Cnemaspis shahruli Grismer, Chan, Quah, Mohd, Savage, Grismer,Norhayati, Greer & Remegio, 2010c

Grismer, Lee, Wood, Perry L., Anuar, Shahrul, Riyanto, Awal, Ahmad, Norhayati, Muin, Mohd A., Sumontha, Montri, Grismer, Jesse L., Onn, Chan Kin, Quah, Evan S. H. & Pauwels, Olivier S. A., 2014, Systematics and natural history of Southeast Asian Rock Geckos (genus Cnemaspis Strauch, 1887) with descriptions of eight new species from Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia, Zootaxa 3880 (1), pp. 1-147 : 72-74

Cnemaspis shahruli Grismer, Chan, Quah, Mohd, Savage, Grismer,Norhayati, Greer & Remegio, 2010c

Shahrul’s Rock Gecko

Fig. 38

Holotype. ZRC 2.6898 . Type locality: “ Telok Bahang Recreational Forest Reserve , Penang (05°27.233’N, 100°12.324’E)” at 67 m in elevation.

Diagnosis. Maximum SVL 36.5 mm; 10 or 11 supralabials; 8–10 infralabials; ventral scales keeled; no precloacal pores; 19–23 paravertebral tubercles; body tubercles randomly arranged, present on flanks; tubercles within lateral caudal furrows; ventrolateral caudal tubercles absent anteriorly; lateral row of caudal tubercles present anteriorly; caudal tubercles not encircling tail; all subcaudals keeled, no enlarged median row; 1–3 postcloacal tubercles on each side of tail base; no enlarged femoral or subtibial scales; subtibials keeled; usually no enlarged submetatarsal scales on first toe; 21–30 subdigital fourth toe lamellae; light-colored vertebral stripe variably present; gular region, throat and pectoral region yellow in males; dark, central, elongate marking occurs in mental region; a single ocellus in the shoulder region in males; white, dorsal, caudal tubercles; distinct black and white caudal bands variably present (Tables 6,7).

Color pattern in life ( Fig. 38 ). Dorsal ground color of head, body, limbs and tail pale brown; top of head with dark and light diffuse markings; dark, postorbital blotches; when present, a wide, light colored, vertebral stripe extends from occiput to base of tail; offset, opposing, paravertebral, dark markings extend from nape to base of tail; large, black, square, shoulder patches enclose a whitish to yellow ocellus in adult males, absent in females and juveniles; dark shoulder patches become greatly reduced in the nighttime color phase; large, light-colored markings occur on flanks and tend to form transverse bands; forelimbs and hind limbs mottled; gular region, throat, and anterior pectoral region yellow; gular region often faintly mottled; a dark, central, elongate marking occurs in mental region; ventral surfaces of limbs and body beige with small, black stipples in each scale; subcaudal region darker; tail faintly banded; regenerated tail mottled.

Distribution. In northwestern Peninsular Malaysia, Cnemaspis shahruli is known from Penang Island and the adjacent island of Jerejak, Penang and the mainland localities of Sungai Sedim, Kedah and Bukit Mertajam, Penang. One hundred thirteen km farther south, C. shahruli is known from Pulau Pangkor, Perak, ( Grismer 2011a; Grismer et al. 2010c; Fig. 3 ) and it is expected to occur in the intervening mainland areas between Pulau Pangkor and Bukit Mertajam.

Natural history. Cnemaspis shahruli is generally a nocturnal species that is only occasionally seen during the day. It is also a habitat generalist that occurs in both riparian and non-riparian microhabitats from near sea level to approximately 500 m in elevation and can be found on both rocks and vegetation ( Grismer et al. 2010c; Fig. 38 ). In lowland areas on Penang Island, C. shahruli occurs in riparian areas where it is usually found on granite rocks and boulders that may or may not be covered in lichen or vegetation. Lizards are occasionally found on adjacent tree trunks provided they are near large rocks. On Pulau Jerejak, C. shahruli has been found in disturbed areas on rocks and tree trunks ( Grismer et al. 2010c). Lizards are occasionally found beneath logs and at the base of trees. The only specimen known from Pulau Pangkor, Perak was collected during the day along a forest trail while it was clinging upside down to the underside of a leaf approximately 0.5 m above the ground.

Relationships. Cnemaspis shahruli may be the sister species to C. narathiwatensis ( Fig. 2 ) although this relation is not statistically supported.

Material examined. Malaysia: Penang; Pulau Pinang ZRC 2.6898 – 902 ; Pulau Jerejak ZRC 2.6903 ; Sungai Sedim ZRC 2.6904 . Perak: Pulau Pangkor ZRC 2.6905 (type series) . Additional specimens examined since Grismer et al. (2010c): Malaysia: Penang; Pulau Pinang LSUHC 8875 , 8879 , 9572 , 9575 , 9595 , 9862 ; Bukit Mertajam LSUHC 10375 .

Figures

FIGURE 2. Maximum-likelihood phylogram (–InL 73957.608688) of the species of the genus Cnemaspis with Bayesian posterior probabilities (BPP) and maximum-likelihood (ML) bootstrap values, respectively based on the concatenated 3 gene dataset. Black circles are nodes supported by BBP and ML values greater than 0.95 and 70, respectively. Gray circles are nodes supported only by ML values greater than 70. White circles are nodes supported only by BPP values greater than 0.95. The distribution maps on the right delimit the ranges of the four major clades.

FIGURE 3. Distribution of the species and species groups in the Ca Mau and Northern Sunda clades. Stars indicate type localities.

FIGURE 38. Cnemaspis shahruli from Peninsular Malaysia. Upper left: microhabitat of C. shahruli on Pulau Pangkor, Perak. Upper right: adult male (LSUDPC 5320) from Pulau Pinang, Penang in the dark color pattern phase. Photographs by LLG. Middle right: adult female (LSUDPC 6304) from Pulau Pangkor in the dark color pattern phase. Photograph by J. van Rooijen. Lower right: juvenile (LSUDPC 5880) from Bukit Mertajam, Penang in the light color pattern phase. Photograph by ESHQ. Lower left: ventral coloration of adult male (LSUDPC 5317) from Pulau Pinang.