Cnemaspis vandeventeri, Grismer, Lee, Sumontha, Montri, Cota, Michael, Grismer, Jesse L., Wood, Perry L., Pauwels, Olivier S. G. & Kunya, Kirati, 2010

Grismer, Lee, Sumontha, Montri, Cota, Michael, Grismer, Jesse L., Wood, Perry L., Pauwels, Olivier S. G. & Kunya, Kirati, 2010, A revision and redescription of the rock gecko Cnemaspis siamensis (Taylor 1925) (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from Peninsular Thailand with descriptions of seven new species, Zootaxa 2576, pp. 1-55 : 24-29

Cnemaspis vandeventeri sp. nov.

VanDeventer’s Rock Gecko Djing Djok Niew Yaow VanDeventer Figures 5 ,9,10

Gonatodes siamensis Smith, 1925:22

Cnemaspis siamensis Smith, 1935:72 ; Taylor, 1963:743. Cnemaspis siamensis (?) Pauwels et al., 2000:129

Holotype. Adult male ( THNHM 8261) collected from Khlong Naka Wildlife Sanctuary (9° 26.0N, 98° 35.0E), Kapur District, Ranong Province; Thailand.

Paratype. THNHM 8260 has the same collection data as the holotype.

Diagnosis. Adult males reaching 44.7 mm SVL, adult females reaching 40.5 mm SVL; eight or nine supralabials; 7–9 infralabials; gulars, forearm, subtibials, ventrals, subcaudals, and dorsal tubercles keeled; 25–29 paravertebral tubercles; tubercles small, not linearly arranged, absent from lower flanks ( Fig. 6 ); no ventrolateral, caudal tubercles; caudal tubercles do not encircle tail; no tubercles within lateral, caudal furrow; median row of subcaudals keeled, slightly enlarged; four precloacal, pore-bearing scales in males separated medially by non-pore-bearing scales; pores round; 1–3 postcloacal tubercles; shield-like subtibials absent; 24– 29 subdigital lamellae on fourth toe; no dark, longitudinal gular markings or blotches; head not yellow in adult males; no dark patch on shoulder or neck enclosing a white to yellow ocellus; no yellow to white, prescapular crescent or transverse bars on flanks. These differences are summarized across all species in TABLEs 1 and 2 .

Description of holotype. Adult male; SVL 44.7 mm; head oblong in dorsal profile, moderate in size (HL/ SVL 0.24), somewhat narrow (HW/SVL 0.17), flat (HD/HL 0.44), distinct from neck; snout short (ES/HL 0.47), concave in lateral profile; postnasal region constricted medially; raised scales of rostrum keeled, larger than similarly shaped scales on occiput; prominent, supraorbital ridges; no frontonasal sulcus; canthus rostralis smoothly rounded; eye large (ED/HL 0.23); extra-brillar fringe scales small in general but largest anteriorly; pupil round; ear opening oval, taller than wide; rostral concave dorsally, dorsal 75% divided by longitudinal groove; rostral bordered posteriorly by two supranasals, one smaller azygous scale; bordered laterally by first supralabials and nostrils; 9R,L raised supralabials of similar size, posterior two supralabials bearing a large keel; 9R,8L infralabials, decreasing gradually in size posteriorly; nostrils small, oblong, oriented dorsoposteriorly; bordered posteriorly by small, granular, postnasal scales; mental large, triangular, medially concave, extending to level of second infralabials, bordered posteriorly by three postmentals, lateral postmentals largest; gular scales raised, keeled, pointed; throat scales same as gular scales except larger.

