A new Cyrtodactylus (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from Huong Son limestone forest, Hanoi, northern Vietnam
Author
Luu, Vinh Quang
Author
Nguyen, Truong Quang
Author
Do, Huy Quang
Author
Ziegler, Thomas
text
Zootaxa
2011
3129
39
50
journal article
45792
10.5281/zenodo.201564
881e3227-71cc-4c94-b9d1-5562751102cd
1175-5326
201564
Cyrtodactylus huongsonensis
sp. nov.
Holotype
.
Adult male (
IEBR
A.2011.3) collected on
13 June 2011
by Vinh Quang Luu, Hieu Van Pham, and Nghia Van Ha in Huong Son limestone forest (
25o35’N
,
105o45’E
), My
Duc
District, Hanoi, northern
Vietnam
at an elevation of ca.
120 m
a.s.l. (
Figs. 1–4
).
Paratype
.
Adult female (
ZFMK
92293) the same collection data as for the
holotype
(
Fig. 4
).
Diagnosis.
A medium-sized
Cyrtodactylus
with a maximum SVL of 89.8 mm, distinguished from all congeners by the combination of the following characters: 1) dorsal pattern consisting of a dark nuchal loop, neck band and five in part irregularly shaped transverse body bands between limbs; 2) two enlarged lateral chinshields in contact with first postmental pair; 3) dorsal tubercles present on occiput, body, forearms, hind limbs and tail base; 4) 14–16 irregular dorsal tubercle rows; 5) ventrals in 41–48 longitudinal rows at midbody; 6) lateral skin folds present, lacking tubercles; 7) six precloacal pores plus in total 17 femoral pores in males separated by 8–12 poreless scales; 8) enlarged femoral scales present; 9) enlarged precloacal scales present; 10) precloacal groove absent; 11) 3 postcloacal spurs in males; 12) subcaudal scales transversally enlarged.
Description of
holotype
.
Size medium (SVL 89.8 mm, TaL 78.0 mm, regenerated), distance from posterior corner of eye to anterior margin of ear including ciliaria 8.4 mm, maximum horizontal ear diameter 1.9 mm; for further measurements see
Table 1
.
Rostral wider than high (RW 3.7 mm, RH 2.2 mm, RW/RH 1.2) with an inverse Y-shaped median suture; supralabials 10/12; infralabials 10/11; nares bordered by rostral anteriorly, first supralabial laterally and four nasals posteriorly; supranasals separated from each other by two nasorostrals and a rectangular internasal; medial snout scales granular, those in contact with and nearby supralabials flattened and larger than medial scales; upper anterior ciliaries 3–4 times larger than posterior cilaries; head scales somewhat granular, smaller than median snout scales; anterior supraocular region, back of head and temporal region with rounded, conical tubercles, 3–6 times larger than surrounding scales; mental triangular, slightly wider than rostral; one pair of enlarged postmentals, longer than wide, in broad contact posteriorly; postmentals bordering mental anteriorly, first labials, one pair of enlarged gular scales, with four small gular scales in between them; dorsal scales somewhat granular, about as large as medial snout scales; dorsal tubercles round, conical, surrounded by 9–10 granular scales, tubercles forming approximately 14 irregular longitudinal rows at midbody; ventral scales smooth, medial scales 2–4 times larger than dorsal granules, 48 longitudinal rows at midbody; lateral folds present, without interspersed tubercles; upper arm lacking enlarged tubercles, lower arm with some in part indistinct conical tubercles; dorsal hind limb covered with scattered, smooth, flat to conical tubercles; femoral pores bearing scales distinctly enlarged, separated from precloacal, pore-bearing scales by 8/12 poreless femoral scales; 9/7 enlarged femoral scales, 10/7 femoral pores, six precloacal pores in an angular series; fingers and toes lacking distinct webbing; lamellae numbering 15/15 under first finger, 19/17 under fourth finger, 15/15 under first toe, and 20/20 under fourth toe; claws surrounded by a small scale on upper and a large scale on lower sides; precloacal region covered by a patch of approximately 29 enlarged scales below precloacal, pore-bearing scales; precloacal groove absent; 3/3 enlarged postcloacal tubercles on lateral surface of hemipenial swelling; dorsum of tail bearing distinct tubercles at base only, remainder of tail smooth, regenerated; subcaudals distinctly enlarged, flat, smooth.
TABLE 1.
