Cyrtodactylus manipurensis Boruah, Narayanan, Deepak & Das, 2024

Boruah, Bitupan, Narayanan, Surya, Aravind, Neelavar Ananthram, Lalronunga, Samuel, Deepak, V. & Das, Abhijit, 2024, Description of six new species of Cyrtodactylus Gray (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from northeastern India, Vertebrate Zoology 74, pp. 453-486 : 453-486

Cyrtodactylus manipurensis Boruah, Narayanan, Deepak & Das sp. nov.

Figure 6 ; Tables 2, S 2

Holotype.

Adult male ( WII-ADR 1596 ), collected near Lamdan Kabui village (24.5954 ° N; 93.7085 ° E; elevation 1240 m a. s. l.) (Fig. 3 A ), Churachandpur District, Manipur, India collected by Bitupan Boruah on 25 July 2022.

Diagnosis.

Medium-sized gecko, SVL at least 59.5 mm in adult male; 10 supralabials; eight or nine infralabials; 21 bluntly conical and feebly keeled tubercles across midbody; 37 paravertebral tubercles; 36 mid-ventral scales between ventrolateral folds; 11 or 12 subdigital lamellae beneath digit IV of manus; 13–16 subdigital lamellae beneath digit IV of pes; seven precloacal pores arranged in a continuous series; six irregular shaped dark-brown cross bands on back between axilla and groin; tail dorsally with eight dark-brown and seven pale-brown bands arranged alternatively.

Description of the holotype.

Specimen well preserved except an incision below left axilla ventrolaterally. Snout-vent length 59.5 mm. Head moderately large (HL / SVL = 0.26), oval, dorsoventrally depressed, longer than width (HW / HL = 0.71), distinct from neck, broader at occipital region; snout tip rounded in both dorsal and lateral view; loreal region convex; canthus rostralis rounded, indistinct; interorbital space flat; a longitudinal furrow on dorsal surface of the snout; snout short (SO / HL = 0.39), longer than orbit (OD / SO = 0.68); nostril nearly rounded, opening directed posterolaterally; ear opening rounded; scales on head heterogeneous, largest on snout and loreal region, posteriorly smaller in upper eyelid, interorbital space and occipital region, granular juxtaposed; scales on upper eyelids heterogeneous; supraciliaries outwardly sharp giving serrated appearance in dorsal view, size anteriorly and posteriorly decreases, largest at the anterodorsal region; rostral wide, a short groove at the middle on top, rostral connected with nasals, supranasals, an internasal and first supralabials, two scales between the supranasals paced longitudinally, granular scales at parietal, occipital and temporal region intermixed with slightly large rounded granular tubercles starting from the level of posterior margin of the upper eyelids, those on temporal region are slightly larger than that of occipital region, size of the tubercles increases towards nape; 10 supralabial scales on both sides, size decreases towards angle of jaw; 8 supralabials up to midorbit on both sides; mental nearly triangular, connected with first infralabials, inner postmentals; nine infralabials on right side and eight on left side, size decreases towards angle of jaw; first infralabials connected with mental, second infralabial, inner and outer postmentals; inner pair of postmentals are larger than the outer postmentals; two rows of slightly enlarged scales along the infralabials starting below the outer postmentals, posteriorly size of those decreases; rest of the gular scales are small, granular juxtaposed, nearly homogeneous, size increases towards the throat where they become imbricate.

Habitus slender (BW / SVL = 0.16, TRL / SVL = 0.49), dorsoventrally depressed, dorsal scales granular, rounded, heterogeneous, intermixed with rounded, weakly keeled and bluntly conical tubercles irregularly arranged, up to third segment of the tail, size increases towards posterior body and pronounced at the base of tail; 21 dorsal tubercles across mid dorsum; 37 paravertebral tubercles; ventrolateral fold weak; ventral scales larger than those of dorsal, flat, smooth, cycloid subimbricate to imbricate; 36 mid-ventral scales between ventrolateral fold; seven precloacal pores arranged in an inverted “ V ” shaped continuous series, followed by a series of five unpored enlarged scales below it, largest at the apex, an unpored scale equal size to PcP present in continuous with the PcP in both ends; scales above the PcP larger than those of belly scales.

