Cnemaspis rishivalleyensis, Agarwal & Thackeray & Khandekar, 2020

Agarwal, Ishan, Thackeray, Tejas & Khandekar, Akshay, 2020, Geckos in the granite: two new geckos (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from rocky, scrub habitats in Rishi Valley, Andhra Pradesh, India, Zootaxa 4838 (4), pp. 451-474 : 454-464

Cnemaspis rishivalleyensis sp. nov.

Figures 2–4 , 5A ; Tables 3 & 4

Cnemaspis mysoriensis [part] Giri et al. 2009a

Holotype. NCBS-BH723 (AK 659), adult male, from Cave Rock Hill , Rishi Valley School (13.632° N 78.457° E; ca. 730 m asl.), Chittoor district, Andhra Pradesh state, India, collected by Akshay Khandekar, Ishan Agarwal, Nikhil Gaitonde and Joshua Muyiwa on 12 March 2019.

Paratypes. NCBS-BH724 (AK 660) , NCBS-BH725 (AK 661) , NCBS-BH726 (AK 662) , NCBS-BH727 (AK 663), adult females, same collection data as holotype .

Etymology. The specific epithet is a toponym for the Rishi Valley, the type and only known locality for the new species.

Suggested Common Name. Rishi Valley dwarf gecko

Diagnosis: A small-sized Cnemaspis , snout to vent length less than 31 mm. Dorsal pholidosis heterogenous, with weakly keeled granular scales increasing in size towards flank, smallest on paravertebral rows and largest on flanks; intermixed with two or three irregularly arranged rows of large, weakly keeled, distinctly pointed, spinelike tubercles on either side of the flanks. Ventral scales smooth, imbricate, 23–25 scale rows across belly, 102–112 scales in a single longitudinal column from mental to cloaca. Subdigital scansors smooth, entire, unnotched; lamellae under digit IV of pes 17–20. Males with a single femoral pore on each thigh, separated on either side by ten poreless scales from a continuous series of three precloacal pores. Tail with six enlarged, strongly keeled, distinctly pointed, conical tubercles forming whorls; median row of sub-caudals smooth, slightly enlarged. Dorsal colouration grey-brown with a broad, light mid-dorsal streak formed by seven fused elongate chain-links that runs from occiput to tail base, single medial dark spot on nape flanked by a slightly smaller ocellus and two much smaller ocelli, six pairs of dark spots, one on either side of mid-dorsal streak between forelimb insertions and tail base.