Selected measurements and morphological characters of the male holotype and female paratype of
Cyrtodactylus huongsonensis
sp. nov.
; measurements in mm, * = regenerated tail.
IEBR A.2011.3 |
ZFMK 92293 |
SVL |
89.8 |
73.4 |
TaL |
78.0* |
90.5 |
HH |
10.1 |
9.0 |
HL |
24.7 |
22.2 |
HW |
17.2 |
15.1 |
OD |
5.6 |
5.1 |
SE |
10.2 |
9.9 |
SL |
10/12 |
13/12 |
IL |
10/11 |
12/12 |
N |
4/4 |
4/4 |
IN |
1 |
1 |
CIL |
26/26 |
28/27 |
PM |
2 |
2 |
DTR |
14 |
16 |
GST |
8-10 |
8-10 |
V |
48 |
41 |
SLB |
191 |
170 |
EFS |
9/7 |
9/9 |
FP |
10/7 |
8/7 |
PP |
6 |
8 |
PAT |
3 /3 |
2 /2 |
LD4 |
19/17 |
19/19 |
LT4 |
20/20 |
23/22 |
Coloration in ethanol.
Ground colouration light brownish-grey, with dark brownish-black dorsal pattern; dorsal head surface with irregular dark blotches, largest at occiput; dark canthal stripe, extending from nostril to eye; postocular streak only distinct on the right side, continuing to contact a somewhat irregularly shaped nuchal loop; postocular streak and nuchal loop bordered by thin light line; neck with a short dark transversal band; five more distinct dark transverse bands between limbs; dark transverse body bands somewhat irregularly shaped, with dark and light borders, fading towards sides; interspaces between dark dorsal bands with dark reticulation or blotches; dark tubercles in the nuchal loop and body bands, whereas light tubercles comprise the light lines and interspaces; flanks with dark blotches; upper surfaces of limbs with dark stripes and reticulations; dorsal surface of regenerated tail grey; gular region yellowish-cream; venter cream and lower tail surface light grey.
For coloration in life see
Fig. 1
. The light lines bordering the nuchal loop and dark dorsal bands are yellow in life, as are the light dorsal tubercles; ground colouration in life is light greyish-brown.
FIGURE 1.
Portrait (A) and dorsal aspect (B) of the male holotype of
Cyrtodactylus huongsonensis
sp. nov.
in life (IEBR A.2011.3). Photos V.Q. Luu
FIGURE 2.
Preserved holotype of
Cyrtodactylus huongsonensis
sp. nov.
(IEBR A.2011.3): head in lateral (A), dorsal (B) and ventral (C) view, as well as mid-dorsum (D). Photos T. Ziegler.
Variation of
paratype
.
For the variation in colouration of the female
paratype
see
Fig. 4
and for meristics see
Table 1
. The internasal is very small and located between the anterior edges of the nasorostrals. The tail is original and has distinctly broadened subcaudals. The female
paratype
is somewhat smaller, but due to egg development we classify it as an adult, which is also indicated by the tail colouration. The dorsal surface of the original tail has 11 dark and 11 light bands, of which the last four dark bands are only faintly discernible. The disappearing light tail tip indicates the transition from juvenile to adult stage (see
Ziegler
et al.
2010
). Concerning the colour pattern, the postocular streaks are well developed on both sides of the female
paratype
. Here, also the lateral dark blotches are more distinct than it is the case in the male
holotype
. The dark blotches on the occiput are fused to a black v-shaped transverse line. The underside of the tail is dark grey, with the tip being light. With respect to sexual dimorphism, the female lacks hemipenial swellings at the tail base, the precloacal and femoral pores are only faintly discernible, and the postcloacal tubercles are less pronounced and fewer in number (2/2 versus 3/
3 in
the male
holotype
).
Comparisons.
Comparisons are based on the original descriptions or descriptions provided in broader faunal and taxonomic publications (e.g., Grismer
et al.
2008,
Rösler & Glaw 2008
,
Bauer
et al.
2009
,
2010
,
Ngo & Grismer 2010
,
Ngo & Pauwels 2010
, Sumontha
et al.
2010,
Ziegler
et al.
2010
,
David
et al.
2011
,
Iskandar
et al.
2011
,
Ngo 2011
, Schneider
et al.
2011).