Forelimbs and hindlimbs slender (FL / SVL = 0.14, CL / SVL = 0.17), digits strongly inflected at the joints, all bearing large recurved claw, enlarged subdigital lamellae; lamellae beneath digit IV of right and left manus (given as basal + distal) is 6 + 5 and 6 + 6 respectively; lamellae beneath digit IV of both right and left pes (given as basal + distal) is 6 + 7 and 7 + 9 respectively; dorsal scales on forelimbs heterogeneous is size, mostly granular; proximal scales on upper arm are smaller than that of lower arm; scales near elbow on lower arm smooth and subimbricate; upper arm scales granular at proximal part and at the distal end it is smooth, cycloid and imbricate; dorsal scales of hindlimbs heterogeneous, intermixed with slightly enlarged, feebly keeled and bluntly conical tubercles; scales on inner lateral side of the thighs are smooth, large and subimbricate, those on dorsal side are small granular; scales on tibia are small, granular juxtaposed; ventral scales of forelimbs granular, juxtaposed, heterogeneous; scales on palm heterogeneous in shape and size, granular juxtaposed; ventral scales on hindlimbs heterogeneous; most of the thigh scales are smooth, cycloid and subimbricate, but on the knee and below the level of precloacal pores, scales are smaller and granular; scales above the vent granular; tibia scales smooth, nearly homogeneous, cycloid and subimbricate; scales on soles heterogeneous, granular, juxtaposed to subimbricate.

Tail complete (TL = 67 mm), slender, gradually tapering towards tip, segments indistinct, dorsal scales small, granular, juxtaposed at the base, posteriorly size increases, flat, smooth, subimbricate, heterogeneous in shape and size, large feebly keeled scales up to third segment of the tail, those on basal segment are pronounced; subcaudal scales smooth, subimbricate, wider than that of dorsal, heterogeneous in shape and size; no enlarged plate like series of subcaudal scales; three bluntly conical spurs on both sides of the tail base.

Colouration in preservative.

Head on top and laterally brown; upper eyelids grey; dorsal ground colour of neck and back slightly paler than that of head; dark-brown irregular patches on neck up to fore limb insertion level; six irregular shaped dark-brown cross bands on back between axilla and groin, mid-dorsally interrupted; one dark-brown band on sacrum; tail dorsally with eight dark-brown and seven pale-brown bands arranged alternatively; dark bands are comparatively broader than the pale bands; the first dark-brown band on tail base broken mid-dorsally into two enlarged elongated spots. Ventrally head, neck, trunk and limbs light-brown; tail with irregular dark-brown specks.

Comparison.

Cyrtodactylus manipurensis sp. nov. differs from C. aaronbaueri by fewer dorsal tubercle rows, DTR 21 (vs. DTR 22–28); differs from C. aunglini by fewer mid-ventral scale rows, MVSR 36 (vs. DTR 47–49), by fewer precloacal pores, PcP 7 (vs. PcP 12 or 13); differs from C. barailensis sp. nov. by number of dorsal tubercle rows, DTR 21 (vs. DTR 17), number of paravertebral tubercle rows, PVT 37 (vs. PVT 32); differs from C. bengkhuaiai by fewer dorsal tubercle rows, DTR 21 (vs. DTR 22–26); differs from C. brevidactylus by having fewer dorsal tubercle rows, DTR 21 (vs. DTR 27–30), enlarged chocolate-brown patches on head and back absent (vs. present); differs from C. chrysopylos by much smaller body size, SVL 59.5 mm (vs. SVL 64.9–79.1 mm in male), fewer precloacal pores, PcP 7 (vs PcP 8–13); differs from C. dianxiensis by smaller body size, SVL 59.5 mm (vs. SVL 73.8–79.9 mm), 21 rows of dorsal tubercle rows (vs. DTR 18 or 19); differs from C. gansi by fewer precloacal pores, PcP 7 (vs. PcP 16–29), ventrolateral fold present on trunk (vs. absent); differs from C. jaintiaensis by much smaller body size, SVL 59.5 mm (vs. SVL 87.0– 88.3 mm in male), fewer precloacal pores in male, PcP 7 (vs. PcP 11 or 12); differs from C. kiphire sp. nov. by smaller body size, SVL 59.5 mm (SVL 63.9–64.7 mm), number of dorsal tubercle rows, DTR 21 (vs. DTR 16), number of paravertebral tubercle rows, PVT 37 (vs. PVT 26 or 29); differs from C. lungleiensis by higher number of precloacal pores, PcP 7 (vs. PcP 3–5 in male), fewer dorsal tubercle rows, DTR 21 (vs. 24–28); differs from C. montanus by larger body size, SVL 59.5 mm (vs. 53.6–55.0 mm in male); differs from C. myaleiktaung by fewer mid-ventral scale rows, MVSR 36 (vs. MVSR 57), precloacal pores present (vs. PcP absent), broad regular dark bands absent on dorsum (vs. present); differs from C. nagalandensis by higher number of dorsal tubercle rows, DTR 21 (vs. DTR 16–18); differs from C. namtiram by having fewer precloacal pores, PcP 7 (vs. PcP 12); differs from C. ngopensis by the number of precloacal pores, PcP 7 (vs. PcP 6); differs from C. siahaensis by be fewer subdigital lamellae, 11 or 12 lamellae under fourth finger (vs. 13 or 14 lamellae under fourth finger), dark-brown broad bands consists of two series of enlarged spots on dorsum (vs. dark-brown blotches in the form of reticulation on dorsum); differs from C. vairengtensis by fewer precloacal pores, PcP 7 (vs. PcP 9–11). Morphological differences with other members of khasiensis group is presented in Table 2 .

