Cnemaspis kalsubaiensis, Khandekar & Thackeray & Agarwal & Gangalmale & Kininge & Gaikwad, 2024

Khandekar, Akshay, Thackeray, Tejas, Agarwal, Ishan, Gangalmale, Satpal, Kininge, Saurabh & Gaikwad, Sunil M., 2024, Two new species of South Asian Cnemaspis Strauch, 1887 (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from the far northern peaks of the Western Ghats, India, Zootaxa 5463 (4), pp. 451-478 : 465-474

Cnemaspis kalsubaiensis sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:52F50040-E7B3-455C-8BD8-6AF08F160E47

( Figs 9–12 ; Tables 3–5 )

Holotype. NRC-AA-8417 ( AK-R 2921 ), adult male, from Kalsubai Mountain (19.6011°N, 73.7101°E; ca. 1400 m asl.), Ahmednagar District, Maharashtra State, India; collected by Akshay Khandekar, Satpal Gangalmale, Saurabh Kininge and Swapnil Pawar on 3 rd October 2023.

Paratypes. NRC-AA-8422 ( AK-R 2911 ), adult female, same data as holotype ; NRC-AA-8418 ( AK-R 2908 ) and NRC-AA-8419 ( AK-R 2909 ), adult males, from Kalsubai Mountain (19.6013°N, 73.7149°E; ca. 1300 m asl.), same data as holotype ; NRC-AA-8420 ( AK-R 2986 ) and NRC-AA-8421 ( AK-R 2994 ), adult males, NRC-AA-8423 ( AK-R 2996 ), adult female, from Alang Fort (19.5748°N, 73.6586°E; ca. 1100 m asl.), same data as holotype except collected on 10 th October 2023.

Etymology. The specific epithet is a toponym for the type locality of the new species, Kalsubai in Ahmednagar District, Maharashtra, the highest peak of the State at 1646 m asl.

Suggested English common name. Kalsubai dwarf gecko.

Diagnosis. A medium-sized Cnemaspis , snout to vent length up to 43 mm (n = 7). Dorsal pholidosis heterogeneous; weakly keeled, granules intermixed with large, weakly keeled, irregularly arranged tubercles; enlarged tubercles gradually increasing in size towards flank, tubercles in lowest row short and spine-like; 8–11 rows of dorsal tubercles at midbody; paravertebral tubercles irregularly arranged; gular scales, smooth, subcircular, flattened, and subimbricate; ventral scales subequal from chest to vent, smooth, subcircular, subimbricate with rounded end; 20–22 midventral scales across belly, 123–138 ventral longitudinal scales from mental to cloaca; subdigital scansors smooth, basal three or four unpaired, distal mostly entire, unnotched; 12 or 13 lamellae under digit I of manus and 11–13 lamellae under digit I of pes, 19–22 lamellae under digit IV of manus and 22–26 lamellae under digit IV of pes; males with four or five femoral pores on each thigh separated medially by 19–21 poreless scales (n = 5); tail dorsum with weakly keeled, granular, similar in size and shape to granules on midbody dorsum, gradually becoming larger, flattened, imbricate posteriorly, intermixed with enlarged, strongly keeled, distinctly pointed, conical tubercles forming whorls; six tubercles each on first seven whorls, four in 8–11 th whorls; median row of subcaudals Type A. Dorsal colouration greenish-brown with indistinct vertebral chevrons that continue onto tail, distinct dark ocellus on neck, not strongly sexually dichromatic but shows ontogenetic colour variation. ( Fig. 12A–C ).

