Cnemaspis paripari, Grismer, Lee & Onn, Chan Kin, 2009

Grismer, Lee & Onn, Chan Kin, 2009, A new species of karst dwelling Cnemaspis Strauch 1887 (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from Sarawak, Borneo, Zootaxa 2246, pp. 21-31 : 26-27

Cnemaspis paripari sp. nov.

Fairy Rock Gecko Figure 2

Holotype. Adult male ( ZRC 2.6812) collected during February 2009 from Gua Pari-pari, Bau District, Sarawak, Malaysia (01° 22.867 N, 110° 07.164 E).

Paratypes. The collection date of the paratypes ZRC 2.6813–14 (females) and LSUHC 9185 (male) is the same as that of the holotype. Paratypes come from Gua Angin, Bau District, Sarawak, Malaysia (01° 24.882 N, 110° 08.255 E).

Diagnosis. Cnemaspis paripari differs from all other Southeast Asian species of Cnemaspis in having a median, subcaudal row of enlarged, bead-like scales and adult males bearing a bright yellow head and a bright yellow regenerated tail. It differs further from all other species of Cnemaspis except C. caudanivea in that the original tail in adult males is white. It differs further from all other species in the unique combination of adult males reaching 50.7 mm SVL, adult females reaching 50.1 mm SVL; having 12 supralabials; very large mental scale followed by six or seven postmental scales extending posteriorly to the level of the fourth or fifth infralabial scales; 10 or 11 infralabials; forearm, subtibials, ventrals, subcaudals, and dorsal tubercles keeled; 26–31 paravertebral tubercles whose rows beginning one-third of the way down the body; tubercles on flanks very small and not linearly arranged; tubercles absent within lateral caudal furrow; ventrolateral, caudal tubercles present anteriorly; two postcloacal tubercles; femoral pores absent; zero or one pore-bearing scale in males; slightly enlarged, submetatarsal scales beneath first toe; 26–31 subdigital lamellae on fourth toe; no distinct, large, dark spots on neck; no dark shoulder patch enclosing ocelli; no light, postscapular band or postscapular spots; thin, yellow, transverse markings on flanks; no distinct, alternating dark and light, caudal bands; subcaudal region pigmented, not immaculate; and marked sexual dichromatism between adult males and females. These differences are summarized across all other Cnemaspis in Grismer et al. (2008a: Table 1).

Description of holotype. Adult male; SVL 48.2 mm; head oblong in dorsal profile, moderate in size (HL/ SVL 0.28), somewhat narrow (HW/SVL 0.17), flat (HD/HL 0.40), distinct from neck; snout short (ES/HL 0.49), concave in lateral profile; postnasal region constricted medially, flat; scales of rostrum weakly keeled, raised, larger than similarly shaped scales on occiput; distinct, supraorbital ridges; prominent frontorostral 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 slightly concave dorsally, dorsal 90% divided by longitudinal groove; rostral bordered posteriorly by two large supranasals and laterally by first supralabials and nostrils; 12R,L raised supralabials of similar size; 11R,L infralabials, decreasing gradually in size posteriorly; nostrils elliptical, oriented dorsoposteriorly; bordered posteriorly by small, granular, postnasal scales; mental very large, triangular, extending to level of fourth infralabial, bordered posteriorly by seven postmentals; gular scales slightly raised, smooth; throat scales larger, smooth.

Body slender, elongate; small, weakly keeled, dorsal scales equal in size throughout body, intermixed with sparsely distributed, small, weakly keeled tubercles more or less randomly arranged; tubercles extend from just anterior of forelimb insertion to base of tail and are smallest anteriorly; 26 paravertebral tubercles; pectoral and abdominal scales slightly raised, keeled, abdominal scales slightly larger; abdominal scales larger than dorsals; two series of three (right) and four (left) contiguous, pigmentless, poreless, precloacal scales arranged in a chevron and separated by four pigmented scales are presumably homologous with the porebearing scales of other species; precloacal depression absent; femoral pores absent; forelimbs moderately long, slender, dorsal scales keeled; ventral scales of forearm keeled, juxtaposed; palmar scales smooth, juxtaposed, raised; digits long with an inflected joint; claws recurved; subdigital lamellae unnotched; lamellae wide throughout length of digits; interdigital webbing absent; fingers increase in length from first to fourth with fifth shorter than fourth; hind limbs longer and thicker than forelimbs; dorsal scales keeled, raised, juxtaposed; ventral scales of hind limbs keeled; subtibials much larger than dorsal tibials; plantar scales smooth, slightly raised, juxtaposed; slightly enlarged submetatarsal scales beneath first metatarsal; digits elongate with an inflected joint; claws recurved; subdigital lamellae unnotched; lamellae wide throughout length of digits; interdigital webbing absent; toes increase in length from first to fourth with fourth being slightly longer than fifth; 31 subdigital lamellae on fourth toe; caudal scales arranged in segmented whorls; caudal scales flat anteriorly, weakly keeled, juxtaposed; very shallow, middorsal furrow; deep, single, lateral furrow; median row of enlarged, smooth, bead-like, subcaudal scales with three or four scales per caudal segment; other subcaudals keeled; opposing paravertebral, dorsolateral, and ventrolateral rows of keeled, caudal tubercles; paravertebral tubercles largest, subspinose; caudal tubercles do not encircle tail, not present in lateral furrow; two enlarged, postcloacal tubercles on lateral surfaces of hemipenal swellings at base of tail; tail original, 1.2% SVL.