Sequence divergence.

Cyrtodactylus manipurensis sp. nov. has a high genetic divergence of 11.2–11.3 % from its closely related C. ngopensis , 10–10.3 % from C. aaronbaueri , 10.2–10.5 % from C. vairengtensis and 9.7–11.1 % from the C. montanus . With other members of the clade, C. kiphire sp. nov. has a genetic divergence of 8.6 % and 23 % in the ND 2 gene.

Etymology.

This species is named after Manipur state in India.

Suggested common name.

Manipur bent-toed gecko.

Distribution and natural history.

Cyrtodactylus manipurensis sp. nov. is currently only recorded from the type locality. We collected a single individual at 18: 00 hrs on 25 July 2022 near Lamdan Kabui village. It was perched on a shrub at a height of approximately 1.5 m, on the road connecting Leimatak and Charoikhullen. The habitat is secondary forest, with Zingiber sp. cultivation and settlements.

Figures

Figure 3. Map showing geographic distribution of the clades within the khasiensis group. A type localities of the members of the four clades in the Indo-Burma region: 1 Cyrtodactylus septentrionalis, 2 C. guwahatiensis, 3 C. urbanus, 4 C. kazirangaensis, 5 C. siangensis sp. nov., 6 C. cayuensis, 7 C. namdaphaensis sp. nov., 8 C. bapme, 9 C. karsticola, 10 C. agarwali, 11 C. exercitus, 12 C. jaintiaensis, 13 C. khasiensis, 14 C. barailensis sp. nov., 15 C. nagalandensis, 16 C. kiphire sp. nov., 17 C. namtiram, 18 C. vairengtensis, 19 C. manipurensis sp. nov., 20 C. mombergi, 21 C. dianxiensis, 22 C. tripuraensis, 23 C. montanus, 24 C. aaronbaueri, 25 C. bengkhuaiai, 26 C. ngopensis, 27 C. lungleiensis, 28 C. ngengpuiensis sp. nov., 29 C. siahaensis, 30 C. gansi, 31 C. myaleiktaung, 32 C. brevidactylus, 33 C. aunglini, 34 C. chrysopylos, 35 C. ayeyarwadyensis; B cayuensis clade, green star (type locality of C. siangensis sp. nov.), pink star (type locality of C. cayuensis), pink triangle (C. “ arunachalensis ”), pink circle (C. cayuensis recorded in this study) (numbers correspond to the locality given in Table 1).

Figure 6. Holotype (WII-ADR 1596) of Cyrtodactylus manipurensis sp. nov. in preserved condition. A dorsal and B ventral view of the whole body; C ventral, D dorsal, and E lateral view of head; F dorsal enlarged tubercles on trunk; G ventral view of right manus and H of right pes. Scale bar: 10 mm.