Comparisons with members of the girii clade. Cnemaspis kalsubaiensis sp. nov. can be easily distinguished from all members of the girii clade by the presence of irregularly arranged paravertebral tubercles (versus more or less regular series of PVT except in C. mahabali : 18–23 in C. ajijae , 17–22 in C. amba , 17–21 in C. barkiensis , 13–19 in C. chandoliensis , 20–24 in C. flaviventralis , 18–23 in C. girii , 18–25 in C. koynaensis , 8–12 in C. limayei , 16–20 in C. maharashtraensis , 17–23 in C. rajgadensis , 17–19 in C. sahyadriensis , 7–10 in C. uttaraghati ); and a medium body size up to 42.5 mm (versus <36.0 mm in C. ajijae , C. amba , C. barkiensis , C. basalticola sp. nov., C. chandoliensis , C. fortis , C. koynaensis , C. limayei , C. mahabali , C. maharashtraensis , C. rajgadensis , C. sahyadriensis ); 8–11 DTR (versus 14 or 15 in C. girii ); 20–22 midventral scales across belly (versus 30–34 in C. flaviventralis , 33–35 in C. fortis , and 23–31 in C. mahabali ). Cnemaspis kalsubaiensis sp. nov. is similar to C. uttaraghati and C. basalticola sp. nov., but can be distinguished based on the following characters: 20–22 midventral scales across belly (versus 24–25 MVSR in C. basalticola sp. nov. and 27–32 in C. uttaraghati ); 19–22 TLAMF4 and 22–26 TLAMT4 (versus 17–18 TLAMF4 and 20–22 TLAMT 4 in C. uttaraghati ); and 19–21 scales between femoral pores (versus 25–27 in C. basalticola sp. nov. and 22–24 in C. uttaraghati ).

Description of the holotype. Adult male in good state of preservation, except tail tip slightly bent towards right and a ~ 3.9 mm long incision in abdomen region for tissue collection ( Fig. 9A–E ). SVL 38.7 mm, head short (HL/ SVL 0.25), wide (HW/HL 0.70), not strongly depressed (HD/HL 0.45), distinct from neck. Loreal region slightly inflated, canthus rostralis not prominent. Snout half the head length (ES/HL 0.45), two and half times more than diameter (ES/ED 2.50); scales on snout and canthus rostralis large, roughly oval on snout and elongate on canthus rostralis; scales on snout weakly keeled, somewhat conical, much larger than those on forehead and interorbital region; occipital and temporal region with much smaller granules intermixed with slightly larger, weakly keeled, conical tubercles ( Fig. 10 A ). Eye small (ED/HL 0.20) with round pupil; orbit with 13 or 14 extra-brillar fringe scales, largest scales on anterior side; supraciliaries not elongate; eight interorbital scale rows across narrowest point of frontal; 26 scale rows between left and right supraciliaries at mid-orbit ( Fig. 10A, C ). Ear opening deep, vertical, small (EL/HL 0.04); eye to ear distance greater than diameter of eye (EE/ED 1.50) ( Fig. 10C ). Rostral two times wider (1.7 mm) than high (0.8 mm), incompletely divided dorsally by a strongly developed rostral groove and by an enlarged internasal scales about more than half of its height; a single enlarged, rectangular supranasal on each side, separated from each other on snout by a single slightly smaller and roughly rectangular internasal; two enlarged postnasals on each side, upper one marginally larger than lower; rostral in contact with supralabial I, lower postnasal, nasal, supranasal and internasal on either side; nostrils oval, surrounded by upper and lower postnasals, supranasal, and rostral on each side; a single row of scales separate the orbit from the supralabials ( Fig. 10C ). Mental enlarged, subtriangular, marginally wider (2.2 mm) than long (1.8 mm); two pairs of postmentals, inner pair marginally larger (0.8 mm) than outer pair (0.5 mm), roughly rectangular, separated from each below mental by an enlarged chin shield; inner pair bordered by mental, infralabial I, outer postmentals, median chin shield and a single enlarged chin shield on either side; outer postmentals roughly rectangular, bordered by inner postmentals, infralabial I and II, and by three enlarged chin shields on either side; three enlarged gular scales prevent contact of left and right outer postmentals; chin shields bordering postmentals smaller than outermost postmentals, more or less flattened and juxtaposed, rest of the scales on gular even smaller, smooth, subcircular, flattened, and subimbricate ( Fig. 10B ). Infralabials bordered below by a row of slightly enlarged scales, decreasing in size posteriorly. Ten supralabials on left side and nine on right side up to angle of jaw; six supralabials at mid-orbital position on either side; supralabial I largest, decreasing in size posteriorly; seven infralabials up to angle of jaw and five at midorbital position on either side; infralabial I largest, infralabials decreasing in size posteriorly ( Fig. 10C ).

