Goniurosaurus zhoui Zhou, Wang, Chen & Liang, 2018

Qi, Shuo, Ngo, Hai Ngoc, Grismer, L. Lee, Wang, Hao-Tian, Song, Han-Ming, Zhu, Xiao-Yu, He, Zhu-Qing, Zhou, Zi-Chen, Li, Pi-Peng, Wang, Ji-Chao & Wang, Ying-Yong, 2025, Integrative taxonomic revision of the Goniurosaurus lichtenfelderi group (Squamata: Eublepharidae): Insights from morphological and molecular data, Vertebrate Zoology 75, pp. 673-698 : 673-698

Goniurosaurus zhoui Zhou, Wang, Chen & Liang, 2018

Figure 13

Chresonymy.

Goniurosaurus bawanglingensis — Shi et al. (2011) Yinggeling National Natural Reserve.

Chinese name.

周氏睑虎.

English name.

Zhou’s leopard gecko.

Vietnamese name.

Thach sung mi zhou.

Holotype.

BL-RBZ-002 , adult male, collected from a central area (ca 220–300 m a. s. l) of Hainan Island, China; exact locality withheld; collected by Run-Bang Zhou on 18 March 2017 .

Paratypes.

four paratypes in total, two adult males ( BL-RBZ-001 , 007) and two adult females ( BL-RBZ-003 , 008) share same information with holotype.

Specimens examined.

7 ♂♂, 10 ♀♀, see Appendix 1 for detail.

Diagnosis.

Based on the previous description ( Zhou et al. 2018) and examined specimens in this study: (1) SVL 92.0– 101.5 mm in adult males, 83.7–97.0 mm in adult females; (2) external nares bordered by 6–9 nasal scales; (3) internasal mostly single, rarely two; (4) supralabials 8–10; (5) infralabials 7–9; (6) preorbital scales 14–20; (7) supraorbital region with a row of slightly enlarged tubercles; (8) eyelid fringe scales 49–62; (9) scales around midbody 92–140; (10) longitudinal dorsal tubercle rows at midbody 19–25; (11) paravertebral tubercles between limb insertions 22–32; (12) axillary pockets deep; (13) presence of 36–41 precloacal pores in males form a continuous transverse series extending onto the femora, and absent in females; (14) dorsal ground color of head yellow-brown, body and limbs dark yellow-brown to dark brown in juveniles, without blotches; dorsal ground color of head, body and limbs mauve pink to purple brown in adults, with small irregularly shaped dark brown blotches; (15) presence of five transverse bands, including one nuchal loop, three body bands and one caudal constriction band, yellowish-white to light yellow with black brown anterior and posterior borders, transverse bands usually with dark brown spots in mature individuals; (16) nuchal loop rounded; (17) iris reddish-orange to dark reddish-brown.

Distribution.

Goniurosaurus zhoui is an endemic species on Hainan Island, which is currently known from Baisha Li Autonomous County (Nankai town and National Park of Hainan Tropical Rainforest, Yinggeling Area, formerly Yinggeling National Natural Reserve), Changjiang Li Autonomous County (Wangxia town), Dongfang City (National Park of Hainan Tropical Rainforest, Bawangling Area, formerly Exianling Provincial Natural Reserve) Hainan Province, China, at elevations of 200–390 m ( Zhou et al. 2018; this study; Fig. 7 A, B ).

Remarks.

Zhao and Adler (1993, plate 22 C) published a photo identified as G. lichtenfelderi hainanensis . However, it is certain that this specimen cannot be G. lichtenfelderi or G. hainanensis because of differences in coloration and the number of body bands, but instead, it matches the appearance of G. zhoui . Since G. zhoui has not been recorded in the Wuzhishan area, we speculate that the photo’s location might be incorrect (Fig. 14 ).

Figures

Figure 7. Geographic distribution of accepted taxa of the Goniurosaurus lichtenfelderi group. A Prior to the present taxonomic revision; B Following the revised delimitation proposed in this study; C Distributional separation of G. hainanensis and G. cf. lichtenfelderi on Hainan Island.

Figure 13. A Juvenile Goniurosaurus zhoui from Nankai town, photo by Yi-Bo Lin; B adult Goniurosaurus zhoui from Nankai town, photo by Shuo Qi; C and D adult Goniurosaurus zhoui from Wangxia town, photos by Shuo Qi.

Figure 14. A questionable photographic record of “ Goniurosaurus lichtenfelderi hainanensis ” with the original figure legend: “ Adult female from west of Wuzhishan (Five Finger Mountain), Hainan Island, Hainan Province, China. Photograph by Richard C. Goris. Note that the tip of the tail has been regenerated in this individual ”, cited from Zhao and Adler (1993). However, this individual is morphologically closer to G. zhoui.