Cyrtodactylus luci, Tran & Do & Pham & Phan & Ngo & Le & Ziegler & Nguyen, 2024

Tran, Tung Thanh, Do, Quyen Hanh, Pham, Cuong The, Phan, Tien Quang, Ngo, Hanh Thi, Le, Minh Duc, Ziegler, Thomas & Nguyen, Truong Quang, 2024, A new species of the Cyrtodactylus chauquangensis species group (Squamata, Gekkonidae) from Lao Cai Province, Vietnam, ZooKeys 1192, pp. 83-102 : 83

Cyrtodactylus luci sp. nov.

Figs 4 , 5

Type material.

Holotype. IEBR R.5237 (Field number BH-LC 2022.5), adult male, collected by T.T. Tran, T.Q. Phan and N.H. Nguyen on 30 June 2022, in limestone karst forest near Tham Phuc Village (22°29.514'N, 104°12.416'E, at an elevation of 677 m a.s.l), Coc Ly Commune, Bac Ha District, Lao Cai Province, Vietnam. Paratypes. IEBR R.5238 (Field number BH-LC 2022.1), IEBR R.5239 (Field number BH-LC 2022.3), adult males and IEBR R.5240, R.5241 (Field numbers BH-LC 2022.2, 2022.4), adult females, bear the same collection data as the holotype.

Diagnosis.

The new species can be distinguished from other members of the genus Cyrtodactylus by a combination of the following characteristics: Size medium (SVL up to 89.5 mm); dorsal tubercles in 17-19 irregular transverse rows; ventral scales in 32-34 longitudinal rows at midbody; precloacal pores present in both sexual, 9 or 10 in males, 8 or 9 in females; 12-15 enlarged femoral scales on each thigh; femoral pores 9-12 in males, 5-10 in females; postcloacal tubercles 2-4; lamellae under toe IV 21-23; dorsal pattern consisting of 5 or 6 irregular dark bands, a discontinuous thin neckband without V-shape or triangle shape in the middle, dorsal head surface with dark brown blotches; subcaudal scales transversely enlarged.

Description of holotype.

Adult male, snout-vent length (SVL) 86.3 mm; body relatively short (TrunkL/SVL 0.4); head distinct from neck, moderately long (HL/SVL 0.28), relatively wide (HW/HL 0.69), slightly depressed (HH/HL 0.41); eye slightly large (OrbD/HL 0.24), pupils vertical; upper eyelid fringe with spinous scales; ear opening below the postocular stripes, obliquely directed and oval, small in size (ED/HL 0.06); two enlarged supranasals, separated from each other anteriorly by one internasal; nares oval, surrounded by supranasal, rostral, first supralabial and three postnasals; loreal region and frontal concave; snout long (SE/HL 0.41), round anteriorly, longer than diameter of orbit (OrbD/SE 0.58); snout scales small, round, granular, larger than those in frontal and parietal regions; rostral wider than high with a medial suture, bordered by first supralabial on each side, nostrils, two supranasals and one internasal; mental triangular, wider than high; postmentals two, enlarged, in contact posteriorly, bordered by mental anteriorly, first infralabial laterally, and an enlarged chin scale posteriorly; supralabials 11/10; infralabials 11/10.

Dorsal scales granular; dorsal tubercles round, keeled, conical, four or five times larger than the size of adjoining scales, each surrounded by 10 granular scales, tubercles forming 17 irregular longitudinal rows at midbody; ventral scales smooth, medial scales 2-3 times larger than dorsal granules, round, subimbricate, largest posteriorly, in 32 longitudinal rows at midbody; lateral folds present, without interspersed tubercles; gular region with homogeneous smooth scales; ventral scales between mental and cloacal slit 170; precloacal groove absent; three rows of enlarged scales present in posterior region of pore-bearing scales; ten precloacal pores arranged in a chevron; 12 or 13 enlarged femoral scales beneath thighs continuous with pore-bearing precloacal scales; femoral pores present on each enlarged femoral scales (except one on right thigh), 24 in total; precloacal pores large, horizontal elongated, positioned in posterior margin of scales; femoral pores small, round, positioned in the center of scales.