Cyrtodactylus huongsonensis
sp. nov.
differs from its Vietnamese congeners by the following characters (for details see Table 2):
Cyrtodactylus huongsonensis
sp. nov.
has enlarged subcaudal scales and thus differs from the following species, which lack enlarged subcaudals:
C. cattienensis
Geissler, Nazarov, Orlov, Böhme, Phung,
Nguyen & Ziegler, 2009
,
C. cryptus
Heidrich, Rösler, Vu, Böhme & Ziegler, 2007
,
C. huynhi
Ngo & Bauer, 2008
,
C. irregularis
(
Smith, 1921
)
,
C. pseudoquadrivirgatus
Rösler, Vu, Nguyen, Ngo & Ziegler, 2008
, and
C. ziegleri
Nazarov, Orlov, Nguyen & Ho, 2008
.
Cyrtodactylus huongsonensis
sp. nov.
has enlarged femoral scales, which are lacking in the following species:
C. badenensis
Nguyen, Orlov & Darevsky, 2006
,
C. chauquangensis
Hoang, Orlov, Ananjeva, Johns, Hoang & Dau, 2007
,
C. grismeri
Ngo, 2008
, and
C. nigriocularis
Nguyen, Orlov & Darevsky, 2006
.
Cyrtodactylus huongsonensis
sp. nov.
has femoral pores, which are absent in the following species:
C. eisenmanae
Ngo, 2008
,
C. hontreensis
Ngo, Grismer & Grismer, 2008
,
C. intermedius
(Smith, 1917)
,
C. martini
Ngo, 2011
,
C. paradoxus
(
Darevsky & Szczerbak, 1997
)
, and
C. phuquocensis
Ngo, Grismer & Grismer, 2010
.
Cyrtodactylus huongsonensis
sp. nov.
has 15–17 femoral pores in total and thus differs from
C. caovansungi
Orlov, Nguyen, Nazarov, Ananjeva & Nguyen, 2007
(6),
C. takouensis
Ngo & Bauer, 2008
(0–2), and
C. yangbayensis
Ngo & Chan, 2010
(0–2).
Cyrtodactylus huongsonensis
sp. nov.
has precloacal pores separated from femoral pores, which are a contiguous series in
C. phongnhakebangensis
Ziegler, Rösler, Herrmann & Vu, 2003
, and
C. roesleri
Ziegler, Nazarov, Orlov, Nguyen, Vu, Dang, Dinh & Schmitz, 2010
.
Cyrtodactylus huongsonensis
sp. nov.
has three postcloacal tubercles in males and 41–48 ventrals and thus differs from
C. bichnganae
Ngo, 2010
, that has only two postcloacal tubercles in males and 30–31 ventrals.
Cyrtodactylus huongsonensis
sp. nov.
lacks tubercles on the lateral skin fold and on the dorsal tail surface and thus differs from
C. condorensis
(
Smith, 1921
)
; in addition, the latter species only has precloacal pores (4–7) and a blotched dorsal pattern.
FIGURE 3.
Undersides of right hand (A) and foot (B) of the preserved holotype of
Cyrtodactylus huongsonensis
sp. nov.
(IEBR A.2011.3). Photos T. Ziegler.
FIGURE 4.
A: Cloacal region of the preserved holotype of
Cyrtodactylus huongsonensis
sp. nov.
(IEBR A.2011.3); precloacal and femoral pores were marked with black. B: Dorsal view of preserved male holotype (top) and female paratype (ZFMK 92293, bottom) of
Cyrtodactylus huongsonensis
sp. nov.
Photos T. Ziegler.
With respect to the remaining
Cyrtodactylus
,
Cyrtodactylus huongsonensis
sp. nov.
