Gekko boehmei, Luu, Vinh Quang, Calame, Thomas, Nguyen, Truong Quang, Le, Minh Duc & Ziegler, Thomas, 2015

Luu, Vinh Quang, Calame, Thomas, Nguyen, Truong Quang, Le, Minh Duc & Ziegler, Thomas, 2015, Morphological and molecular review of the Gekko diversity of Laos with descriptions of three new species, Zootaxa 3986 (3), pp. 279-306 : 299-302

Gekko boehmei sp. nov.

( Fig. 9 )

Holotype. VFU R.2014.09, adult male, in karst forest of Bualapha Town (17o18.312’N, 105o43.726’E, at an elevation of 196 m a.s.l.), Khammouane Province, central Laos, collected by Vinh Quang Luu and Kieusomphone Thanabuaosy on 19 June 2014 .

Paratypes. Two adult males ZFMK 97195 and IEBR A.2015.31, one adult female ZMB 82028, and one subadult female NUOL R-2015.2, the same data as the holotype .

Diagnosis. Gekko boehmei sp. nov. is distinguished from its congeners in the Gekko petricolus group by a combination of the following characters: a medium-sized gecko species (maximum SVL 105.3 mm); supralabials 10–15; infralabials 8–11; dorsal tubercle rows 12–15; ventral scale rows from mental to cloacal slit 141–152; scale rows at midbody 101–114; ventral scales 30–34; webbing weakly developed between fingers and toes; dorsal surface of hindlimbs and tail with enlarged tubercles; precloacal pores 10 or 11 in males, absent in females; postcloacal tubercles 1or 2; subcaudals enlarged; vertebral part with a row of oval grey and dark dots from nape to sacrum, vertical yellow blotches on flank.

Description of holotype. Size moderate, total length 227.4 mm (SVL 102.6 mm, TaL 124.8); body robust, elongate (ratio of AG/SVL 0.46); head longer than wide (ratio of HL/HW 1.38); rostral rectangular, nearly two times wider than high (ratio of RW/RH 1.98), and wider than mental (ratio of RW/MW 1.54 mm), with a medial suture in Y–shape; nostril surrounded by rostral, first supralabial scales, supranasal, and two nasals posteriorly; posterior nasal region concave; supranasals in contact anteriorly and slightly separated by a small scale posteriorly; interorbitals 27–32; preorbital region concave; eye large (OD/HL ratio 0.22), pupil vertical; ear opening oblique; mental triangular, wider than long (MW/ML ratio 1.10); postmentals 2, rhomboid, twice as long as wide; postmental in contact with six gular scales posteriorly, outer scales larger than inner ones; supralabials 15/15; infralabials 11/11; dorsal tubercle rows 12, 3 or 4 times larger than adjacent scales, surrounded by nine dorsal scales; enlarged tubercles present on dorsal surface of hindlimbs; lateral fold weakly developed, without tubercles; ventral scales 30; scale rows around midbody 101; ventral scales in a row from mental to cloacal slit 141; webbing between fingers and toes weakly developed; claw absent on inner finger and toe; lamellae under first finger 13/13, under fourth finger 16/16, under first toe 14/15, under fourth toe 17/17; precloacal pores 11; femoral pores absent; enlarged scales from precloacal pores towards cloaca in 6 rows; postcloacal tubercle one; tail thickened at base, enlarged tubercles present on dorsal surface of tail base; subcaudals flat, enlarged.

Coloration in life. Dorsal surface of head dark grey with light and black blotches; lateral head with some grey lines radiating from orbit; dorsal part of body with light and black spots together along backbone, lateral sides with yellow symmetrical patches; limbs mottled and marked with irregular dark blotches; dorsal tail with 13 yellowish light bands; throat, venter, precloacal region, and underside of tail yellowish grey with dark marbling near lateral fold.

