Scutiger kanjiroba, Hofmann & Jablonski & Schmidt, 2024

Hofmann, Sylvia, Jablonski, Daniel & Schmidt, Joachim, 2024, Morphological and molecular data warrant the description of a new species of the genus Scutiger (Anura, Megophryidae) from the Central Himalaya, ZooKeys 1210, pp. 229-246 : 229-246

Scutiger kanjiroba sp. nov.

Fig. 5 ; Suppl. material 1: figs S 3, S 7, tables S 5, S 6 Suggested common name: Kanjiroba lazy toad

Scutiger nepalensis : Hofmann et al. (2017), partim.

Type material.

Holotype. Nepal • 1 ♂; NHME A 0576/99 ; adult; collected at Juphal in the direction to Tripurakot, Dolpa district, Nepal (29 ° 01 ' N, 82 ° 47 ' E, 2600 m a. s. l.) on 31 / 05 / 1997 by Marco Fischer; deposited in the NHME . Paratypes. Nepal • 1 ♀; NHME A 0570/99 ; adult; and 1 juvenile; NHME A 1247/05 ; collected at Talphi , Jumla district, Nepal (29 ° 18 ' N, 82 ° 20 ' E, 3400 m a. s. l.) on 16 / 06 / 1997 by Marco Fischer; deposited in the NHME . 1 ♀; NHME A 0574/99 ; adult; collected at Kaigaon , Jumla district, Nepal (29 ° 06 ' N, 82 ° 35 ' E, 3600 m a. s. l.) on 03 / 06 / 1997 by Marco Fischer; deposited in the NHME . 1 ♀; NHME A 1248/05 , adult, collected at Dhauli Lake , Jumla district, Nepal (29 ° 21 ' N, 82 ° 23 ' E, 4400 m a. s. l.) on 05 / 07 / 1999 by Marco Fischer, deposited in the NHME . 1 subadult; NHME A 1249/05 ; collected at Dhauli Lake , Jumla district, Nepal (29 ° 21 ' N, 82 ° 23 ' E, 4400 m a. s. l.) on 05 / 07 / 1999 by Marco Fischer, deposited in the NHME . 1 tadpole; NHME A 1250/05 ; collected at Dhauli Lake , Jumla district, Nepal (29 ° 21 ' N, 82 ° 23 ' E, 4400 m a. s. l.) on 05 / 07 / 1999 by Marco Fischer, deposited in the NHME . 2 juveniles; NHME A 1251/05 and A 1252/05 ; collected at Dhauli Lake , Jumla district, Nepal (29 ° 21 ' N, 82 ° 23 ' E, 4400 m a. s. l.) on 05 / 07 / 1999 by Marco Fischer, deposited in the NHME . 1 juvenile; NHME A 1253/05 ; collected at Bumra [Bumramadichaur], Jumla district, Nepal (29 ° 23 ' N, 82 ° 08 ' E) on 22 / 06 / 1999 by Ulrich Scheidt, deposited in the NHME . 1 juvenile; NHME A 1254/05 ; collected at Maharigaon , Jumla district, Nepal (29 ° 20 ' N, 82 ° 23 ' E) on 08 / 07 / 1999 by Andreas Weigel, deposited in the NHME . 1 metamorp; NHME A 2014/13 ; collected near Khari La , Jumla district, Nepal (29 ° 21 ' N, 82 ° 09 ' E, 3285 m a. s. l.) in 1999 by Marco Fischer, deposited in the NHME .

Diagnosis.

Scutiger kanjiroba sp. nov. is assigned to the genus Scutiger based in the above-mentioned morphological features and by its molecular phylogenetic position relative to other Scutiger species. It can be separated from all other species of the genus Scutiger by the combination of the following characters (for character states in other species see section Morphological comparison, above): (1) moderate body size, SVL adult male 55.4 mm (n = 1), adult female 54.2-66.7 mm (n = 3); (2) vomerine and maxillary dentation absent; (3) vocal sac absent; (4) subarticular tubercles absent; (5) presence of numerous small, densely arranged spines on the surface of fingers I, II and inner surface of finger III of males in breeding condition; (6) relative length of fingers 3> 4> 2> 1; (7) spines on (inner) (fore) arms absent; (8) toes rudimentary webbed; (9) relative length of toes 4> 3> 5> 2> 1; (10) a pair of pectoral glands and a pair of axillary glands; (11) spines on pectoral and axillary glands present in males; (12) belly without spines; (13) tubercles / warts on dorsal and lateral surfaces of body present; (14) dorsal tubercles with black spines of males in breeding condition.

