Cnemaspis kanyakumariensis Agarwal, Thackeray & Khandekar, 2024

Agarwal, Ishan, Thackeray, Tejas & Khandekar, Akshay, 2024, Two new species of South Asian Cnemaspis Strauch, 1887 (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from the southern tip of the Western Ghats, India, Journal of Natural History 58 (41 - 44), pp. 1803-1843 : 1813

Cnemaspis kanyakumariensis Agarwal, Thackeray & Khandekar sp. n.

http://www.zoobank.org/ urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:83F905FD-BA36-4C86-B975-8CCCF9DB248E

( Figures 3–7 ; Tables 3–5)

Holotype

NRC-AA-8334 (AK-R 1073), adult male, Kadukkarai (8.30224°N, 77.46255°E; ca. 80 m asl), Kanyakumari District , Tamil Nadu State, India; collected by Akshay Khandekar, Ishan Agarwal, Swapnil Pawar and team on 5 April 2022.

Paratypes

BNHS 2881 (AK-R 1078), adult male, ZSI-R-28777 (AK-R 1074), adult female, same data as holotype; NRC-AA-8335 (AK-R 1046), NRC-AA-8336 (AK-R 1053), adult males, BNHS 2882 (AK-R 1045), adult female, from near Valli Chunai (8.25560°N, 77.35272°E; ca. 200 m asl), Thuckalay , Kanyakumari District , same collection data as holotype except collected on 3 April 2022; NRC-AA-8337 (AK-R 1055), adult male, ZSI-R-28776 (AK-R 1056), adult female, from Valli Chunai (8.25842°N, 77.37250°E; ca. 600 m asl), Thuckalay, Kanyakumari District, same collection data as holotype except collected on 4 April 2022 .

Etymology

The specific epithet is a toponym for Kanyakumari District of Tamil Nadu State, to which the new species is endemic.

Figures

Figure 3. Cnemaspis kanyakumariensis sp. n. (holotype, NRC-AA-8334). (A) Dorsal view of body; (B) Ventral view of body; (C) Dorsal view of tail; (D) Ventral view of tail; (E) Lateral view of tail. Scale bars: 10 mm. Photographs by Akshay Khandekar.

Figure 4. Cnemaspis kanyakumariensis sp. n. (holotype, NRC-AA-8334). (A) Dorsal view of head; (B) Ventral view of head; (C) Lateral view of head, right side; (D) View of femoral region showing femoral pores; (E) Ventral view of left manus; (F) Ventral view of left pes. Scale bars: 5 mm. Photographs by Akshay Khandekar.

Figure 5. Cnemaspis kanyakumariensis sp. n. (holotype, NRC-AA-8334). (A) Dorsal view of midbody,(B) Ventral view of midbody, (C) Lateral view of midbody. Scale bars: 5 mm. Photographs by Akshay Khandekar.

Figure 6. Cnemaspis kanyakumariensis sp. n., in life. (A) Adult male (holotype, NRC-AA-8334), (B) Adult female (paratype, ZSI-R-28776). Photographs by Akshay Khandekar (A) and Ishan Agarwal (B).

Figure 7. Paratype series of Cnemaspis kanyakumariensis sp. n. From left to right, NRC-AA-8335–NRC- AA-8337, BNHS 2881, BNHS 2883, ZSI-R-28776, and ZSI-R-28777. (A) Dorsal view, and (B) Ventral view. Scale bars: 10 mm. Photographs by Akshay Khandekar.