Hemiphyllodactylus cicak, Cobos, Anthony, Grismer, L. Lee, Wood, Perry L., Quah, Evan S. H., Anuar, Shahrul & Muin, Mohd Abdul, 2016

Cobos, Anthony, Grismer, L. Lee, Wood, Perry L., Quah, Evan S. H., Anuar, Shahrul & Muin, Mohd Abdul, 2016, Phylogenetic relationships of geckos of the Hemiphyllodactylus harterti group, a new species from Penang Island, Peninsular Malaysia, and a likely case of true cryptic speciation, Zootaxa 4107 (3), pp. 367-380 : 371-375

Hemiphyllodactylus cicak sp. nov.

Penang Island Slender Gekko Cicak Kerdil Pulau Pinang Figs. 3 , 4

Holotype. Adult male ( LSUCH 11762) collected by Evan Quah and L. Lee Grismer on 5 May 2014 at 600 m elevation from the living room of the old Ban Hin Lee Guest House on Penang Hill, Pulau Pinang, Peninsular Malaysia (5°25’23.14”N, 100°16’19.79”E) at approximately 1800 hrs during a heavy thunderstorm.

Paratypes. Three adult females ( LSUHC 11763–65) are associated with the same collection data as the holotype.

Diagnosis. Hemiphyllodactylus cicak sp. nov. can be separated from all other species of Hemiphyllodactylus by possessing the unique combination of characters, having a maximum SVL of 31.4 mm; three circumnasal scales; one or two scales between supranasals (=postrostrals); eight supralabials; eight infralabials; 10 or 11 longitudinally arranged ventral scales at midbody contained within one eye diameter; a series of 42 pore-bearing precloacal-femoral scales in the male; lamellar formula on hand 2–3–3–2; lamellar formula on foot 2–3–3–3; dorsal body pattern consisting of dark, transverse, paravertebral blotches coupled with white speckles; dark pre- and postorbital stripes; faint postorbital stripe extends along the flanks to the hind limbs. These characters, and other diagnostic characters, are scored across all species of Hemiphyllodactylus within the harterti group listed in Table 3 .

Description of holotype. Adult male; head sub-triangular in dorsal profile, depressed, distinct from neck; lores and interorbital regions flat; rostrum moderate in length (NarEye/HeadL 0.23); prefrontal region flat to weakly concave; canthus rostralis smoothly rounded, barely discernable; snout moderate, rounded in dorsal profile; eye large; ear opening round, small; eye to ear distance greater than diameter of eye; rostral wider than high, partially divided dorsally, bordered posteriorly by small supranasals; one internasal (= postnasal); external nares bordered anteriorly by rostral, dorsally by supranasal, posteriorly by two postnasals, ventrally by first supralabial (= circumnasals 3R,L); 8 (R,L) square supralabials tapering to below posterior margin of orbit; 8 (R,L) square infralabials tapering to below posterior margin of orbit; scales of rostrum, lores, top of head, and occiput small, granular, those of rostrum largest and slightly raised; dorsal superciliaries flat, rectangular, subimbricate; mental triangular, bordered laterally by first infralabials and posteriorly by two large postmentals; each postmental bordered laterally by a single sublabial; one row of smaller scales extending transversely from juncture of second and third infralabials and contacting mental; seven chin scales; gular scales small, subimbricate, grading posteriorly into slightly larger, subimbricate, throat and pectoral scales which grade into slightly larger, subimbricate ventrals.

Body somewhat elongate (Trunk/SVL 0.49), dorsoventrally compressed; ventrolateral folds absent; dorsal scales small, granular, 17 scales at midbody contained within one eye diameter; ventral scales, flat, subimbricate much larger than dorsal scales, ten scales contained within one eye diameter; enlarged, precloacal scales; 42 porebearing femoral and precloacal scales; forelimbs short, slender in stature, covered with flat, subimbricate scales dorsally and ventrally; palmar scales flat, subimbricate; all digits except digit I well-developed; digit I vestigial, clawless; distal, subdigital lamellae of digits II–V undivided, angular and U-shaped; lamellae proximal to these transversely expanded; lamellar formula of digits II–V 2–3 –3–2 (R,L); two transversely expanded lamellae on digit I; claws on digits II–V well developed, unsheathed; distal portions of digits strongly curved, terminal joint free, arising from central portion of lamellar pad; hind limbs short, more robust than forelimbs, covered with flat, juxtaposed scales dorsally and by larger, flat subimbricate scales ventrally; plantar scales low, flat, subimbricate; all digits except digit I well-developed; digit I vestigial, clawless; distal, subdigital lamellae of digits II–V undivided, angular and U-shaped; lamellae proximal to these transversely expanded; lamellar formula of digits II–V 2–3 –3–3 (R,L); two transversely expanded lamellae on digit I; claws on digits II–V well developed, unsheathed; distal portions of digits strongly curved, terminal joint free, arising from central portion of lamellar pad; tail rectangular in cross-section. Morphometric data are presented in table 4.