Fore and hind limbs moderately slender (ForeaL/SVL 0.16, CrusL/SVL 0.19); dorsal surface of forelimbs covered by few slightly developed tubercles; fingers and toes lacking distinct webbing; subdigital lamellae: finger I 12, finger II 16, finger III 17, finger IV 20, finger V 18, toe I 12, toe II 17, toe III 20, toe IV 21, toe V 20.

Tail regenerated, 104.5 mm in length (generated part 19.5 mm); longer than snout-vent length (TaL/SVL: 1.21); postcloacal tubercles 4/4; subcaudals on original part of tail distinctly transversely enlarged, flat, smooth.

Coloration in life. Ground color of dorsal surface of head, neck, body, limbs and tail light brown. Dorsal surface of head with some dark brown blotches; labial region brown with yellowish cream stripes; skin above the eye gray; eyelid with light yellow color; iris yellow copper with black marking; pupil vertical, elliptical, black; nuchal loop dark brown, discontinous, extending from posterior corner of eye to the neck; tubercles on head, limbs, dorsum light brown to yellow; dorsum with five irregularly-shaped transversal bands and additional irregular smaller blotches; upper surface of limbs with irregular brown marks; six dark brown irregular bands on original part of tail while regenerated part of tail dark gray; chin, throat, chest, belly, lower limbs and ventral surface of tail cream.

Coloration in preservative. The overall color scheme slightly fades in 70% alcohol; yellow color disappeared in preservation while main characteristics are still clearly discernible; dorsal ground color of head, neck, body, limbs and tail grayish brown; color of chin, throat, chest, belly and lower limbs did not change noticeably in preservation.

Sexual dimorphism and variation.

The males differ from females in the shape of precloacal pores (larger in males), and the presence of hemipenial swellings at the tail base. For other morphological characteristics see Table 2 , Figs 4 , 5 .

Distribution.

Cyrtodactylus luci sp. nov. is currently known only from the type locality in Bac Ha District, Lao Cai Province, Vietnam (Fig. 1 ).

Etymology.

The species was named after the zoologist from the Vietnam National Museum of Nature, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, late Associate Professor Doctor Luc Van Pham, who contributed greatly to the biodiversity study in Vietnam. For the common names, we suggest Luc’s Bent-toed Gecko (English) and Thạch sùng ngón lực (Vietnamese).

Natural history.

The bent-toed geckos were collected between 19:00 and 22:00, both on limestone cliffs and on trees, about 1.0-1.8 m above the ground. The surrounding habitat was secondary karst forest of medium and small hardwoods mixed with shrubs and vines (Fig. 6 ). Air temperature was 25.9 °C and relative humidity was 92%.

Comparisons.

Cyrtodactylus luci sp. nov. is distinguishable from all other members of the C. chauquangensis species group by a unique combination of morphological characteristics.