Sexual dimorphism. Measurements and scalation characters of the paratypes are given in Table 6. The males differ from females by having a larger size (SVL: 93.9–105.3 in males versus 68.0– 89.6 in females), and precloacal pores present in males (versus absent in females). The remaining paratypes have intersupranasals in contact with rostral except for the holotype and one paratype ZFMK 96123. In addition, ZFMK 96123 has a pair of postcloacal tubercles on each side (versus one on each side in other type specimens).

Comparisons. Based on examination of specimens and data obtained from the literature ( Panitvong et al. 2010; Ngo & Gamble 2011) we compared the new species from Laos with the remaining congeners of the Gekko petricolus group sensu Rösler et al. (2011) (see Table 7).

Gekko boehmei sp. nov. has enlarged tubercles on the dorsal surface of hindlimbs, and thus differs from G. badenii G. canaensis , G. grossmanni , G. lauhachindaei Panitvong, Sumontha, Konler & Kunya , G. russelltraini , and G. takouensis , which are absent in the latter ones.

TABLE 6. Measurements (in mm) and morphological characters of the type series of Gekko boehmei sp. nov. (for abbreviations see material and methods, “*” = regenerated).

VFUR.2014.09 ZFMK 97195 IEBR A.2015.31 Min–Max M±SD ZMB82028 NUOL R-2015.2

(holotype) (paratype) (paratype) (paratype) (paratype)

male male male female subadultfemale

SVL 102.6 105.3 93.9 93.9–105.3 100.6±6.0 89.6 68.0 Hinlimb tubercles present present present present present TABLE 7. Comparisons of selected characteristics among Gekko petricolus – species group. n/a = data not available (modified after Panitvong et al. 2010; Ngo & Gamble 2011).

maximum snout-vent length (in mm); 2—number of dorsal tubercle rows; 3—number of ventrals; 4—number of scales around midbody; 5—number of precloacal pores (only in males); 6—

number of subdigital lamellae under the fourth toe; 7—number of supralabials; 8—number of sublabials; 9—number of interorbitals; 10—number of postcloacal tubercles; 11—ratio of SE/OD; — vertebral on dorsum light marking; 13— transverse bars on dorsum; 14— vertical bars on flank; 15—tubercles on hind limbs; 16—distribution. ” = presence of character state; “0” = absence of character state.

” = contribution of this study.

Gekko boehmei sp. nov. is most similar to G. petricolus Taylor in the presence of dorsal tubercles on hindlimbs and the number of cloacal and femoral pores in males. However, the new species can be distinguished from the latter by its larger size (SVL up to 105.3 versus 98.0 mm), more precloacal pores in males (10–11 versus 9–10), the absence of precloacal pores in females (versus present in females), fewer interorbital scales (27–32 versus 36–40), and the presence of light bars on flank (versus absent).

Distribution. The new species is only known from the type locality in Khammouane Province, central Laos ( Fig. 5 ).

Etymology. The specific epithet honors Professor Dr. Wolfgang Böhme from the Zoologisches Forschungsmuseum Alexander Koenig (ZFMK), Bonn, Germany to acknowledge his great contributions to herpetological research. In particular we dedicate the new species to Wolfgang on the occasion of his 70th birthday. We suggest as common names: Boehme’s Gecko (English) , Kap Ke Boehme (Laotian), and Böhmes Gecko (German) .

Natural history. The specimens of Gekko boehmei were collected on karst walls between 20:00 and 21:00 after heavy rain, from 1.5 to 3 m above the forest floor, at an elevation of 196 m. The location was close to rice fields and about 100 m distant from the main road ( Fig. 10 ).

Figures

FIGURE 5. Map showing the type locality (black circle) of three new species of Gekko in Khammouane Province, central Laos.

FIGURE 9. A) Dorsal view of the holotype (VFU R. 2014.09) and B) the paratype (IEBR A. 2015.31) of Gekko boehmei sp. nov. Photos V. Q. Luu.

FIGURE 10. A) Microhabitat of the holotype (VFU R. 2014.09) and B) macrohabitat of Gekko boehmei sp. nov. Photos V. Q. Luu.