has transversely enlarged subcaudals and thus differs from the following species which lack enlarged subcaudals:
C. adleri
Das, 1997
,
C. aequalis
Bauer, 2003
,
C. agusanensis
(Taylor, 1915)
,
C. annulatus
(Taylor, 1915)
,
C. batucolus
Grismer, Chan, Grismer, Wood & Belabut, 2008
,
C. biordinis
Brown & McCoy, 1980
,
C. brevidactylus
Bauer, 2002
,
C. buchardi
David, Teynié & Ohler, 2004
,
C. cavernicolus
Inger & King, 1961
,
C. derongo
Brown & Parker, 1973
,
C. fumosus
(Müller, 1895)
,
C. gansi
Bauer, 2003
,
C. halmahericus
Mertens, 1929
,
C. irianjayaensis
Rösler, 2000
,
C. jambangan
Welton, Siler, Diesmos & Brown
,
C. jellesmae
(Boulenger, 1897)
,
C. lateralis
(Werner, 1896)
,
C. loriae
(Boulenger, 1898)
,
C. louisiadensis
(
De
Vis, 1892)
,
C. malayanus
(
De
Rooij, 1915)
,
C. mandalayensis
Mahony, 2009
,
C. marmoratus
Gray, 1831
,
C. matsuii
Hikida, 1990
,
C. murua
Kraus & Allison, 2006
,
C. novaeguineae
(Schlegel, 1837)
,
C. nuaulu
Oliver, Edgar, Mumpuni, Iskandar & Lilley, 2009
,
C. pantiensis
Grismer, Chan, Grismer, Wood & Belabut, 2008
,
C. papuensis
(Brongersma, 1934)
,
C. philippinicus
(Steindachner, 1867)
,
C. pubisulcus
Inger, 1957
,
C. quadrivirgatus
Taylor, 1962
,
C. sadleiri
Wells & Wellington, 1985
,
C. semenanjungensis
Grismer & Leong, 2005
,
C. seribuatensis
Youmans & Grismer, 2006
,
C. sermowaiensis
(de Rooij, 1915),
C. serratus
Kraus, 2007
,
C. stresemanni
Rösler & Glaw, 2008
,
C. sworderi
(Smith, 1925)
,
C. tautbatorum
Welton, Siler, Diesmos & Brown, 2009
,
C. tiomanensis
Das & Lim, 2000
,
C. tuberculatus
(Lucas & Frost, 1900)
,
C. wakeorum
Bauer 2003
,
C. wetariensis
(Dunn, 1927)
,
C. yoshii
Hikida, 1990
,
C. zhaoermii
Shi & Zhao, 2010
, and
C. zugi
Oliver, Tjarhan, Mumpuni, Krey & Richards, 2008
.
Cyrtodactylus huongsonensis
sp. nov.
has femoral pores and thus differs from the following species which lack femoral pores:
C. angularis
(
Smith, 1921
)
,
C. aurensis
Grismer, 2005
,
C. ayeyarwadyensis
Bauer, 2003
,
C. chanhomeae
Bauer, Sumontha & Pauwels, 2003
,
C. chrysopylos
Bauer, 2003
,
C. consobrinoides
(Annandale, 1905)
,
C. cracens
Batuwita & Bahir, 2005
,
C. deveti
(Brongersma, 1948)
,
C. edwardtaylori
Batuwita & Bahir, 2005
,
C. elok
Dring, 1979
,
C. feae
(Boulenger, 1893)
,
C. fraenatus
(Günther, 1864)
,
C. ingeri
Hikida, 1990
,
C. jarujini
Ulber, 1993
,
C. khasiensis
(Jerdon, 1870)
,
C. malcolmsmithi
(Constable, 1949)
,
C. oldhami
(Theobald, 1876)
,
C. pageli
Schneider, Nguyen, Schmitz, Kingsada,
Auer & Ziegler, 2011
,
C. papilionoides
Ulber & Grossmann, 1991
,
C. peguensis
(Boulenger, 1893)
,
C. ramboda
Batuwita & Bahir, 2005
,
C. rubidus
(Blyth, 1860)
,
C. soba
Batuwita & Bahir, 2005
,
C. subsolanus
Batuwita & Bahir, 2005
,
C. sumonthai
Bauer, Pauwels & Chanhome, 2002
, and
C. variegatus
(Blyth, 1859)
.
Cyrtodactylus huongsonensis
sp. nov.
has six precloacal pores plus in total 17 femoral pores in males, which are separated by poreless scales and thus differs from the following species which have a contiguous series of precloacal-femoral pores:
C. epiroticus
Kraus, 2008
(60–82),
C. klugei
Kraus, 2008
(66–76),
C. lomyenensis
Ngo & Pauwels, 2010
(32–40),
C. robustus
Kraus, 2008
(75–85),
C. salomonensis
Rösler, Richards & Günther, 2007
(71– 72),
C. tamaiensis
Mahony, 2009
(40), and
C. tripartitus
Kraus, 2008
(64–78).
Cyrtodactylus huongsonensis
sp. nov.
has six precloacal pores in males and 8 precloacal pores in females and thus differs from the following species which have distinctly higher precloacal pore counts:
C. annandalei
Bauer, 2003
(11–12),
C. capreoloides
Rösler, Richards & Günther, 2007
(13),
C. durio
Grismer
et al.
