Cnemaspis tubaensis, Quah & Wood & Anuar & Muin & Grismer, 2020

Quah, Evan S. H., Wood, Perry L., Anuar, M. S. Shahrul, Muin, Mohd Abdul & Grismer, L. Lee, 2020, A new species of Cnemaspis Strauch 1887 (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from the Langkawi Archipelago, Kedah, Peninsular Malaysia with an updated checklist of the herpetofauna of Tuba Island, Zootaxa 4767 (1), pp. 138-160 : 148-152

Cnemaspis tubaensis sp. nov.

Suggested common name: Tuba Island Rock Gecko

Fig. 4 & 5

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Holotype ( Fig. 4A & B ). Adult male, USMHC 2541 collected at night at approximately 2130 hrs on 18 December 2018 by Evan S.H. Quah, Shahrul Anuar M.S. and Muin, M.A. from along the trail to Gua Wang Buluh cave , Tuba Island, Langkawi Archipelago, Kedah, Peninsular Malaysia (approximately 6°14’45.19”N 99°50’54.69”E; 58 m elevation).

Paratypes ( Fig. 4C & 5 ). Females USMHC 2538–39 and 2542 bear the same collection data as the holotype. Male USMHC 2527 and females USMHC 2528–29 bear the same locality data as the holotype but were collected on 17 December 2018 at approximately 1000–1130 hrs in the daytime.

Diagnosis. Cnemaspis tubaensis sp. nov. differs from all other species of the C. kumpoli group in having a unique combination of a maximum SVL of 37.0 mm; 10 or 11 supralabials; 8 or 9 infralabials; 15–18 semi-linearly arranged paravertebral tubercles; lateral caudal furrow present; lateral caudal tubercles on the anterior portion of the tail; caudal tubercles not encircling tail; five or six precloacal pores; 28 or 29 subdigital lamellae on the fourth toe; smooth ventrals; smooth subcaudals with an enlarged median row of scales; subcaudal region light grey and speckled with yellow; absence of light-colored ocelli on the shoulder region; no yellow postscapular band; dorsum light brown with sage-green blotches and black spots; flanks with scattered yellow spots; and the absence of black gular markings in both sexes.

Description of holotype. Adult male; SVL 35.0 mm; head oblong in dorsal profile, moderate in size (HL/ SVL 0.28), somewhat narrow (HW/SVL 0.17), slightly flattened (HD/HL 0.37), distinct from neck; snout moderate (ES/HL 0.47), slightly concave in lateral view; postnasal region constricted medially; scales of rostrum, weekly keeled, raised, larger than similarly shaped scales on occiput; faint supraorbital ridges; very shallow frontorostral sulcus; canthus rostralis nearly absent, smoothly rounded; eye large (ED/HL 0.19); extra-brillar fringe scales largest anteriorly; pupil round; ear opening oval, taller than wide; rostral slightly concave, dorsal 80% divided by longitudinal median groove; rostral bordered posteriorly by supranasal and laterally by first supralabial; 10R, 10L slightly raised supralabials decreasing in size posteriorly; 9R, 9L infralabials decreasing abruptly in size posteriorly; nostril elliptical, oriented posterodorsally, bordered posteriorly by small, granular postnasal scales; mental large, triangular, bordered posteriorly by three postmentals, two large ones on each side separated medially by a smaller, azygous scale; gular and throat scales raised, smooth and round.

Body slender, elongate (AG/SVL 0.41); dorsal scales small, raised and equal in size throughout body, intermixed with several larger, weakly keeled tubercles more or less semi-linearly arranged; 17 paravertebral tubercles; tubercles absent on lower flanks; tubercles extend from occiput to base of tail; pectoral and abdominal scales smooth and round, flat to concave, slightly larger than dorsal scales and same size throughout; ventral scales of brachia raised, smooth and juxtaposed; six contiguous, pore-bearing precloacal scales arranged in a chevron; precloacal pores round; precloacal depression absent; femoral pores absent.

