twice as wide as high (RW/RH 1.94) and wider than mental (RW/MW 1.22), with mid-dorsal notch approximately one third; nares oval, rounded by rostral, first supralabial, supranasal and two enlarged nasals posteriorly; internasals absent; preorbitals 18/18, preorbital region deeply concave; eye large (ED/HL 0.26), pupil vertical, margins crenulated; interorbital scales between anterior corners of eyes 37; ear opening elliptical, obliquely orientated, moderate in size (EOD/ED 0.40); mental pentagonal, wider than long (MW/ML 1.42); postmentals two, hexagonal and enlarged, twice as long as wide, touching mental and first infralabial on both sides and six gular scales posteriorly; supralabials 11/11; infralabials 10/10; tubercles absent on dorsal head, granulars on anteriodorsal head larger than those on posterior.
Body slender, elongate (AG/SVL 0.41); dorsals smooth, round or oval, granular and juxtaposed; tubercles flattened, only present on dorsal lateral surface, two rows on each side, surrounded by eight dorsal scales, absent on other regions; lateral fold present, without tubercles; ventrals distinctly larger than dorsal scales, smooth, imbricate and largest in middle of belly; ventral scale rows at mid-body 42; scale rows around mid-body 140; ventral scales in a row between mental and cloacal slit 189; precloacal scales enlarged, but no enlarged scales on thighs; precloacal pores 12, in a continuous row; postcloacal tubercle 1/1, large.
Fore- and hind-limbs well-developed; tubercles absent on dorsal limbs; digits moderately dilated; II-IV fingers and toes clawed; claws depressed laterally, extending beyond terminal lamellae; webbing on fingers and toes weakly developed; subdigital lamellae undivided, under manus 11-11-12-13-10 (left) and 11-11-12-13-11 (right), under pes 11-12-12-13-13 (left) and 11-11-12-13-12 (right); relative length fingers and toes I <II <V<III <IV.
Original tail (broken when capturing), longer than body (TaL 89.3 mm, TaL/SVL 1.16); distinctly swollen at base, oval in section; dorsal scales small, flat, smooth; caudal whorl distinct, 10 dorsal scale rows in the middle of the third one; subcaudals enlarged, arranged in a longitudinal row.
Colouration of holotype.
In life, the dorsal regions of head and body are greyish-brown in colour, with scattered white spots on the anterior of head. An inverted U-shaped marking is present on the occipital region and there are seven regularly arranged, dirty-white bands between the nape and sacrum. The first band, located at the nape, extends forwards and backwards to the posterior corners of eye and the second band, respectively. A light-coloured vertebral line is present from the nape to the tail terminal. Some light spots are visible on the lateral sides. Limbs are light brown with many indistinct pale marks. Dorsal tail is black with seven bands, from dirty white to pure white in colour towards terminal. The ventral surface of the holotype is light flesh-coloured. The body colour becomes darker after capture.
In preservative, the dorsal ground colour of head, body and limbs is greyish-black; ventral surface fading to greyish-white.
Morphological variation.
Measurements and scale counts of two individuals are shown in Tables 5 View Table 5 and 6 View Table 6 and the female paratype is shown in Figure 5 View Figure 5 .
Precloacal pores are absent in the female. In the male, the postcloacal tubercle is significantly larger than in the female. The paratype specimen exhibits eight light bands between the nape and sacrum.
Comparisons.
Gekko paucituberculatus sp. nov. is compared with all 32 recognised species within the subgenus G. (Japonigekko) .
The new species can be easily distinguished from the following 13 congeners by the presence of tubercles on the dorsolateral trunk: Absence of tubercles in G. aaronbaueri Tri et al., 2015, G. bonkowskii Luu et al., 2015, G. cib Lyu et al., 2021, G. guishanicus Lin & Yao, 2016, G. khunkhamensis Sitthivong et al., 2021, G. melli Vogt, 1922, G. nadenensis Luu et al., 2017, G. scientiadventura Rösler et al., 2004, G. sengchanthavongi Luu et al., 2015, G. subpalmatus Günther, 1864, G. tawaensis Okada, 1956, G. thakhekensis Luu et al., 2014, and G. truongi Phung & Ziegler, 2011.
The new species can be easily distinguished from the following 12 congeners by having 12 precloacal pores in the male: Gekko adleri (17-21), G. canhi Rösler et al., 2010 (5), G. chinensis Gray, 1842 (17-27), G. jinjiangensis Hou et al., 2021 (4-5), G. palmatus (23-30), G. shibatai Toda, Sengoku, Hikida & Ota, 2008 (0), G. similignum Smith, 1923 (17), G. taibaiensis Song, 1985 (4-6), G. vertebralis Toda, Sengoku, Hikida & Ota, 2008 (0), G. vietnamensis Sang, 2010 (0), G. wenxianensis Zhou & Wang, 2008 (6-8) and G. yakuensi Matsui & Okada, 1968 (6-8).
The new species can be easily distinguished from the following three congeners by having four dorsal tubercle rows: Gekko auriverrucosus Zhou & Liu, 1982 (16-20), G. hokouensis (12-18), G. kaiya Zhang et al., 2023 (11-18), G. scabridus Liu & Zhou, 1982 (17-21).
For the remaining congeners, by having a single postcloacal tubercles, the new species differs from G. japonicus (Schlegel, 1836) (2-4) and G. swinhonis Günther, 1864 (2-3).
The new species is most similar to G. kwangsiensis and G. liboensis , which are also from karst areas in Guangxi, but it differs from the former by the following characters: Less dorsal tubercle rows (4 vs. 9-11); more interorbital scales (37 vs. 29-31); more precloacal pores in male (12 vs. 9-10); fewer subdigital lamellae on fourth toes (11-13 vs. 13-18); fewer, but broader bands between nape and sacrum (7-8 vs. 9-10).
Furthermore, the new species differs from G. liboensis by tubercles only present along the dorsolateral surface not on other regions (vs. present from occipital region to tail base) and having regular and broad bands between nape and sacrum (vs. irregular and thin bands with many scattered round-shaped spots).
Distribution and ecology.
Currently, Gekko paucituberculatus sp. nov. is limited to Tianyang District, Baise City, in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of China. The new gecko species is a rock-dwelling specialist. Both of the two individuals were discovered on rocks near the entrance to a limestone karst cave at night.
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