Description of holotype.

(Fig. 5 ): Measurements are provided in Suppl. material 1: table S 6; all morphological measurements in mm. Adult male SVL 55.4; head moderate, wider than length ( HW / HL 1.3); snout short (SL 7.9) and rounded, slightly protruding beyond jaw; canthus rostralis obvious; nostril dorsolateral, closer to tip of snout than eyes ( SND 3.4, END 4.0); loreal region slightly oblique and concave; internarial distance larger than distance from anterior margin of eye to nostril ( IND / END 1.4); eye moderately in size ( EHD / HL 0.4); pupil vertical; interorbital space flat; tympanum and tympanic ring absent; supratympanic ridge moderately thick, from posterior part of upper eyelids to shoulder; tongue oval; choanae oval, widely separated, visible when viewed from below; vomerine and maxillary teeth absent; vocal sac absent.

Forelimbs strong; forearm of median length ( FAL / SVL 0.25) and of similar length as the hand ( HAL / SVL 0.24), without spines; fingers slender, without webbing and lateral dermal fringes; all fingertips rounded, not dilated; relative finger lengths: 3> 4> 2> 1; subarticular tubercles absent; inner metacarpal tubercle flat and distinct, lager than the outer, indistinct metacarpal tubercle; nuptial spines on dorsal and lateral surface of first and second fingers, and on inner side of third finger.

Hindlimbs robust, moderate in length ( TIBL / SVL = 0.38), thighs slightly shorter than shanks FEL / TIBL = 1.1), heels do not touch when folded at right angles to the body (see also Fig. 5 A ); foot longer than shank ( FOL / TIBL = 1.1); tips of toes round; toes not webbed and without lateral fringes; toes relative lengths 4> 3> 5> 2> 1; subarticular tubercles absent; moderately large inner metatarsal tubercle, outer metatarsal tubercle indistinct.

Dorsal and lateral skin with distinct tubercles in preservative, each tubercle with creamy coloured keratinised tip; tubercles with small, keratinised tips present below and on supratympanic fold and on shank; forehead and surfaces of lower arm relatively smooth; throat and belly surface smooth; a pair of pectoral glands and a pair of axillary glands present on chest, pectoral glands only slightly larger than axillary glands, all covered by tiny spines.

Sexual dimorphism.

In males, a pair of pectoral glands and a pair of axillary glands present on breast (absent in females), all of them covered by spines in breeding season.

Colour in preservative.

The background colouration of the dorsum fades to grey, tubercles with creamy white point, dorsal surface of finger I, II and inner surface of finger III pale brown; ventral belly pale greyish; ventral limbs, ventral chest, and ventral head greyish pale brown.

Tadpole.

One tadpole ( NHME A 1250 / 05) of Scutiger kanjiroba sp. nov. was collected at stage 36 ( Gosner, 1960) (Suppl. material 1: fig. S 7); LTRF: 1: 2 + 2 / 2 + 2: 1.

Distribution and ecological notes.

Scutiger kanjiroba is a forest-dwelling species that is currently known from high-montane areas of the Kanjiroba Himal at altitudes between ~ 3300 and 4400 m a. s. l. in west Nepal (Fig. 1 ).

Etymology.

The specific epithet kanjiroba is a geographical proper name referring to the Kanjiroba Himal in Nepal. The southern area of the Kanjiroba Himal is so far the only known occurrence region of this new species.

Figures

Figure 1. Overview of the Himalaya-Tibet orogenic area and occurrences of Scutiger species. Holotype localities are indicated by symbols with a central black dot. Some species lack the type locality, others could only be approximated due to imprecise information in the original description.

Figure 5. Scutiger kanjiroba sp. nov. holotype NHME A 0576 / 99 in preservative (credit: Morris Flecks) A dorsal view of body B ventral view C dorsolateral view of body D ventral view of left foot.