Comparison with peninsular Indian congeners: Cnemaspis rishivalleyensis sp. nov. can be distinguished from all other Indian congeners on the basis of the following differing or non-overlapping characters: A small-sized Cnemaspis SVL up to 31 mm (versus medium-bodied Cnemaspis SVL 40–50 mm in C. anandani Murthy, Anandan, Sengupta & Deepak , C. bangara Agarwal, Thackeray, Pal & Khandekar , C. graniticola , C. kolhapurensis Giri, Bauer & Gaikwad , C. heteropholis Bauer , C. kottiyoorensis Cyriac & Umesh , C. nilagirica Manamendra-Arachchi, Batuwita & Pethiyagoda , C. sisparensis (Theobald) , C. wynadensis (Beddome) , C. ornata (Beddome) , and C. yelagiriensis Agarwal, Thackeray, Pal & Khandekar ; large-sized Cnemaspis SVL > 50 mm in C. anamudiensis Cyriac, Johny, Umesh, & Palot , C. beddomei (Theobald) , C. maculicollis Cyriac, Johny, Umesh, & Palot , C. nairi Inger, Marx & Koshy ); spine-like tubercles present on flanks (versus spine-like tubercles absent in C. aaronbaueri Sayyed, Grismer, Campbell & Dileepkumar , C. adii Srinivasulu, Kumar & Srinivasulu , C. agarwali Khandekar , C. ajijae Sayyed, Pyron & Dileepkumar , C. amba Khandekar, Thackeray & Agarwal , C. anamudiensis , C. bangara , C. beddomei , C. boiei , C. girii Mirza, Pal, Bhosale & Sanap , C. gracilis (Beddome) , C. graniticola , C. heteropholis , C. indica Gray , C. kolhapurensis , C. kottiyoorensis , C. limayei Sayyed, Pyron & Dileepkumar , C. maculicollis , C. mahabali Sayyed, Pyron & Dileepkumar , C. nairi , C. ornata , C. otai , C. shevaroyensis Khandekar, Gaitonde & Agarwal , C. sisparensis , C. thackerayi Khandekar, Gaitonde & Agarwal , C. wynadensis , C. yelagiriensis , C. yercaudensis ) scales on dorsal aspect of trunk heterogeneous (versus scales on dorsal aspect of trunk homogeneous in C. adii , C. assamensis , C. australis , C. boiei , C. indica , C. jerdonii (Theobald) , C. kolhapurensis , C. littoralis Jerdon , C. nilagirica and C. sisparensis ); tail with median row of sub-caudal scales smooth and slightly enlarged (versus median row of sub-caudal scales smooth and not enlarged in C. adii , C. amba , C. ajijae , C. flaviventralis , C. girii , C. limayei , and C. koynaensis ; C. amboliensis Sayyed, Pyron & Dileepkumar , C. australis Manamendra-Arachchi, Batuwita & Pethiyagoda, C. goaensis Sharma , C. monticola Manamendra-Arachchi, Batuwita & Pethiyagoda , with keeled sub-caudals; median row of subcaudal scales smooth and distinctly enlarged in C. adii , C. agarwali , C. boiei , C. gracilis , C. heteropholis , C. indica , C. jerdonii , C. kolhapurensis , C. nairi , C. nilagirica , C. ornata , C. shevaroyensis , C. sisparensis , C. thackerayi , and C. wynadensis ; males with single femoral pore on each thigh, separated on either side by ten poreless scales from continuous series of three precloacal pores (versus precloacal pores absent, femoral pores present in C. ajijae , C. flaviventralis , C. girii , C. indica , C. jerdonii , C. kottiyoorensis , C. limayei , C. littoralis , C. mahabali , C. sisparensis , C. heteropholis , C. wynadensis ; only precloacal pores present in C. aaronbaueri , C. anamudiensis , C. beddomei , C. maculicollis , C. nairi , C. ornata , C. avasabinae Agarwal, Bauer & Khandekar ; both femoral and precloacal pores absent in C. boiei , and C. assamensis Das & Sengupta ; two femoral and two precloacal pores in C. adii ; 4–6 femoral pores, separated on either side by eight poreless scales from four precloacal pores, precloacal pores separated medially by a single poreless scale in C. agarwali ; four or five femoral and three precloacal pores in C. australis ; two femoral pores on each thigh, separated on either side by 11 poreless scales from continuous series of two precloacal pores in C. bangara ; 2–4 femoral and three precloacal pores in C. goaensis ; 3–5 femoral pores, separated on either side by 7–10 poreless scales from two precloacal pores, precloacal pores separated medially by two poreless scales in C. gracilis ; two femoral and two precloacal pores in C. mysoriensis ; three femoral and four precloacal pores in C. otai ; three femoral pores on each thigh, separated on either side by eight or nine poreless scales from continuous series of four precloacal pores in C. graniticola ; four femoral pores, separated on either side by 7–9 poreless scales from 2–4 precloacal pores, precloacal pores separated medially by two or three poreless scales in C. shevaroyensis ; 5–9 femoral pores, separated on either side by 1–6 poreless scales from five or six precloacal pores, precloacal pores separated medially by one or two poreless scales in C. thackerayi ; three femoral pores, separated on either side by five or six poreless scales from two precloacal pores in C. yercaudensis ; a continuous series of 26–28 precloacal-femoral pores in C. kolhapurensis ).

Description of the holotype. Adult male in good state of preservation except for a 3.1 mm long incision below the sternal region for tissue collection ( Fig. 2B ). SVL 30.8 mm, head short (HL/SVL 0.26), wide (HW/HL 0.66), not strongly depressed (HD/HL 0.43), distinctly larger from neck. Loreal region slightly inflated, canthus rostralis not prominent. Snout less than half head length (ES/HL 0.46), 2.5 times eye diameter (ED/ES 0.39); scales on snout and canthus rostralis large, round, weakly keeled, juxtaposed; much larger than those on forehead and interorbital region; occipital and temporal region with much smaller granular scales ( Fig. 3A ). Eye small (ED/HL 0.18); with round pupil; orbit with extra-brillar fringe scales that are largest anteriorly; supraciliaries not elongate. Tympanum deeply recessed, ear-opening small (EL/HL 0.04); eye to ear distance more than one and half times diameter of eye (EE/ED 1.73) ( Fig. 3C ). Rostral much wider (1.4 mm) than high (0.6 mm), incompletely divided dorsally by a strongly developed rostral groove for more than half of its length; single enlarged supranasal on each side, twice the size of postnasals, separated from each other by enlarged single internasal and two much smaller scales on the snout; rostral in contact with supralabial I, nasal, supranasal and internasal; nostrils oval, bordered by postnasals, supranasal and rostral; two rows of scales separate the orbit from the supralabials ( Fig. 3C ). Mental enlarged, subtriangular, wider (1.8 mm) than long (1.2 mm); two pairs of postmentals, inner pair large, roughly rectangular, in contact with each other behind mental, bordered by mental, infralabial I, outer postmentals and two enlarged chin shields on right and three on left; outer postmentals slightly smaller than inner postmentals, roughly circular, bordered by inner postmentals, infralabial I and II, and four enlarged chin shields; three enlarged gular scales prevent contact of left and right outer postmentals; chin shields bordering postmentals flat, smooth, smaller than outermost postmentals, rest small, smooth and flat, not granular. Infralabials bordered below by a row of slightly enlarged scales, decreasing in size posteriorly ( Fig. 3B ). Supralabials up to angle of jaw nine (L) — eight (R) and six at midorbital position on both sides; supralabial I largest, decreasing in size posteriorly; infralabials up to angle of jaw seven (L) — six (R) and five at midorbital position on both sides; infralabial I largest, infralabials decreasing in size posteriorly ( Fig. 3C ). Six extra-brillar fringe scales on both sides, interorbital scale rows across narrowest point of frontal eight or nine; 31 or 32 scale rows between left and right supraciliaries at midorbit ( Fig. 3A ).