Forelimbs moderately long, slender, dorsal scales raised, weakly keeled; ventral scales of forearm smooth, juxtaposed; palmar scales smooth, juxtaposed, raised; digits long with an inflected joint; claws recurved; subdigital lamellae unnotched; lamellae beneath first phalanges wide; lamellae beneath phalanx immediately following inflection granular, lamellae of distal phalanges wide; lamella beneath inflection large; slight interdigital webbing present between bases of fingers II–V; fingers increase in length from first to fifth, with fourth and fifth nearly equal in length; relative length of fingers I<II<III<IV≤V; hind limbs slightly longer and thicker than forelimbs; dorsal scales weakly keeled, raised, juxtaposed; ventral scales of hind limbs smooth, much larger than dorsals; plantar scales smooth, slightly raised, juxtaposed; enlarged submetatarsal scales beneath first toe absent; digits elongate with an inflected joint; claws recurved; subdigital lamellae unnotched; lamellae beneath first phalanges wide; lamellae beneath phalanx immediately following inflection granular, lamellae of distal phalanges wide; lamella beneath inflection large; slight interdigital webbing present between the bases of toes I–V; toes increase in length from first to fifth, with fourth and fifth nearly equal in length; relative length of toes I<II<III<IV≤V; 28R, 28L subdigital lamellae on 4th toe.

Tail original, long, slender, TL=51.0 mm, 145.71% SVL; caudal scales similar in size to dorsal scales, slightly raised, weakly keeled, juxtaposed; shallow, middorsal furrow; deeper, single, lateral furrow; subcaudals larger than dorsal caudals, smooth, flat and median row enlarged; caudal tubercles enlarged, weakly spinose, keeled, arranged in segmented whorls along the length of the tail, not encircling tail, absent from lateral furrow; enlarged postcloacal tubercles 2R, 2L on lateral surface of hemipenial swellings at the base of tail.

Coloration in life ( Fig. 4A & B ). The dorsal ground coloration of the head and body is brown, and the top of the head and snout are marked with small black, and light-grey to sage-green spots. There is a thin, black postorbital stripe that runs from the eye to the nape and another faint, light-grey stripe from the lower corner of the eye to the retroarticular process of the jaw. Along the vertebral column are light-grey to sage-green paravertebral blotches that extend from the nape to the base of the tail. Running alongside the light-grey paravertebral blotches, are black spots scattered on the back and flanks that are more prominent on the nape, shoulder region, and anterior portion of the body, as well as smaller, light-grey spots scattered throughout. On the lower flanks, are prominent yellow spots and yellow tubercles scattered on the dorsum as well. The limbs and digits are light-brown and overlain with small, irregularly shaped, somewhat randomly arranged, black and light-grey to sage-green colored spots. Caudal bands are light-grey and brown, encircle the tail, and there are scattered black and light-yellow markings. The throat and gular region are immaculate yellow, while the rest of the venter and undersides of the limbs are light-grey with faint, dark stippling. There is faint, yellow speckling on the pectoral and abdominal regions. The subcaudal region is light-grey and speckled with yellow.

Coloration in preservative ( Fig. 5 ). The overall coloration of the body in preservation is similar to that in life except the colors are faded. The light-grey or sage-green paravertebral blotches and spots on the body turn to beige or cream and the dark markings and banding on the tail become less prominent. The entire throat, gular and venter are beige and the yellow spots along the lower flanks and yellow colored tubercles are off-white.

Variation. The paratypes closely resemble the holotype in color pattern and scale counts ( Figs. 4 & 5 ; Table 6 ). There is no sexual dimorphism in color pattern ( Fig. 5 ) nor were there any observable differences in the day and night coloration of this species. The paratype USMHC 2527 was lighter colored than the holotype in life with more obscured dorsal markings but more prominent yellow spots along the lower flanks. The regenerated portion of its tail was light grey with fine mottling ( Fig. 4C ). Paratypes USMHC 2529, 2538–39 have more prominent black spots on their dorsum ( Fig. 5A ). Morphometric variation and variation in scalation is presented in Table 6 .

Distribution. Cnemaspis tubaensis sp. nov. is only known from the northeastern corner of Tuba Island, Langkawi Archipelago, Kedah on the karst towers where the Gua Wang Buluh Cave is located. It may be wider ranging on the island where other karst outcrops occur.

Etymology. The specific epithet tubaensis is in reference to the type locality of this species on Tuba Island of the Langkawi Archipelago, Kedah, Peninsular Malaysia ( Fig. 1 ).