, 2010
(12),
C. interdigitalis
Ulber, 1993
(14),
C. russelli
Bauer, 2003
(15),
C. spinosus
Linkem, McGuire, Hayden, Setiadi, Bickford & Brown
(12–13), and
C. teyniei
David, Nguyen, Schneider & Ziegler, 2011
(
14 in
the single known specimen, an adult female).
The following
Cyrtodactylus
species differ from
Cyrtodactylus huongsonensis
sp. nov.
by the absence of precloacal and femoral pores in both sexes:
C. batik
Iskandar,
Rachmansah & Umilaela, 2011
,
C. darmandvillei
(Weber, 1890)
,
C. gordongekkoi
(Das, 1993)
(see
Biswas 2007
),
C. jarakensis
Grismer, Chan, Grismer, Wood & Belabut, 2008
,
C. laevigatus
(Darevsky, 1964)
,
C. thirakhupti
Pauwels, Bauer, Sumontha & Chanhome 2004
, and
C. wallacei
Hayden, Brown, Gillespie, Setiadi, Linkem, Iskandar, Umilaela, Bickford, Riyanto, Mumpuni & McGuire, 2008
.
Cyrtodactylus huongsonensis
sp. nov.
has 41–48 ventral scales at midbody and thus differs from
C. agamensis
(Bleeker, 1860)
(67),
C. consobrinus
(Peters, 1871)
(65–70),
C. erythrops
Bauer
et al.
, 2008
(28),
C. gubernatoris
(Annandale, 1913)
(30),
C. leegrismeri
Chan & Norhayati, 2010
(27–35),
C. macrotuberculatus
Grismer & Norhayati, 2008
(19–22),
C. pulchellus
Gray, 1828
(33–35),
C. slowinskii
Bauer, 2002
(27–32),
C. tigroides
Bauer, Sumontha & Pauwels, 2003
(34), and
C. wayakonei
Nguyen, Kingsada, Rösler,
Auer & Ziegler, 2010
(31–35).
Cyrtodactylus huongsonensis
sp. nov.
has dorsal tail surface without tubercles and thus differs from
C. aaroni
Günther & Rösler, 2003
,
C. brevipalmatus
(Smith, 1923)
,
C. redimiculus
King, 1962
,
C. baluensis
(Mocquard, 1890)
, and
C. mimikanus
(Boulenger, 1914)
.
Cyrtodactylus huongsonensis
sp. nov.
has 14–16 dorsal tubercle rows and thus differs from
C. auribalteatus
Sumontha, Panitvong & Deein, 2010
(22–24), and
C. dumnuii
Bauer, Kunya, Sumontha, Niyomwan, Pauwels, Chanhome & Kunya, 2010
(18–22).
In addition,
Cyrtodactylus huongsonensis
sp. n.
differs from the representatives of the subgenus
Geckoella
by the presence of transversally enlarged subcaudals and by having precloacal pores in both sexes:
C.
(
Geckoella
)
albofasciatus
(Boulenger, 1885)
,
C.
(
Geckoella
)
collegalensis
(Beddome, 1870)
,
C.
(
Geckoella
)
deccanensis
(Günther, 1864)
,
C.
(
Geckoella
)
jeyporensis
(Beddome, 1877)
,
C.
(
Geckoella
)
nebulosus
(Beddome, 1870)
,
C.
(
Geckoella
)
triedrus
(Günther, 1864)
, and
C.
(
Geckoella
)
yakhuna
(Deraniyagala, 1945)
.
Distribution.
Cyrtodactylus huongsonensis
sp. nov.
is currently known only from the
type
locality in
Vietnam
(
Fig. 5
).
Etymology.
We name this species after its
type
locality, Huong Son limestone forest, which is a tourist site and not yet protected. Huong Son tourist site covers an area of a thousand hectares and includes a complex of mountains, rivers and streams, villages, pagodas, and grottoes surrounded by the Huong Tich Mountain Range, north of the Truong Son Range.
Ecological notes.
The
type
specimens were found at night on karst outcrops in limestone forest, at an elevation of ca.
120 m
a.s.l. The left testis of the male
holotype
measured 8.0 mm in length. The somewhat smaller female
paratype
contained further developed eggs of up to 3.4 mm diameter.