Cnemaspis roticanai, Grismer, Lee & Onn, Chan Kin, 2010

Grismer, Lee & Onn, Chan Kin, 2010, Another new Rock Gecko (genus Cnemaspis Strauch 1887) from Pulau Langkawi, Kedah, Peninsular Malaysia, Zootaxa 2419, pp. 51-62 : 53-56

publication ID	https://doi.org/ 10.5281/zenodo.194440
DOI	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6209881
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/038687EE-FFFC-FFCC-FF69-FD4EDBCEC383
treatment provided by	Plazi
scientific name	Cnemaspis roticanai
status	sp. nov.

Treatment

Cnemaspis roticanai sp. nov.

Roticanai Rock Gecko Figures 2 View FIGURE 2 , 3 View FIGURE 3

Cnemaspis affinis Grismer 2008 , Zootaxa 1691:61

Holotype. Adult male ( ZRC 2.6860) collected on 18 September 2009 at 743 m a.s.l. on Gunung Raya, Pulau Langkawi, Kedah, Peninsular Malaysia (06° 22.114N 99° 49.270 E) by Chan Kin Onn, Chelsea B. Johnson, and L. Lee Grismer.

Paratypes. ZRC 2.6861 (adult female) has the same collection data as the holotype. ZRC 2.862 and LSUHC 9453 (adult males) were collected at the same locality on 19 September 2009 and 21 September 2009, respectively.

Diagnosis. Adult males reaching 46.7 mm SVL, adult females reaching 46.6 mm SVL; 7–9 supralabials; seven or eight infralabials; forearm, subtibials, ventrals, subcaudals, and dorsal tubercles keeled; 25–27 paravertebral tubercles; tubercles on flanks not linearly arranged; no ventrolateral caudal tubercles present anteriorly; caudal tubercles do not encircle tail; no tubercles in lateral, caudal furrow; median row of enlarged, keeled subcaudals keeled; five or six precloacal, pore-bearing scales in males separated medially by one or two non-pore-bearing scales; one postcloacal tubercle on each side of tail; shield-like subtibials absent; enlarged, submetatarsal scales absent; 26–29 subdigital lamellae on fourth toe; no dark, longitudinal gular markings or blotches; no dark patch on shoulder enclosing a white to yellow ocellus; yellow to white, prescapular crescent. These characters are summarized across all Southeast Asian species of Cnemaspis in Grismer et al. (2010: Table 1).

Description of holotype. Adult male; SVL 46.7 mm; head oblong in dorsal profile, moderate in size (HL/ SVL 0.26), somewhat narrow (HW/SVL 0.17), flat (HD/HL 0.43), distinct from neck; snout short (ES/HL 0.46), concave in lateral profile; postnasal region constricted medially, raised; scales of rostrum weakly keeled, larger than similarly shaped scales on occiput; moderate, supraorbital ridges; no frontonasal sulcus; canthus rostralis smoothly rounded; eye large (ED/HL 0.22); extra-brillar fringe scales small in general but largest anteriorly; pupil round; ear opening oval, taller than wide; rostral concave dorsally, dorsal 90% divided by longitudinal groove; rostral bordered posteriorly by two supranasals and two smaller azygous scales, laterally by first supralabials and nostrils; 8R,L raised supralabials of similar size; 7R,L infralabials, decreasing gradually in size posteriorly; nostrils small, oblong, oriented dorsoposteriorly, bordered posteriorly by small, granular, postnasal scales; mental large, triangular, medially concave, extending to level of second infralabial, bordered posteriorly by three postmentals, lateral postmentals largest; gular and throat scales raised, smooth, somewhat pointed; throat scales larger.