Body relatively slender (BW/AGL 0.45), trunk less than half of SVL (AGL/SVL 0.42) with five short spine-like tubercles on each side of the ventrolateral flanks ( Fig. 11A–C ). Dorsal pholidosis heterogeneous; weakly keeled, granules intermixed with irregularly arranged rows of enlarged, weakly keeled and conical tubercles; granules gradually increasing in size towards each flank, largest on mid-flank; enlarged tubercles in lowest row short spine-like; paravertebral tubercles much smaller than enlarged tubercles on flanks, irregular; approximately 10 rows of dorsal tubercles at midbody ( Fig. 11A–C ). Ventral scales much larger than granules on dorsum, subequal from chest to vent, smooth, subcircular, subimbricate with rounded end; scales above cloaca and thigh slightly larger than those on midbody ventral; 21 midventral scales across belly; 125 ventral scales from mental to anterior border of cloaca ( Figs 9B , 11B ). Femoral pores somewhat elongate, five on each thigh, separated medially by 20 poreless scales ( Fig. 10D ).

Scales on palm and soles smooth, subcircular, subimbricate and more or less flattened ( Fig. 10E, F ); scales on dorsal aspects of limbs heterogeneous in shape and size; scales on upper arm and thigh much larger than granules on dorsum, elongate, subimbricate with pointed ends; scales on lower arm and shank slightly smaller than upper arm and thigh respectively, weakly keeled, subcircular and subimbricate with rounded end, gradually becoming larger, flattened and subimbricate anterolaterally and posteriorly, largest on anterolateral aspect of the hands and feet; scales on ventral aspect of upper arm smooth, granular, much smaller than granules on body dorsum, scales on ventral aspect of lower arm with much larger scales than those on upper arm, smooth, flattened subcircular and subimbricate scales with rounded end; ventral aspect of thigh and shank with enlarged, smooth, flattened, subimbricate scales, slightly larger than midventrals ( Fig. 9A, B ). Forelimbs and hindlimbs slightly long, slender (LAL/SVL 0.13); (CL/SVL 0.18); digits long, with a strong, recurved claw, distinctly inflected, distal portions laterally compressed conspicuously. Digits with both paired and unpaired lamellae, separated into a basal and narrower distal series by single enlarged lamella at inflection; first three or four most basal lamellae paired, all lamellae unpaired above the inflection; basal lamellae series: (2-5-5-7-5 right manus, 2-5-7-9-6 right pes), (2-5-6-7-5 left manus, Fig. 10E ; 2-6- 8-9-6 left pes, Fig. 10F ); distal lamellae series: (11-12-15-14-13 right manus, 11-12-16-17-15 right pes), (11-12-14- 14-13 left manus, Fig. 10E ; 11-13 -16-16-15 left pes, Fig. 10F ). Relative length of digits (measurements in mm in parentheses): IV (4.9)> III (4.5)> V (4.1) = II (4.1)> I (2.9) (left manus); IV (6.1)> III (5.4)> V (5.0)> II (4.2)> I (2.8) (left pes).

Tail original, entire, sub-cylindrical, relatively slender, flattened beneath, slightly longer than snout-vent length (TL/SVL 1.21) ( Fig. 9C–E ). Dorsal scales on tail base weakly keeled, granular, similar in size and shape to granules on midbody dorsum, gradually becoming larger, flattened, imbricate posteriorly, intermixed with enlarged, weakly keeled, weakly pointed and conical tubercles forming whorls; six tubercles each on first seven whorls, four in 8 th –11 th whorls ( Fig. 9C, E ). Scales on ventral aspect of original tail much larger than those on dorsal aspect, smooth, subimbricate; median series slightly larger than rest, with condition of 1–3 slightly enlarged scales alternating with a divided scale (Type A); scales on tail base slightly smaller, smooth, subimbricate; a single, enlarged, weakly keeled postcloacal tubercle on either side ( Figs 9D , 10D ).