Body slender, elongate (AG/SVL 0.35); small, weakly keeled, dorsal scales equal in size throughout body, intermixed with multi-keeled, semi-longitudinally arranged tubercles; tubercles extend from top of head to base of tail, smallest anteriorly, absent from flanks; large section of skin absent from pelvic region; 29 paravertebral tubercles; pectoral and abdominal scales raised, subimbricate, strongly keeled; abdominal scales slightly larger than pectorals, much larger than dorsals; four poorly developed, pore-bearing, precloacal scales arranged in a 2–2 chevron separated by two non-pore-bearing precloacal scales; pores round; forelimbs moderately long, slender, dorsal scales keeled; ventral scales of forearm smooth, juxtaposed to subimbricate; palmar scales smooth, juxtaposed, raised; digits long with an inflected joint; claws recurved; subdigital lamellae unnotched; subdigital lamellae wide throughout length of digits, bearing a larger scale at digital inflections; interdigital webbing absent; fingers increase in length from first to fourth with fifth same length as fourth; hind limbs longer and thicker than forelimbs; dorsal scales keeled, raised, juxtaposed; ventral scales of thigh, raised, keeled; subtibials keeled, larger than dorsal tibials; plantar scales smooth, slightly raised, imbricate; slightly enlarged submetatarsal scales beneath first metatarsal; digits elongate with an inflected joint; claws recurved; subdigital lamellae unnotched; lamellae wide throughout length of digits except at base where scales are more granular; enlarged scale at digital inflections; interdigital webbing absent; toes increase in length from first to fourth with fourth and fifth nearly equal in length; 26 subdigital lamellae on fourth toe; only 8.7 mm of tail present; caudal scales arranged in segmented whorls; dorsal, caudal scales raised, keeled, subimbricate anteriorly; moderate, middorsal, caudal furrow; single, lateral, caudal furrow; no ventrolateral caudal tubercles present anteriorly; caudal tubercles do not encircle tail; one postcloacal tubercle on lateral surfaces of hemipenal swellings at base of tail.

Coloration (in alcohol). Holotype very faded; dorsal ground color of head, body, limbs and tail brown; top of head bearing small, faint, brown markings and postorbital stripes; series of small, lighter colored, vertebral blotches extend from nape to level of hind limbs; light-colored, prescapular crescent followed by a series of irregularly shaped lightly colored blotches on flanks; limbs faintly mottled with diffuse dark markings; darker bands on digits; all ventral surfaces cream colored, immaculate except for small, individual stipples in each scale.

Variation. Differences in squamation and morphometrics is presented in TABLE 4. The paratype (THNHM 8260) is also faded but its dorsal pattern is more vivid than that of the holotype (Fig. 9). A lightly colored, elongate marking edged in darker coloration occurs on the nape and is followed by lightly colored, butterfly-shaped, vertebral markings extending onto the base of the tail and then continuing posteriorly as caudal bands. The lightly colored, prescapular crescent is more obvious as are the irregularly shaped bars on the flanks. THNHM 8260 also has a complete, non-regenerated tail bearing the following characteristics: median row of slightly enlarged, keeled, subcaudals with four scales per caudal segment; all other subcaudals keeled; paravertebral, dorsolateral, and lateral rows of large, keeled, almost spinose, caudal tubercles; tubercles of paravertebral and lateral rows largest; tubercles absent from lateral, caudal furrow. A contorted, shriveled specimen (CUMZ R-2009,6,24–11, female, ca. 32.8 mm SVL) from Khlong Had Sompen, Ranong Province, approximately 58 km to the south of the type locality also bears the diagnostic scale and color pattern characteristics of the holotype. Voucher photograph LSUDPC 5271 of a living adult male near the type locality in Ranong shows that the overall, dorsal ground color is brown and the tail is yellowish. The gular region, throat, and ventral surfaces of the upper arm are orangish ( Fig. 10 ).

Distribution. Cnemaspis vandeventeri sp. nov. appears to be restricted to the west side of the Tenasserim and the contiguous Phuket Mountains along the west coast of central Peninsular Thailand. At present, it ranges from the Khlong Naka Wildlife Sanctuary in the north, southward approximately 58 km to Khlong Had Sompen, Ranong ( Fig. 1 ). Pauwels et al. (2000) collected two specimens (MNHN 1999.7707–08) from Phang-Nga Wildlife Breeding Station, Phang-Nga located west of the Phuket Mountains that they referred to as C. siamensis which could have also been C. vandeventeri sp. nov.. Unfortunately, the specimens could not be located (P. David, in lit. 2009). A photograph of a living specimen taken in situ from Phuket Island bears a lightly colored, prescapular crescent; irregularly shaped, lightly colored markings on its flank (as opposed to bars); and an orangish, gular and abdominal region ( Fig. 10 ). We believe these diagnostic characters indicate that the specimen is C. vandeventeri . It is quite likely that C. vandeventeri sp. nov. ranges further north along the western flanks of the Tenasserim Mountains into Myanmar ( Fig. 1 ).