Coloration before preservation ( Fig. 3 ). Top of head, body, and limbs beige with black spots and white speckles; dark pre- and postorbital and paired, paroccipital stripes present; dorsum overlain with paired, dark, slightly offset, squarish, paravertebral markings; ground color of the dorsum on the anterior portion of the tail gray while the ground color of the rest of the tail light beige; large, dark, lateral markings on anterior portion of tail that fade toward the posterior; flanks and dorsal surfaces of limbs darkly mottled; ventral surfaces of head, neck, body, and limbs whitish, semi –transparent with greyish brown speckling especially along the sides of the body; subcaudal region orange, especially bright on the underside of the tail ( Fig. 4 ).

Distribution. Hemiphyllodactylus cicak sp. nov. is known only from the type locality of Penang Hill, Penang, Peninsular Malaysia ( Fig. 1 ).

Natural history. All specimens of the type series were collected at night in the Ban Hin Lee Guest House during a heavy downpour. This species occurs in syntopy with various other species of geckos in the guesthouse those being Hemiphyllodactylus typus Bleeker , Gehyra mutilata Wiegmann , Gekko monarchus Schlegel , and Hemidactylus frenatus Duméril, Bibron. LSUHC 11764 was a gravid female. An additional gravid female (LSUHC 12488 not part of the type series) was collected late at night crossing a road near the guest house bordered by hill dipterocarp forest on the 30 July 2015. This indicates the reproductive biology of this species extends from at least early May through late July.

Etymology. This specific epithet “ cicak ” is the Malay word for lizard.

Variation ( Fig. 4 ). The general color patterns of the paratypes closely match that of the holotype. LSUCH 11763 is an adult female that has a partially regenerated tail with a soft gray color. Differences in scales counts are presented in Table 4 .

Comparisons. The molecular analysis indicates that Hemiphyllodactylus cicak sp. nov. is embedded within the harterti group. It can be distinguished from all other species in that group by having a SVL of 31.4 mm, which is smaller than all other species in the group ( Table 3 ). Hemiphyllodactylus cicak sp. nov. has a manual lamellar formula of 2–3–3–2 as opposed to 3–3–3– 3 in H. harterti , 2–4–4– 3 in H. tehtarik , or 3–4–4– 4 in H. bintik and H. titiwangsaensis , respectively, and a pedal lamellar formula of 2–3–3–3 as opposed to 3–3–4– 3 in H. harterti , 3–4–5– 4 in H. tehtarik , 3–4–4– 4 in H. bintik , or 4–5–5– 5 in H. titiwangsaensis , respectively. It also differs from all other species of the harterti group by having only one or two scales between the supranasals as opposed to three, four, or five. Hemiphyllodactylus cicak sp. nov. has eight supralabial scales, whereas H. harterti has 10 or 11, H. tehtarik has 11, H. larutensis has nine or 10, bintik has 11, and H. titiwangsaensis has 5–8. Hemiphyllodactylus cicak sp. nov. can be distinguished from H. tehtarik and H. bintik by having light postocular and trunk spots. Hemiphyllodactylus cicak sp. nov. lacks the dark transverse blotches present in H. titiwangsaensis , and lacks the unicolor dorsal pattern of H. tehtarik and H. larutensis . Additionally, the new species can be differentiated from H. titiwangsaensis and H. larutensis by having a precloacal and femoral pores series of 42, as opposed to 26–32 or 27–36 in these species, respectively. Although H. cicak sp. nov. is most closely related to H. bintik and H. harterti it has two lamellae on its first finger as opposed H. harterti which has three and H. bintik which has four. A similar difference can be seen on digit one of the foot where H. harterti has four lamellae and H. bintik has five, whereas the new species has two. There is an uncorrected pairwise sequence divergence of approximately 8.07% between H. harterti and H. bintik . Previously, Grismer et al. (2013) noted that a divergence of at least 5.0% in Hemiphyllodactylus was consistent with discrete, diagnostic, morphological differences delimiting species boundaries within gekkonids in general.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Distribution of the species of the Hemiphyllodactylus harterti group in Peninsular Malaysia.

FIGURE 3. Male Holotype (LSUCH 11762) of Hemiphyllodactylus cicak sp. nov. from Penang Hill, Penang Island, Penang, Peninsular Malaysia.

FIGURE 4. Ventral view of the type series Hemiphyllodactylus cicak sp. nov.