Cyrtodactylus luci sp. nov. differs from C. auribalteatus Sumontha, Panitvong & Deein, 2010 by having fewer ventral scale rows (32-34 vs. 38-40 in C. auribalteatus ), more enlarged femoral scales on each side (12-15 vs. 5-7 in C. auribalteatus ), more femoral pores on each side in males (9-12 vs. 4 or 5 in C. auribalteatus ), the presence of femoral pores on each side in females (5-10 vs. absent in C. auribalteatus ), more precloacal pores in males (9 or 10 vs. 6 in C. auribalteatus ), the presence of precloacal pores in females (8 or 9 vs. absent in C. auribalteatus ) and fewer dorsal tubercle rows (17-19 vs. 22-24 in C. auribalteatus ); from C. bichnganae Ngo & Grismer, 2010 by having a smaller size (SVL 71.7-89.5 mm vs. 95.3-99.9 mm in C. bichnganae ), more ventral scale rows (32-34 vs. 30 or 31 in C. bichnganae ), more femoral pores on each side in females (5-10 vs. 1 in C. bichnganae ), and more lamellae under toe IV (21-23 vs. 16-20 in C. bichnganae ); from C. bobrovi Nguyen, Le, Pham, Ngo, Hoang, Pham & Ziegler, 2015 by having fewer ventral scale rows (32-34 vs. 40-45 in C. bobrovi ), the presence of enlarged femoral scales on each side (12-15 vs. absent in C. bobrovi ), the presence of femoral pores on each side in males (9-12 vs. absent in C. bobrovi ) and in females (5-10 vs. absent in C. bobrovi ), more precloacal pores in males (9 or 10 vs. 5 in C. bobrovi ), the presence of precloacal pores in females (8 or 9 vs. absent in C. bobrovi ), and the presence of transversely enlarged subcaudal plates (vs. absent in C. bobrovi ); from C. chauquangensis Hoang, Orlov, Ananjeva, Johns, Hoang & Dau, 2007 by having a smaller size (SVL 71.7-89.5 mm vs. 91.0-99.3 mm in C. chauquangensis ), fewer ventral scale rows (32-34 vs. 36-38 in C. chauquangensis ), the presence of enlarged femoral scales on each side (12-15 vs. absent in C. chauquangensis ), the presence of femoral pores on each side in males (9-12 vs. absent in C. chauquangensis ) and also in females (5-10 vs. absent in C. chauquangensis ), more precloacal pores in males (9 or 10 vs. 6 or 7 in C. chauquangensis ) and also in females (8 or 9 vs. 6 or 7 in C. chauquangensis ); from C. cucphuongensis Ngo & Chan, 2011 by having fewer ventral scale rows (32-34 vs. 42 in C. cucphuongensis ), the presence of femoral pores on each side in males (9-12 vs. absent in C. cucphuongensis ) and in females (5-10 vs. absent in C. cucphuongensis ) and the presence of precloacal pores in males (9-10 vs. absent in C. cucphuongensis ); from C. doisuthep Kunya, Panmongkol, Pauwels, Sumontha, Meewasana, Bunkhwamdi & Dangsri, 2015 by the presence of femoral pores on each side in males (9-12 vs. absent in C. doisuthep ) and in females (5-10 vs. absent in C. doisuthep ), more precloacal pores in males (9 or 10 vs. 5 or 6 in C. doisuthep ) and also in females (8 or 9 vs. absent in C. doisuthep ); from C. dumnuii Bauer, Kunya, Sumontha, Niyomwan, Pauwels, Chanhome & Kunya, 2010 by having fewer ventral scale rows (32-34 vs. 40 in C. dumnuii ), more femoral pores on each side in males (9-12 vs. 6-7 in C. dumnuii ) and in females (5-10 vs. absent in C. dumnuii ), more precloacal pores in males (9 or 10 vs. 5 or 6 in C. dumnuii ) and also in females (8 or 9 vs. 0-7 in C. dumnuii ) and more lamellae under toe IV (21-23 vs. 19 in C. dumnuii ); from C. erythrops Bauer, Kunya, Sumontha, Niyomwan, Panitvong, Pauwels, Chanhome & Kunya, 2009 by having more ventral scale rows (32-34 vs. 28 in C. erythrops ), more lamellae under finger IV (18-21 vs. 16 in