Natural history. Cnemaspis tubaensis sp. nov. were found on karst faces and boulders both during the day and night. Some specimens were observed at the entrance of the Gua Wang Buluh Cave but none were found inside. It appears that this species is diurnal as geckos were highly alert during the day and were most often observed clinging upside down to the undersides of large boulders or crawling in the shadows of the boulders. They were difficult to approach and would usually flee into narrow crevices or to the base of the boulders and hide in the interspaces between the karst and the ground. At night, they were found sheltering in cracks and crevices in the karst and easier to approach. Paratypes USMHC 2529, 2539 and 2542 were gravid, each carrying a single egg which indicates that breeding takes place for this species at the end of the year. The gekkonids Cyrtodactylus dayangbuntingensis Quah, Grismer, Wood & Shahrul , and Gehyra mutilata (Wiegmann) were found in syntopy with C. tubaensis sp. nov. at night. Other species of herpetofauna recorded in the vicinity were Limnonectes hascheanus (Stoliczka) , Bronchocela cf. rayaensis , Draco blanfordii Boulenger , and Boiga cyanea (Duméril, Bibron & Duméril) . Collectively along with C. tubaensis sp. nov., all these species represent new records for Tuba Island ( Table 10 ).

Comparison ( Table 7 ). Cnemaspis tubaensis sp. nov. is distinguished by its higher number of supralabials from C. biocellata (10 or 11 versus 6–10), C. kumpoli (10 or 11 versus 7–9), C. monachorum (10 or 11 versus 7 or 8), and C. tarutaoensis (10 or 11 versus 8 or 9). It is further distinguished by its higher number of infralabials compared to C. kumpoli (8 or 9 versus 6–8), C. monachorum (8 or 9 versus 5–7) and C. niyomwanae (8 or 9 versus 6–8). Cnemaspis tubaensis sp. nov. also has fewer paravertebral tubercles than C. biocellata (15–18 versus 21–27), C. kumpoli (15–18 versus 28–35) and C. niyomwanae (15–18 versus 26–31). In addition, it can also be distinguished by its fewer number of 4 th toe lamellae as compared to C. biocellata (28 or 29 versus 29–37), C. kumpoli (28 or 29 versus 34–41) and C. niyomwanae (28 or 29 versus 31–34). Based on colour pattern, the absence of a single ocellus in shoulder region distinguishes male C. tubaensis sp. nov. from males of C. biocellata and C. kumpoli . Similarly, the presence of red bands on the forelimbs and dark-red, dorsal blotches in males of C. kumpoli and C. niyomwanae ( Grismer et al. 2014b) further distinguish them from C. tubaensis sp. nov. Cnemaspis tubaensis sp. nov. can be distinguished from its two closest relatives by its larger maximum SVL (37.0 versus 32.9 and 36.4mm in C. monachorum and C. tarutaoensis , respectively). It is further distinguished from the latter two species by the absence of dark, median gular markings. Other diagnostic characters that separate C. tubaensis sp. nov. from other species of the kumpoli group are summarized in Table 7 .

From the two other species of Cnemaspis found in the Langkawi Archipelago; C. mahsuriae and C. roticanai , C. tubaensis sp. nov. can be distinguished by the absence of keeled subtibial and ventral scales (Grismer & Chan 2010; Grismer et al. 2015b). Cnemaspis tubaensis sp. nov. can be further distinguished from C. roticanai by its higher number of supralabials (10 or 11 versus 7–9), fewer paravertebral tubercles (15–18 versus 25–27), the absence of keeled subcaudals, and the absence of a yellow to white, prescapular crescent (Grismer & Chan 2010). From C. mahsuriae , C. tubaensis sp. nov. can be further distinguished by its fewer paravertebral tubercles (15–18 versus 21–24), more lamellae on the fourth toe (28 or 29 versus 23–26) and pattern on flanks (yellow spots versus faint yellow bars) ( Grismer et al. 2015b). Moreover, C. mahsuriae and C. roticanai are forest associated species found from the mid to upper elevations at Gunung Raya on Langkawi Island whereas C. tubaensis sp. nov. is presently only known from the karst outcrops at lower elevations in the vicinity of Gua Wang Buluh Cave on Tuba Island.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Reported localities of Cnemaspis tubaensis sp. nov., C. monachorum, and C. tarutaoensis. Star = type locality. Inset: Location of the Langkawi Archipelago along the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia.

FIGURE 4. (A) Dorsal view of the male holotype of Cnemaspis tubaensis sp. nov. (USMHC 2541). (B) Ventral view of the male holotype of C. tubaensis sp. nov. (USMHC 2541). (C) Dorsal view of the male paratype of C. tubaensis sp. nov. (USMHC 2527).

FIGURE 5. Dorsal (A) and ventral (B) aspects of the preserved type series of Cnemaspis tubaensis sp. nov.. Voucher numbers are in the USMHC series and USMHC 2541 is the holotype.