Tables

TABLE 3. Diagnοstic characters οf the species in the Hemiphyllodactylus harterti grοup.

harterti	tehtarik	larutensis	bintik	titiwangsaensis	cicak sp. nov.
max SvL 39	40.4	52.2	36.6	52.2	31.4
chin scales 6‾8	8	6‾10	7	7‾11	7
pοstmentals distinctly enlarged (1) οr nοt (0) 1	1	1	1	1	1
circumnasal scales 2‾5	5	3 ‾5	5	3 ‾4	3
scales between supranasals 3 ‾4	3	3	3	2 ‾4	1 ‾2
supralabial scales 10‾11	11	9,10	11	5‾8	8
infralabial scales 10‾11	10	7‾10	12	5‾8	8
dοrsal scales 14‾19	18	13‾20	17	17	16‾18
ventral scales 6‾14	12	7‾13	7	8	10‾11
lamellar fοrmula οn hand 3‾3‾3‾3	3‾3‾3‾3	⁄	2‾4‾4‾3	3‾4‾4‾4	2‾3‾3‾2
lamellar fοrmula οn fοοt 3‾3‾4‾3	3‾4‾5‾4	⁄	3‾4‾4‾4	4‾5‾5‾5	2‾3‾3‾3
subdigital lamellae οn first finger 3	5	3,4	4	2	2
subdigital lamellae οn first tοes 4	5	3‾5	5	2	2
Preclοacal and femοral pοres series separate (1) οr cοntinuοus (0) 0	nοne	0	⁄	0	0
Preclοacal and femοral pοres 42‾45	0	27‾36	⁄	26‾32	42
clοacal spurs 1,2	3	2,3	1	2‾3	2
subcaudals enlarged, plate-like (1) οr nοt (0) 0	⁄	0	0	0	0
dark pοstοrbital stripe present (1) οr absent (0) 1	1	1	1	1	1
light pοstοcular οr trunk spοts (1) οr absent (0) 1	0	1	0	1	1
dark dοrsοlateral stripe οn trunk (1) οr absent (0) 1,0	0	0	0	0	0
dοrsal pattern unicοlοr (1) οr nοt (0) 0	1	1	0	0	0
dark dοrsal transverse blοtches (1) οr nοt (0) 0	0	0	0	1	0
lοngitudinal series οf white (1) οr yellοw οr red (0) dοrsal spοts 0	0	0	0	1	1
pοstsacral mark lacking anteriοr arms (1) οr arms present (0) 0	1	1	0	1	1
caecum pigmented (1) οr nοt (0) 1	0	0	1	0	0
gοnads pigmented (1) οr nοt (0) 0	0	0	0	0	0
Τrunk⁄SvL 0.48‾0.53	0.55	0.46‾0.51	0.49	0.43‾0.48	0.47‾0.50
HeadL⁄SvL 0.22‾0.24	0.2	0.21‾0.24	0.23	0.15‾0.27	0.25
HeadW⁄SvL 0.16‾0.18	0.16	0.15‾0.17	0.18	0.15‾0.19	0.16‾0.17
HeadW⁄HeadL 0.65‾0.85	0.8	0.63‾0.73	0.8	0.63‾0.71	0.63‾0.67
SnEye⁄HeadL 0.41‾0.48	0.47	0.39‾0.51	0.41	0.34‾0.38	0.35
NarEye⁄HeadL 0.28‾0.33	0.4	0.27‾0.36	0.33	0.23‾0.29	0.22‾0.23
EyeD⁄HeadL 0.22‾0.30	0.28	0.22‾0.28	0.24	0.21‾0.24	0.22
SnW⁄HeadL 0.15‾0.22	0.16	0.11‾0.15	0.17	0.14‾0.21	0.16
EyeD⁄NarEye 0.81‾1.00	0.72	0.66‾0.90	0.74	0.84‾0.94	0.95‾1
Snv⁄HeadW 0.20 ‾0.32	0.2	0.18 ‾0.21	0.21	0.21 ‾0.31	0.19

TABLE 4. Mensural and meristic data from the type series of Hemiphyllodactylus cicak sp. nov. from the LSUHC collection.

	11762	11763	11764	11765
Sex	m	f	f	f
Chin Scales	7	7	7	7
Postmentals distinctly enlarged (1) or not (0)	1	1	1	1
Circumnasal scales	3	3	3	3
Scales between supranasals	1	1	1	2
Supralabial scales	8	8	8	8
Infralabial scales	8	8	8	8
Dorsal scales	17	16	16	18
Ventral scales	10	10	10	11
Lamellar formula on hand	2–3–3–2	2–3–3–2	2–3–3–2	2–3–3–2
Lamellar formula on foot	2–3–3–3	2–3–3–3	2–3–3–3	2–3–3–3
Subdigital lamellae on first finger	2	2	2	2
Subdigital lamellae on first toes	2	2	2	2
precloacal and femoral pore series separate (0) or continuous (1)	0	/	/	/
# precloacal and femoral pores	42	/	/	/
dark postorbital strip present (0) or absent (1)	0	0	0	0
Number of cloacal spurs	2	1	1	1
Subcaudals enlarged, plate like (1) or not (0)	0	0	0	0
Dorsal pattern unicolor (1) or not (0)	0	1	1	0
Dark dorsal transverse blotches (1) or not (0)	0	0	0	0
Snout Vent Length	31.4	28.9	25.4	28.5
Trunk Length	15.6	14.04	11.9	14.5
Head Length	7.7	6.8	6.3	6.5
Head Width	4.9	4.7	4.2	4.6
Eye Diameter	1.7	1.6	1.4	1.6
Snout Eye Length	2.8	2.7	2.2	2.7
Nar Eye Internarial Width (SnW)	1.8	1.4	1.4	1.6