Colouration in life ( Fig. 12A ). Dorsal ground colour of head, body, limbs, and tail dark brown; head mottled with light and dark markings, brille brown. Dark brown preorbital streak from orbit forming an indistinct preorbital streak on snout; yellow and dark grey alternating bands on upper labials; two dark brown postorbital streaks, upper one small, half the length of lower, which continues until ear-opening. Dorsum with indistinct dark ocellus just anterior to forelimb insertions followed irregular, wavy cross bars of dark and light markings; dull yellow streaks on lower flanks including spine-like tubercles. Dorsum of limbs with irregular light and dark bands; digits with alternating dark and light yellow-brown markings; dorsum of original tail with black and ashy bands ( Fig. 12A, C ). Gular, pectoral, abdominal region, and underside of limbs and tail off white with dark markings along edges of throat, neck and belly, forelimbs, and hindlimbs; a few yellow scales near yellow streaks of the flank; postcloacal spur and conical tubercles in lateral and ventrolateral rows on tail close to the cloacal opening off white to light yellow. Pupil black, iris bronze with a golden ring.

Variation and additional information from the paratype series. Mensural, meristic, and additional character data for the type series is given in Tables 3–5 respectively. There are four adult males and two adult females ranging in size from 36.9–42.5 mm ( Fig. 7 ). All specimens resemble the holotype except for the following characteristics: inner postmental bordered by mental, infralabial I, outer postmental, and by an enlarged median chin shield in both the paratypes. The postmental is bordered by two enlarged chin shields on left side and a single shield on right side in NRC-AA-8418, NRC-AA-8419, NRC-AA-8421; a single enlarged chin shields on left side and two on right side in NRC-AA-8420; and two on either side in NRC-AA-8423. Outer postmental bordered by inner postmental and infralabial I & II in all paratypes, additionally bordered by three enlarged chin shields on left side and four on right side in NRC-AA-8419 and NRC-AA-8423, four on either side in NRC-AA-8420, four on left side and five on right side in NRC-AA-8421, five on left side and four on right side in NRC-AA-8422; outer postmentals separated from each other by four enlarged chin shields in NRC-AA-8418, NRC-AA-8419, NRC-AA-8421, and five in NRC-AA-8423. Three paratypes (NRC-AA-8418, NRC-AA-8421, and NRC-AA-8422) have original complete tails, marginally longer than body (TL = 1.18, 1.19, and 0.99 respectively); NRC-AA-8419 and NRC-AA-8423 have partially regenerated tails that are equal or marginally shorter than the body (TL = 0.99 and 0.83 respectively); NRC-AA-8420 has a complete but fully regenerated tail that is much shorter than body (TL = 0.76) ( Fig. 7 ). A dark ‘W’ shaped band on nape followed by light grey band in subadults; dorsal ground colouration light greenish brown to brown, dark markings on dorsum rust to dark brown; spot on nape usually distinct; five or six light grey vertebral blotches alternating with dark wavy bands or sets of spots; regenerated portion of tail brown; not strongly sexually dichromatic ( Fig. 12 A–C ).

Distribution and Natural history. Cnemaspis kalsubaiensis sp. nov. is only known from its type locality, (Kalsubai) and paratype locality (Alang Fort), in Ahmednagar District of Maharashtra; both located in the same mountain complex and are approximately six km apart in straight line distance ( Fig. 1 ). The type locality is dominated by basaltic rock cliffs surrounded by semi-evergreen forests, at an elevation of 1100–1400 m asl. ( Fig. 13A ). During our surveys in the post-monsoon season, individuals of the new species were observed active during the daytime (0830–1400 hrs) in high abundance (n => 20/hr), on basalt rock walls <2 m height above ground, inside man-made caves as well as on rocks along the seasonal stream located inside semi-evergreen forest patches ( Fig. 13B ). We also observed a communal egg laying site having both hatched and unhatched eggs attached on horizontal rock wall inside one of the man-made cave at Alang Fort ( Fig. 13C ). A few gravid females were observed active in close proximity to the communal egg laying site, suggesting the post-monsoon season could be the breeding period of the new species. Hemidactylus cf. aaronbaueri and Hemidactylus cf. murrayi were the only sympatric lizards we recorded during our survey.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Elevation map of the northern edge of the Northern Western Ghats showing the distribution of the northern subclade of the girii clade (circles), and C. fortis and C. mahabali (triangles); + indicates sampled sites where Cnemaspis were not found.