Body relatively slender, trunk less than half of SVL (AGL/SVL 0.41) without ventrolateral folds. Dorsal pholidosis heterogenous, with weakly keeled granular scales increasing in size towards flank, smallest on paravertebral rows and largest on flanks; intermixed with two or three irregularly arranged rows of large, weakly keeled, distinctly pointed, spine-like tubercles on either side of the flanks ( Fig. 2A ). Granular scales on nape slightly smaller than those on paravertebral rows, smaller still on occiput ( Fig. 2A ). Scales on flank slightly larger than those on dorsum, weakly keeled, somewhat conical. Ventral scales approximately thrice the size of granular scales on dorsum, those on belly smooth, imbricate, subequal from chest to vent; mid-body scale rows across belly 25; 103 ventral scales in a single row from mental to anterior border of cloaca ( Fig. 2B ). Scales on pectoral region slightly smaller than those on belly, still smaller on throat, flat and sub-imbricate; gular region with much smaller, flattened scales, with those on chin bordering postmentals, enlarged, juxtaposed and flattened ( Fig. 3B ). Single femoral pore on each thigh, separated on either side by ten poreless scales from a continuous series of three precloacal pores ( Fig. 3D ).

Scales on palm and sole smooth, flat and roughly circular; scales on dorsal aspect of manus and pes heterogenous, upper arm with scales much larger than dorsal granules, weakly keeled, imbricate; those near forelimb insertion much smaller; dorsal aspect of lower arm and elbow with scales much smaller than those on upper arm, weakly keeled, flat, roughly rounded; dorsal aspect of manus predominantly bearing large, flattened, weakly keeled, imbricate scales. Ventral aspect of upper arm with smooth, roughly rounded, weakly conical granules; scales on lower arm and wrist larger, smooth, weakly imbricate. Scales on dorsal aspect of thigh much larger than dorsal granules, weakly keeled, imbricate except those near hindlimb insertion which are much smaller, conical granules. Scales on dorsal aspect of knee and shank slightly smaller than those on dorsum of thigh, subimbricate, weakly keeled; dorsal aspect of foot predominantly bearing small, flattened, weakly keeled, imbricate scales; Scales on ventral aspect of thigh and shank larger than those on mid-body ventrals ( Fig. 2B ). Fore and hindlimbs slightly long, slender (LAL/ SVL 0.13); (CL/SVL 0.16); digits long, with a strong, recurved claw, distinctly inflected, distal portions laterally compressed conspicuously. Series of unpaired lamellae on basal portion of digits, separated from narrower distal lamellae by a single large scale at the inflection; proximal lamellae series: 1-4-5-5-4 (right manus; Fig. 3E ), 1-5-5-7-5 (right pes; Fig. 3F ), 1-4-5-5-4 (left manus), 1-6-6-7-5 (left pes); distal lamellae series: 9-12-13-12-12 (right manus; Fig. 3E ), 9-13-14-13-13 (right pes; Fig. 3F ), 9-11-13-12-12 (left manus), 9-13-14-13-13 (left pes). Relative length of digits (measurements in mm in parentheses): IV (2.4)> III (2.3)> II (2.1) = V (2.1)> I (1.4) (right manus); IV (3.5)> V (3.1) = III (3.1)> II (2.5)> I (1.5) (right pes).