C. erythrops ), more lamellae under toe IV (21-23 vs. 20 in C. erythrops ) and differences in dorsal color pattern (banded vs. blotched in C. erythrops ); from C. gulinqingensis Liu, Li, Hou, Orlov & Ananjeva, 2021 by having more dorsal tubercle rows (17-19 vs. 14-16 in C. gulinqingensis ), fewer femoral pores on each side in males (9-12 vs. 13-15 in C. gulinqingensis ) and in females (5-10 vs. 1-3 in C. gulinqingensis ) and fewer precloacal pores in females (8 or 9 vs. 7 in C. gulinqingensis ); from C. houaphanensis Schneider, Luu, Sitthivong, Teynié, Le, Nguyen & Ziegler, 2020 by having fewer ventral scale rows (32-34 vs. 35 in C. houaphanensis ), the presence of enlarged femoral scales on each side (12-15 vs. absent in C. houaphanensis ), the presence of femoral pores on each side in males (9-12 vs. absent in C. houaphanensis ) and in females (5-10 vs. absent in C. houaphanensis ) and more precloacal pores in males (9 or 10 vs. 6 in C. houaphanensis ); from C. huongsonensis Luu, Nguyen, Do & Ziegler, 2011 by having fewer ventral scale rows (32-34 vs. 41-48 in C. huongsonensis ), more enlarged femoral scales on each side (12-15 vs. 7-9 in C. huongsonensis ) and more precloacal pores in males (9 or 10 vs. 6 in C. huongsonensis ); from C. martini Ngo, 2011 by having fewer ventral scale rows (32-34 vs. 39-43 in C. martini ), more precloacal pores in males (9 or 10 vs. 4 in C. martini ), the presence of precloacal pores in females (8 or 9 vs. absent in C. martini ) and the presence of transversely enlarged subcaudal plates (vs. absent in C. martini ); from C. menglianensis Liu & Rao, 2022 by having more ventral scale rows (32-34 vs. 26-29 in C. menglianensis ), the presence of enlarged femoral scales on each side (12-15 vs. absent in C. menglianensis ), the presence of femoral pores on each side in males (9-12 vs. absent in C. menglianensis ) and in females (5-10 vs. absent in C. menglianensis ), more precloacal pores in males (9 or 10 vs. 7 in C. menglianensis ) and the presence of precloacal pores in females (8 or 9 vs. absent in C. menglianensis ); from C. ngoiensis Schneider, Luu, Sitthivong, Teynié, Le, Nguyen & Ziegler, 2020 by having fewer ventral scale rows (32-34 vs. 38-43 in C. ngoiensis ), more enlarged femoral scales on each side (12-15 vs. 7-10 in C. ngoiensis ), more femoral pores on each side in males (9-12 vs. 7 in C. ngoiensis ) and in females (5-10 vs. absent in C. ngoiensis ), more precloacal pores in males (9 or 10 vs. 7 in C. ngoiensis ) and in females (8 or 9 vs. 7 in C. ngoiensis ) and more lamellae under toe IV (21-23 vs. 19-20 in C. ngoiensis ); from C. otai Nguyen, Le, Pham, Ngo, Hoang, Pham & Ziegler, 2015 by having fewer ventral scale rows (32-34 vs. 38-43 in C. otai ), the presence of enlarged femoral scales on each side (12-15 vs. absent in C. otai ), the presence of femoral pores on each side in males (9-12 vs. absent in C. otai ) and in females (5-10 vs. absent in C. otai ), more precloacal pores in males (9 or 10 vs. 7 or 8 in C. otai ), the presence of precloacal pores in females (8 or 9 vs. absent in C. otai ), and the presence of transversely enlarged subcaudal plates (vs. absent in C. otai ); from C. puhuensis Nguyen, Yang, Le, Nguyen, Orlov, Hoang, Nguyen, Jin, Rao, Hoang, Che, Murphy & Zhang, 2014 by having fewer ventral scale rows (32-34 vs. 36 in C. puhuensis ), the presence of femoral pores on each side in males (9-12 vs. absent in C. puhuensis ) and in females (5-10 vs. absent in C. puhuensis ), and more precloacal pores in males (9 or 