Body slender, elongate (AG/SVL 0.47); small, weakly keeled, dorsal scales equal in size throughout body, intermixed with numerous, large, multi-keeled, semi-longitudinally arranged tubercles; tubercles extend from occiput to base of tail and are smallest anteriorly; 26 paravertebral tubercles; pectoral and abdominal scales flat, keeled, subimbricate, equal in size, much larger than dorsals; five pore-bearing, precloacal scales arranged in a 2(R)–3(L) chevron, separated medially by non-pore-bearing scale; forelimbs moderately long, slender, dorsal scales keeled; ventral scales of forearm smooth, juxtaposed to subimbricate; palmar scales smooth, juxtaposed, raised; digits long with an inflected joint; claws recurved; subdigital lamellae unnotched; subdigital lamellae wide throughout length of digits, bearing a larger scale at the digital inflections; interdigital webbing absent; fingers increase in length from first to fourth with fifth slightly shorter than fourth; hind limbs longer and thicker than forelimbs; dorsal scales keeled, raised, juxtaposed; ventral scales of thigh, raised, keeled; subtibials keeled, larger than dorsal tibials; plantar scales smooth, slightly raised, juxtaposed; no enlarged submetatarsal scales beneath first metatarsal; digits elongate with an inflected joint; claws recurved; subdigital lamellae unnotched; lamellae wide throughout length of digits except at base where scales are more granular; enlarged, scale at the digital inflections; interdigital webbing absent; toes increase in length from first to fourth with fourth being longest; 27R,26L subdigital lamellae on fourth toe; caudal scales arranged in segmented whorls; caudal scales raised, keeled, juxtaposed anteriorly; moderate, middorsal furrow; deep, single, lateral furrow; median row of enlarged, keeled, subcaudal scales with three scales per caudal segment; other subcaudals keeled; opposing paravertebral, dorsolateral, and lateral rows of large, keeled, equally sized, caudal tubercles; no ventrolateral caudal tubercles present anteriorly; caudal tubercles do not encircle tail, absent from lateral furrow; 1R,L postcloacal tubercle on lateral surface of hemipenal swellings at base of tail; tail approximately 1.3% SVL; anterior 31.0 mm original, reaminder regenerated

Coloration in life ( Fig. 2 View FIGURE 2 ). Dorsal ground color of head, body, limbs and tail pale yellow; rostrum bearing diffuse, faint brown stripes; faint brownish markings on top of head; single, diffuse, black, postorbital stripe extending to occiput and terminating at oblong, longitudinally oriented yellow spot on nape; nape spot followed by pair of black, paravertebral spots on neck; five rhombodially shaped, brown, transverse markings between limb insertions extending onto tail as zig-zag shaped caudal bands; regenerated portion of tail uniform pale yellow; butterfly-shaped, pale yellow interspaces between rhomboid markings; yellow prescapular crescent followed by semi-transversely arranged, yellow bars on flanks separated by dark makings; forelimbs bearing yellowish blotches and scattered dark markings; hind limbs bearing yellowish blotches and dark markings resembling banding pattern; digits bearing dark bands; gular region yellowish orange; throat beige; abdomen, ventral surface of hind limbs, and subcaudal region yellow; ventral surface of forelimbs beige; all ventral scales bearing small, black stippling ( Fig. 3 View FIGURE 3 ).

Variation (Figs. 2,3). Differences in squamation and morphometrics are presented in Table 1. Sexual dimorphism is marked in this species. ZRC 2.6862 and LSUHC 9453 (males) closely approach the holotype (male) in most aspects of coloration and pattern. LSUHC 9453 has a slightly darker overall dorsal ground color accentuating the lighter, overlying color pattern characters. ZRC 2.6861 (gravid female) is much darker in overall coloration than the males, being much less yellow and having a more contrasted dorsal pattern. The dark markings on the trunk appear as paravertebral blotches and are in strong contrast to the pale yellow interspaces. The tail is strongly banded and the venter is yellowish throughout, lacking the beige throat and forelimbs seen in males.

Distribution. Cnemaspis roticanai is known only from the type locality in the upper regions of Gunung Raya, Pulau Langkawi, Kedah, Malaysia ( Fig. 1 View FIGURE 1 ).

Natural History. Cnemaspis roticanai were collected between 2200 and 2400 hrs from within a cement drain and from 3 m above the ground on the trunk of a small tree within primary hill dipterocarp forest on a steep hillside. Another specimen seen clinging to the underside of a leaf less than 1 m above the ground escaped. The habitat at the collection site was somewhat open with small (less than 0.5 m in diameter) rocks widely scattered across the ground ( Fig. 4 View FIGURE 4 ). Within the cement drain, one specimen (ZRC 2.6860) was first sighted on the side of the wall and retreated beneath loose rocks leaning against the wall. When the loose rocks were lifted, ZRC 2.6861, a gravid female carrying two eggs, was also found. Two nights later, LSUHC 9453 was found in the exact same spot. It can be certain that cement drains are not the natural microhabitat for C. roticanai but they clearly serve as an open substrate upon which this species seems to seek out. Given the that the surrounding microhabitat is devoid of large boulders and that two specimens were seen on vegetation, we believe that C. roticanai probably spends most of its time climbing on vegetation and uses “rocky” substrates opportunistically.

Etymology. This species is named after the traditional Malaysian flat bread, roti canai, in deference to the rich cultural heritage of Langkawi Geopark that bears this species’ type locality.