Coloration (in life, Fig. 2 ). Dorsal ground color of body and limbs yellowish brown; head (especially snout) bright yellow bearing small, irregularly shaped, brownish, occipital flecks and a faint, brownish, postorbital stripe; ground color of nape and shoulder region gray bearing three, paravertebral, irregularly shaped, black blotches, a single median blotch, and smaller white markings; four thin, incomplete, transverse yellow bands between forelimb and hind limb insertions; smaller, scattered, dark spots between bands; limbs generally immaculate; digits lighter, bearing a faint, banding pattern; anterior one-half of tail gray bearing faint dark bands; posterior one-half of tail immaculate, white; all ventral surfaces gray except for posterior half of tail which is white and beige, nearly immaculate postmental region.

Variation. Male paratype (LSUHC 9185) closely approaches the holotype in coloration and pattern ( Fig. 2 ). It differs by having an entirely regenerated tail which is bright yellow, more prominent postorbital striping, more dark markings between the yellow body bands, and having dark, paravertebral stripes in the shoulder region as opposed to blotches. The adult females paratypes (ZRC 2.6813–14) differ markedly from the adult males in that their overall ground color is brown, they lack a yellow head and a yellow or white tail and the yellow banding on the body is faint. They have a dark blotching pattern on the nape (similar to LSUHC 9185) and the tail is brown at the base, gradually turning to gray posteriorly and is weakly banded. Variation in scalation is presented in Table 1.

Distribution. Cnemaspis paripari is known only from the karst formations that extend approximately 4.2 km from Gua Angin to Gua Pari-pari, Bau, Sarawak, Malaysia ( Fig. 1 ).

Natural History. Cnemaspis paripari is a lowland, saxicolous species that appears to be restricted to the karst outcroppings that extend from Gua Angin to Gua Pari-pari (Figs. 1,3) which are surrounded by lowland dipterocarp forest. We observed several specimens around and slightly within the openings of these caves where light could still penetrate and on the rocks along the periphery of the outcropping. No specimens were observed deep within the caves. Most lizards were observed on vertical surfaces in shaded areas and would retreat into nearby cracks at the slightest provocation. Males would often curl their tail up over their back and wave the bright yellow (regenerated) or white (original) posterior section from side to side.

Comparisons. Cnemaspis paripari is markedly distinct from all other Southeast Asian Cnemaspis in being the only species with a bright yellow head, males having bright yellow regenerated tails, and by having a median, subcaudal row of bead-like scales. It differs further from all other Cnemaspis except C. caudanivea Grismer & Ngo 2007 in that the posterior region of the original tail is white in adult males. It differs further from all other Cnemaspis except, C. biocellata Grismer, Chan, Nurolhuda , & Sumontha 2008; C. kumpoli Taylor 1963 ; and C. aurantiacopes Grismer & Ngo 2007 in that the adult males and females show marked, sexual dichromatism ( Fig. 2 ). It is strikingly different from the three other species of Cnemaspis from Borneo ( C. dringi Das and Bauer 1998 , C. kendallii ( Gray 1845) and C. nigridia [ Smith 1925]) in size, coloration, and numerous aspects of scale morphology ( Table 2 ).

Etymology. The specific epithet paripari is in reference to the type locality, Gua Pari-pari, and is the Malay word for fairies.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Disribution of Cnemaspis paripari in western Sarawak.

FIGURE 2. Upper: Adult male Cnemaspis paripari (holotype: ZRC 2.6812) from Gua Pari-pari with original tail. Middle: Adult male C. paripari (paratype LSUHC 9185) from Gua Angin with regenerated tail. Lower: Adult female C. paripari (paratype ZRC 2.6813) from Gua Angin with regenerated tail.