CUMZ R THNHM THNHM 2009,6,24-11 8260 8261 paratype paratype holotype SVL 32.8 40.5 44.7 Sex f f m Supralabials 8 8 9

Infralabials 8 7 9

Precloacal pores 0 0 4

Paravertebral tubercles 25 29 29 4 th toe lamellae 28 24 26 TL 37.6 / 36.9 TW 3.3 4.2 4.0 FL 5.6 7.1 6.5 TBL 7.4.0 8 7.5 AG 14.0 20.1 15.8 HL 9.6 11.9 10.8 HW 5.8 7.8 7.8 HD 4.1 4.8 4.8 ED 2.1 2.6 2.5 EE 2.4 3.6 3.1 ES 4.4 5.5 5.1 EN 3.3 4.4 4.0 IO 2.4 2.7 2.5 EL 1.1 1.3 1.1 IN 0.8 1.1 1.1

Natural history. Pauwels et al. (2000) reported finding what may be Cnemaspis vandeventeri sp. nov. at Phang-Nga Wildlife Breeding Station beneath a decaying stump in an evergreen forest. CUMZ R-2009,6,24- 11 was found on a vine along a rocky stream. This would suggest this species may not be a rocky microhabitat specialist.

Etymology. The specific epithet vandeventeri , a masculine name in the genitive case, is a patronym honoring Mr. Ryan J. VanDeventer of the Department of Biology at La Sierra University, Riverside, California. Mr. VanDeventer’s passion for, and commitment to the study of biology has been a continual source of enlightenment and inspiration. His heroic efforts to keep La Sierra University’s herpetology laboratory and its occupants “up and running smoothly” for the last 16 years goes beyond description.

Comparisons. Cnemaspis vandeventeri sp. nov. is most similar to C. chanardi sp. nov., C. kamolnorranathi sp. nov., C. roticanai , and C. siamensis of Peninsular Thailand and was considered conspecific with C. chanardi sp. nov., and C. siamensis by Smith (1925, 1930, 1935) and ( Taylor 1963).

Cnemaspis vandeventeri sp. nov. can be differentiated from all Southeast Asian species of Cnemaspis ( TABLE 2 ) except C. chanardi sp. nov., and C. roticanai by having a lightly colored, prescapular cresent. It is differentiated from C. chanardi sp. nov., and C. roticanai by lacking, as opposed to having, tubercles on the flanks. It differs further from C. siamensis in having, as opposed to lacking precloacal pores in males; lacking, as opposed to having, dark, longitudinal, gular markings; and having a greater number of paravertebral tubercles (25–29 vs. 19–25). From C. chanardi sp. nov. it differs further in having a larger maximum SVL (44.7 mm vs. 40.1 mm) and lacking, as opposed to having, lightly colored, transverse bars on the flanks. From C. kamolnorranathi sp. nov. it differs further in having keeled, as opposed to smooth ventral and subtibial scales and round, as opposed to transversely elongate precloacal pores. Cnemaspis vandeventeri sp. nov. is easily diagnosed from all other species of Southeast Asian Cnemaspis on the basis of several aspects of squamation ( TABLE 1 ).

Additional material examined. Ranong Province: Khlong Had Sompen, Muang District, CUMZ-R- 2009,6,24–11.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Distribution of Cnemaspis in Thailand. Squares represent type localities.

FIGURE 5. Upper: flank of Cnemaspis chanardi sp. nov. (CUZM R- 2009,6,24 - 9). Lower: flank of C. vandeventeri sp. nov. (THNHM 8261).

FIGURE 6. Left and lower right: Cnemaspis chanardi sp. nov. (male; CUZM R- 2009,6,24 - 9) from Dad Fa Waterfall in Tai Rom Yen National Park, Surat Thani Province. Upper right: C. chanardi sp. nov. (female; PSUZC-RT 2010.53) from Thum Thong Panra, Thum Panra District, Nakhon Si Thammarat (photos by M. Sumontha).

FIGURE 10. Upper: Captive specimen of Cnemaspis vandeventeri sp. nov. (male) from Ranong Province (photo by M. Sumontha). Lower: male C. vandeventeri sp. nov. photographed in situ on Phuket Island, Phuket province (photo by H. Bringsøe).