Cnemaspis punctatonuchalis Grismer, Sumontha, Cota, Grismer, Wood, Pauwels & Kunya, 2010

Grismer, Lee, Wood, Perry L., Anuar, Shahrul, Riyanto, Awal, Ahmad, Norhayati, Muin, Mohd A., Sumontha, Montri, Grismer, Jesse L., Onn, Chan Kin, Quah, Evan S. H. & Pauwels, Olivier S. A., 2014, Systematics and natural history of Southeast Asian Rock Geckos (genus Cnemaspis Strauch, 1887) with descriptions of eight new species from Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia, Zootaxa 3880 (1), pp. 1-147 : 127-128

Cnemaspis punctatonuchalis Grismer, Sumontha, Cota, Grismer, Wood, Pauwels & Kunya, 2010

Spotted-neck Rock Gecko

Fig. 65

Holotype. THNHM 2001 . Type locality: “ Thap Sakae District , Prachuap Khirikhan Province, Thailand ” at approximately 70 m in elevation.

Diagnosis. Maximum SVL 49.6 mm; eight supralabials; seven or eight infralabials; smooth ventral scales; no precloacal pores; 24–27 paravertebral tubercles; body tubercles semi-linearly arranged, present on flanks; tubercles absent from lateral caudal furrows; ventrolateral caudal row of tubercles present anteriorly; lateral caudal row of tubercles present; caudal tubercles do not encircle tail; subcaudals smooth, bearing an enlarged median scale row; 1–3 postcloacal tubercles on each side of tail base; no enlarged femoral, subtibial or submetatarsal scales; subtibials smooth; 29–31 subdigital fourth toe lamellae; white ocelli on brachia and side of neck in males; throat and subcaudal region orange in males (Tables 6,7).

Color pattern in life ( Fig. 65 ). Dorsal ground color of head, body, limbs and tail light brown; top of head bearing large, diffuse, light and dark-colored markings giving it a mottled appearance; postorbital stripes absent; large, whitish markings on side of head forming a reticulum that extends ventrally onto throat; three, radiating, elongate blotches on occiput bordering the anterior margin of a large, white spot; lower sides of neck black, enclosing a large, white ocellus; black neck patch edged posteriorly by white antebrachial and brachial markings; lightly colored, paravertebral, butterfly-shaped markings between forelimb insertions and base of tail; markings continue onto tail to form light-colored bands; patches of enlarged tubercles on flanks white; other tubercles on body dark or light-colored; limbs generally uniform brown bearing elbow and knee patches; all ventral surfaces uniform beige with fine, dark stippling in some scales. Sexual dimorphism is distinct. Adult males have a brownish-green head with a yellow neck that accentuates the black, neck patch bearing the whitish ocelli. The body and limbs are grayish green and the body bears a series of alternating dark and light, paravertebral blotches. The ground color of the tail is deep-yellow and overlain with lighter, yellow bands. Adult females have a greyish dorsal ground color overall that is overlain by a prominent series of light and dark blotches on the head and a large, lightcolored, central nape blotch. Alternating dark and light, paravertebral blotches occur on the body and transform into a lighter banding pattern on the tail. The limbs are somewhat banded distally and spotted proximally. The tubercular patches on the flanks are smaller in females than in males.

Distribution. Cnemaspis punctatonuchalis is known only from the type locality of the district of Thap Sakae, Prachuap Khiri Khan Province, Thailand ( Grismer et al. 2010a; Fig. 3 ).

Natural history. Specimens have only been observed at night on granite boulders in lowland forest ( Grismer et al. 2010a; Fig. 65 ).

Relationships. The distribution of Cnemaspis punctatonuchalis in Peninsular Thailand would align it with members of the siamensis group ( Fig. 3 ). Like the northern sister species of this group C. huaseesom and C. siamensis , C. punctatonuchalis occurs north of the Isthmus of Kra and lacks the light colored, prescapular crescent that diagnoses the monophyletic group composed of C. chanardi , C. omari sp. nov., and C. roticanai that occurs south of the Isthmus of Kra, suggesting it may be more closely related to the northern species ( Table 6 ).

Material examined. Thailand: Prachuap Khirikhan Province , Thap Sakae District THNHM 1899 , 2001 ; Thap Sakae District, Hauy Yang ZMKU Rep-000314 (type series) .

Figures

FIGURE 3. Distribution of the species and species groups in the Ca Mau and Northern Sunda clades. Stars indicate type localities.

FIGURE 65. Cnemaspis punctatonuchalis from Thap Sakae District, Prachuap Khirikhan Province, Thailand. Upper left: adult male (LSUDPC 8087) in the dark color pattern phase. Upper right: adult female (LSUDPC 8088) in the dark color pattern phase. Lower: granite boulder microhabitat at Thap Sakae. Photographs by MS.