FIGURE 2. Maximum likelihood phylogeny of the girii clade; numbers at nodes represent bootstrap support / posterior probability> 70/0.99 (not shown close to terminal nodes).

FIGURE 3. Cnemaspis basalticola sp. nov. (holotype, NRC-AA-8414): (A) dorsal view of body, (B) ventral view of body, (C) dorsal view of tail, (D) ventral view of tail, and (E) lateral view of tail. Scale bars 10 mm; photos by Akshay Khandekar.

FIGURE 4. Cnemaspis basalticola sp. nov. (holotype, NRC-AA-8414): (A) dorsal view of head, (B) ventral view of head, (C) lateral view of head on right, (D) view of femoral region showing femoral pores, (E) ventral view of left manus, and (F) ventral view of left pes. Scale bars 5 mm; photos by Akshay Khandekar.

FIGURE 5. Cnemaspis basalticola sp. nov. (holotype, NRC-AA-8414): (A) dorsal view of midbody, (B) ventral view of midbody, and (C) lateral view of midbody. Scale bars 5 mm; photos by Akshay Khandekar.

FIGURE 6. Cnemaspis basalticola sp. nov., in life: (A) adult male (holotype, NRC-AA-8414) and (B) adult female (paratype, NRC-AA-8416). Photos by Akshay Khandekar.

FIGURE 7. Paratype series of the new species. First two paratypes are of Cnemaspis basalticola sp. nov. (NRC-AA-8415 and NRC-AA-8416), followed by C. kalsubaiensis sp. nov., NRC-AA-8418–8423: (A) dorsal view and (B) ventral view. Scale bars 10 mm; photos by Akshay Khandekar.

FIGURE 8. Habitat of Cnemaspis basalticola sp. nov.: (A) general view, (the mountain range in the background is Alang- Madan-Kulang-Kalsubai complex, the type and paratype locality of C. kalsubaiensis sp. nov.) and (B) microhabitat at the type locality, Ratangad Fort, Ahmednagar District of Maharashtra. Photos by (A) Akash Chavan and (B) Prasad Bhogaonkar.

FIGURE 9. Cnemaspis kalsubaiensis sp. nov. (holotype, NRC-AA-8417): (A) dorsal view of body, (B) ventral view of body, (C) dorsal view of tail, (D) ventral view of tail, and (E) lateral view of tail. Scale bars 10 mm; photos by Akshay Khandekar.

FIGURE 10. Cnemaspis kalsubaiensis sp. nov. (holotype, NRC-AA-8417): (A) dorsal view of head, (B) ventral view of head, (C) lateral view of head on right, (D) view of femoral region showing femoral pores, (E) ventral view of left manus, and (F) ventral view of left pes. Scale bars 5 mm; photos by Akshay Khandekar.

FIGURE 11. Cnemaspis kalsubaiensis sp. nov. (holotype, NRC-AA-8417): (A) dorsal view of midbody, (B) ventral view of midbody, and (C) lateral view of midbody. Scale bars 5 mm; photos by Akshay Khandekar.

FIGURE 12. Cnemaspis kalsubaiensis sp. nov., in life: (A) adult male (holotype, NRC-AA-8417), (B) adult female (paratype, NRC-AA-8423), and (C) juvenile (uncollected). Photos by Akshay Khandekar.

FIGURE 13. Habitat of Cnemaspis kalsubaiensis sp. nov.: (A) general view at the paratype locality (Alang Fort), (B) microhabitat at the type locality (Kalsubai), and (C) communal egg laying site located inside the man-made cave at paratype locality (Alang Fort), both in Ahmednagar District, Maharashtra. Photos by Akshay Khandekar.