10 vs. 5 in C. puhuensis ); from C. soni Le, Nguyen, Le & Ziegler, 2016 by having fewer ventral scale rows (32-34 vs. 41-45 in C. soni ), more dorsal tubercle rows (17-19 vs. 10-13 in C. soni ), more enlarged femoral scales on each side (12-15 vs. 8-11 in C. soni ), more femoral pores on each side in males (9-12 vs. 6-8 in C. soni ), and more precloacal pores in males (9 or 10 vs. 6 or 7 in C. soni ); from C. sonlaensis Nguyen, Pham, Ziegler, Ngo & Le, 2017 by having more dorsal tubercle rows (17-19 vs. 13-15 in C. sonlaensis ), fewer femoral pores on each side in males (9-12 vs. 14-15 in C. sonlaensis ), the presence of femoral pores on each side in females (5-10 vs. absent in C. sonlaensis ), more precloacal pores in males (9 or 10 vs. 8 in C. sonlaensis ) and the presence of precloacal pores in females (8 or 9 vs. absent in C. sonlaensis ); from C. spelaeus Nazarov, Poyakov, Orlov, Nguyen, Milto, Martynov, Konstantinov & Chulisov, 2014 by having fewer ventral scale rows (32-34 vs. 36-39 in C. spelaeus ), the presence of enlarged femoral scales on each side (12-15 vs. absent in C. spelaeus ), the presence of femoral pores on each side in males (9-12 vs. absent in C. spelaeus ) and in females (5-10 vs. absent in C. spelaeus ) and differences in dorsal color pattern (banded vs. blotched in C. spelaeus ); from C. taybacensis Pham, Le, Ngo, Ziegler & Nguyen, 2019 by having more dorsal tubercle rows (17-19 vs. 13-16 in C. taybacensis ), the presence of femoral pores on each side in males (9-12 vs. absent in C. taybacensis ) and in females (5-10 vs. absent in C. taybacensis ), fewer precloacal pores in males (9 or 10 vs. 11-13 in C. taybacensis ) and more lamellae under toe IV (21-23 vs. 16-20 in C. taybacensis ); from C. vilaphongi Schneider, Nguyen, Le, Nophaseud, Bonkowski & Ziegler, 2014 by having more dorsal tubercle rows (17-19 vs. 15-16 in C. vilaphongi ), the presence of enlarged femoral scales on each side (12-15 vs. absent in C. vilaphongi ), the presence of femoral pores on each side in females (5-10 vs. absent in C. vilaphongi ) and in females (8 or 9 vs. absent in C. vilaphongi ), more lamellae under toe IV (21-23 vs. 18-20 in C. vilaphongi ), and the presence of transversely enlarged subcaudal plates (vs. absent in C. vilaphongi ); from C. wayakonei Nguyen, Kingsada, Rosler, Auer & Ziegler, 2010 by the presence of enlarged femoral scales on each side (12-15 vs. absent in C. wayakonei ), the presence of femoral pores on each side in males (9-12 vs. absent in C. wayakonei ) and in females (5-10 vs. absent in C. wayakonei ), more precloacal pores in males (9 or 10 vs. 6-8 in C. wayakonei ) and in females (8 or 9 vs. 7 in C. wayakonei ), and more lamellae under toe IV (21-23 vs. 19-20 in C. wayakonei ); from C. zhenkangensis Liu & Rao, 2021 by having fewer dorsal tubercle rows (17-19 vs. 20-24 in C. zhenkangensis ), more femoral pores on each side in males (9-12 vs. 2-5 in C. zhenkangensis ) and in females (5-10 vs. 0-3 in C. zhenkangensis ) and the presence of dark-colored nuchal loop (vs. absent in C. zhenkangensis ).

Figures

Figure 1. Type locality of Cyrtodactylus luci sp. nov. in Lao Cai Province (red circle), Vietnam.

Figure 4. Male holotype of Cyrtodactylus luci sp. nov. (IEBR R. 5237) in life. Photo: T. Q. Phan.

Figure 5. Female paratype of Cyrtodactylus luci sp. nov. (IEBR R. 5241) in life. Photo: T. Q. Phan.

Figure 6. A macrohabitat B microhabitat of Cyrtodactylus luci sp. nov. Coc Ly Commune, Bac Ha District, Lao Cai Province, Vietnam. Photo: T. Q. Phan.