Cnemaspis aurantiacopes Grismer & Ngo, 2007

Grismer, Lee, Wood, Perry L., Anuar, Shahrul, Riyanto, Awal, Ahmad, Norhayati, Muin, Mohd A., Sumontha, Montri, Grismer, Jesse L., Onn, Chan Kin, Quah, Evan S. H. & Pauwels, Olivier S. A., 2014, Systematics and natural history of Southeast Asian Rock Geckos (genus Cnemaspis Strauch, 1887) with descriptions of eight new species from Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia, Zootaxa 3880 (1), pp. 1-147 : 43-44

Cnemaspis aurantiacopes Grismer & Ngo, 2007

Hon Dat Rock Gecko

Fig. 18

Holotype. UNS 49 . Type locality: Hon Dat Hill , Hon Dat District, Kien Giang Province, Vietnam (10°06.7749 N, 104°53.5699 E)” at 30 m in elevation.

Diagnosis. Maximum SVL 58.4 mm; 9–11 supralabials; 8–10 infralabials; smooth ventral scales; no precloacal pores; 23–31 paravertebral tubercles; tubercles on body linearly arranged and present on flanks; caudal tubercles not restricted to a single paravertebral row; no tubercles in lateral caudal furrows; ventrolateral caudal tubercles present anteriorly; caudal tubercles do not encircle tail; lateral caudal tubercle row present; subcaudals smooth, bearing a median row of enlarged scales; one or two postcloacal tubercles on each side of tail base; no enlarged femoral or subtibial scales; subtibials keeled; slightly enlarged submetatarsal scales on first toe; 27–31 subdigital fourth toe lamellae; faint, dark, elongate mid-gular marking; gukar region, throat, pectoral region, dorsal and ventral surfaces of forelimbs, ventral surface of hind limbs, and original tail orange in males (Tables 6,7).

Color pattern ( Fig. 18 ). Males: dorsal ground color yellowish to saffron, overlain by rust colored, semitransversely oriented, irregularly shaped markings extending from occiput to base of tail and enclosing a series of eight, large, yellowish-gray, oval blotches extending from nape to base of tail; top of head reddish-brown, rostrum gray; dorsal surface of limbs saffron, overlain with faint, lighter mottling on brachia and thighs and weak banding on forelimbs and forelegs; dorsal caudal region reddish-brown, no banding; three wide, faint, reddish brown, postorbital stripes, uppermost extending onto shoulder region and contacting blotch on nape; ventral surfaces of neck, body, and limbs dull orange, immaculate; gular region slightly darker; labials unicolor reddish brown. Females: overall dorsal coloration is more yellowish-gray, especially noticeable on the limbs; dark, rhomboid blotches and bands on all dorsal surfaces. Both sexes bear a faint, usually lineate, median mid-gular marking.

Distribution. Cnemaspis auarntiacopes is known only from the type locality at Hon Dat Hill, Hon Dat District, Kien Giang Province, Vietnam ( Fig. 3 ).

Natural history. Hon Dat Hill composes a small cluster of mountains reaching to 100 m in elevation that supports an isolated section of secondary, highly disturbed, semi-deciduous forest in the southern reaches of the Mekong Delta flood plain ( Fig. 3 ) and is completely surrounded by agricultural lowlands. The hill maintains abundant outcroppings of granitic rocks and caves and Grismer & Ngo (2007) noted Cnemaspis aurantiacopes to be common on outcrops in both highly disturbed and old secondary forest. They did not observe lizards during the day but lizards were common at night within the confines of caves. This species does not venture out onto the open surfaces of the boulders and when alarmed, may give a tail display wherein the tail is rolled slightly over the back and often moved from side to side ( Grismer & Ngo 2007).

Relationships. Cnemaspis aurantiacopes is the basal species of the other Vietnamese species of Cnemaspis ; C. caudanivea Grismer & Ngo , C. tucdupensis Grismer & Ngo , and C. nuicamensis Grismer & Ngo ( Fig. 2 ).

Material examined. Vietnam: Kien Giang Province, Hon Dat District, Hon Dat Hill UNS 47 , 49 (type series) . Additional material examined since Grismer & Ngo (2007): LSUHC 8245 , 9528–41 .

Figures

FIGURE 2. Maximum-likelihood phylogram (–InL 73957.608688) of the species of the genus Cnemaspis with Bayesian posterior probabilities (BPP) and maximum-likelihood (ML) bootstrap values, respectively based on the concatenated 3 gene dataset. Black circles are nodes supported by BBP and ML values greater than 0.95 and 70, respectively. Gray circles are nodes supported only by ML values greater than 70. White circles are nodes supported only by BPP values greater than 0.95. The distribution maps on the right delimit the ranges of the four major clades.

FIGURE 3. Distribution of the species and species groups in the Ca Mau and Northern Sunda clades. Stars indicate type localities.

FIGURE 18. Cnemaspis aurantiacopes from Hon Dat Hill, Kien Giang Province, Vietnam. Upper and lower left: adult males (LSUDPC 3131 and 3130, respectively) in the light color pattern phase. Upper right: subadult male (LSUDPC 3135) in the light color pattern phase. Lower right: adult female (LSUDPC 3133) in the dark color pattern phase. Photographs by LLG.