ZRC ZRC ZRC LSUHC 2.6860 2.6861 2.6862 9453 holotype paratype paratype paratype Sex m f m m Supralabials 8 8 9 8 Infralabials 7 7 8 7 No. of preanal pores 5 / 6 6 No. paravertebral tubercles 26 27 27 25 No. of 4th toe lamellae 27 26 29 28 SVL 46.7 46.6 45.9 46.6 TL 52.9 62 39 54 TW 5.7 6.1 5.6 5 FL 7.9 8.4 7.2 7.2 TBL 9 9.1 9.1 9.3 AG 21.9 19.9 20.3 20.6 HL 12.3 12.3 11.8 12.5 HW 8.1 8.3 8 8 HD 5.3 5.2 5.7 5.4 ED 2.7 2.6 2.8 2.8 EE 3.6 4 3.5 3.7 ES 5.7 6.1 5.6 6 EN 4.2 4.6 4.3 4.3 IO 3.1 3.2 3.1 3.4 EL 1.1 1.2 1.4 1.2 IN 1.4 1.5 1.2 1.4

Comparisons. Cnemaspis roticanai can easily be diagnosed from all other species of Cnemaspis except some populations of C. siamensis ( Smith 1925) in having a light colored, prescapular crescent ( Fig. 2 View FIGURE 2 ). It can be differentiated from all C. siamensis by its larger maximum SVL (46.7 mm vs. 40.1 mm) and being sexually dimorphic in coloration. It differs further from C. aurantiacopes Grismer & Ngo 2007 , C. baueri Das & Grismer 2006 , C. boulengeri Strauch 1887 , C. kendallii (Gray 1845) , C. limi Das & Grismer 2006 , C. pemanggilensis Das & Grismer 2006 , C. perhentianensis Grismer and Chan 2008 , C. psychedelica Grismer, Ngo , & Grismer 2010, C. siamensis , and C. tucdupensis Grismer & Ngo 2007 in having as opposed to lacking precloacal pores. Cnemaspis roticanai can be separated from C. affinis (Stolickzka 1870) , C. aurantiacopes , C. boulengeri , C. caudanivea Grismer & Ngo 2007, C. chanthaburiensis Bauer & Das 1998 , C. flavigaster Chan & Grismer 2008 , C. kumpoli Smith 1963 , C. monachorum Grismer et al. 2009 , C. nuicamensis Grismer & Ngo 2007 , C. psychedelica Grismer, Ngo & Grismer 2010 , and C. tucdupensis Grismer & Ngo 2007 in having keeled as opposed to smooth ventral scales. Cnemaspis roticanai can be separated from C. aurantiacopes , C. baueri , C. biocellata Grismer et al. 2008; C. boulengeri , C. caudanivea Grismer & Ngo 2007, C. chanthaburiensis Bauer & Das 1998 , C. flavigaster Chan & Grismer 2008 , C. kumpoli Smith 1963 , C. limi , C. monachorum Grismer, Norhayati, Chan, Belabut, Muin, Wood & Grismer 2009, C. nigridia ( Smith 1925) , C. nuicamensis Grismer & Ngo 2007 , C. psychedelica Grismer, Ngo & Grismer 2010 , and C. tucdupensis Grismer & Ngo 2007 in having keeled as opposed to smooth subcaudals. Being less than 50 mm SVL separates it from C. argus Dring 1979 , C. aurantiacopes , C. baueri , C. boulengeri , C. kendallii , C. kumpoli , C. limi , C. mcguirei Grismer, Grismer, Wood & Chan 2008, C. nigridia , C. pemanggilensis , C. psychedelica , and C. tucdupensis which all have a maximum SVL greater than 50 mm. The presence of a median row of slightly enlarged, keeled subcaudals separates C. roticanai from C. affinis , C. argus , C. baueri , C. bayuensis Grismer, Grismer, Wood & Chan 2008, C. biocellata , C. boulengeri , C. caudanivea , C. chanthaburiensis , C. flavigaster , C. flavolineata (Nicholls 1949) , C. karsticola Grismer, Grismer, Wood & Chan 2008 , C. kumpoli , C. limi , C. mcguirei , C. monachorum , C. nigridia , C. paripari Grismer & Chan 2009, C. perhentianensi s and C. pseudomcguirei Grismer, Norhayati, Chan, Belabut, Muin, Wood & Grismer 2009 which lack a row of enlarged median scales. The lack of a dark shoulder patch enclosing ocelli separate C. roticanai from C. biocellata , C. kumpoli , C. mcguirei , and C. pseudomcguirei . Its lack of a yellow head and black flanks bearing white spots separate if from C. paripari and C. dringi , respectively.