Tail entire and original, subcylindrical, relatively slender, flattened beneath, slightly longer than snout-vent length (TL/SVL 1.22) ( Fig. 2C, D ). Dorsal scales at tail base granular, similar in size and shape to those on midbody dorsals, gradually becoming larger, flatter, subimbricate posteriorly, intermixed with much enlarged, strongly keeled, distinctly pointed, conical tubercles forming whorls; six tubercles on first nine or ten whorls. Scales on ventral aspect of original tail much larger than those on dorsal aspect, imbricate, smooth, with a series of three enlarged subcaudal scales of which the median series is slightly larger than adjunct two rows, roughly hexagonal; those on tail base much smaller, imbricate and smooth, a single enlarged postcloacal spur on each side ( Fig. 2C ).

Colouration in life. ( Fig. 4A ) Dorsal ground colour of head, body, limbs and tail grey-brown; head mottled, with fine light and dark speckles and larger dark blotches. Fine dark brown preorbital streak runs from supralabial II to orbit, two fine dark brown postorbital streaks extend till neck; labials light grey/ brown with lighter and darker bars. A straw-coloured mid-dorsal streak that is formed by seven fused elongate chain-links runs from occiput to tail base; a dark ocellus fringed by a few orange scales anterior to forelimb insertions forms the posterior boundary of the first chain-link, flanked on either side by a similar, smaller ocellus and two much smaller ocelli close to forelimb insertions; followed by six indistinct dumbbell-shaped crossbars at the posterior boundary of each chain link consisting of paired dark brown blotches connected by a narrow, less distinct cross-bar. Flank with smaller dark spots and light yellow markings. Tail suffused with orange, with 10 incomplete bands. Dorsum of forelimbs with few light and dark blotches, hindlimbs with brown bands and two strong dark streaks on the posterior of femur, digits with alternating dark and light bands, tail tip black. Ventral surfaces dull-white, mottled with brown under limbs especially prominent under forelimbs, throat with a pair of light grey longitudinal stripes on each side, no dark markings on belly, underside of tail lined by a fine dark border. Pupil black, iris silver with an orange streak toward the posterior of the pupil.

Variation and additional information from type series. Mensural and meristic data for the type series is given in Table 3 & 4 respectively. There are four female specimens ranging in size from 25.5 mm to 30.7 mm. All paratypes resemble the holotype except as follows: Two large gular scales bordering inner postmental pair in NCBS-BH724 , NCBS-BH725 and NCBS-BH726 . Outer postmentals bordered by three gular scales on left and four on right in NCBS-BH726 ; Three paratypes— NCBS-BH724 , NCBS-BH727 and NCBS-BH726 , with original and complete tails (except NCBS-BH725 of which tail is missing) slightly longer than body (TL/ SVL 1.25 , and 1.14 respectively), NCBS-BH726 with tail marginally shorter than body (TL/ SVL 0.96). All paratypes closely agree with the holotype in colouration and patterns except NCBS-BH724 which is slightly darker ( Fig. 5A ) .

Distribution and Natural history. Cnemaspis rishivalleyensis sp. nov. has only been collected from its type locality, Cave Rock Hill in Rishi Valley School, Chittoor District, Andhra Pradesh, India. One specimen was collected from under a rock in the cave of Cave Rock in the daytime, another was seen at dusk on a rock, and the rest were collected from the base of large rocks at night. The species appears largely nocturnal and at least partially terrestrial. Sympatric geckos at the type locality include Cnemaspis graniticola , Hemidactylus rishivalleyensis sp. nov., Hemidactylus giganteus Stoliczka , Hemidactylus triedrus Daudin , Hemidactylus frenatus Duméril & Bibron , Hemidactylus leschenaultii Duméril & Bibron.

Figures

FIGURE 2. Cnemaspis rishivalleyensis sp. nov. (holotype, NCBS-BH723), (A) dorsal view of body, (B) ventral view of body, (C) dorsal view of tail, and (D) ventral view of tail. Scale bars 10 mm.

FIGURE 3. Cnemaspis rishivalleyensis sp. nov. (holotype, NCBS-BH723), (A) dorsal view of head, (B) ventral view of head, (C) lateral view of head, (D) view of cloacal region showing precloacal and femoral pores, (E) ventral view of right manus, and (F) ventral view of right pes. Scale bars 5 mm.

FIGURE 4. Cnemaspis rishivalleyensis sp. nov. in life. (A) male, (holotype, NCBS-BH723) and (B) female, (paratype, NCBS- BH724).

FIGURE 5. Type series of (A) Cnemaspis rishivalleyensis sp. nov. (from left to right, NCBS-BH724, NCBS-BH725, NCBS- BH627, NCBS-BH626,) and (B) type series of Hemidactylus rishivalleyensis sp. nov. (from left to right, NCBS-BH729, NCBS- BH730, NCBS-BH631, NCBS-BH632, NCBS-BH633, NCBS-BH634, NCBS-BH635,). Scale bars 10 mm.