Cnemaspis samui, Ampai & Rujirawan & Yodthong & Termprayoon & Stuart & Wood Jr & Aowphol, 2022
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publication ID |
https://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1125.94060 |
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publication LSID |
lsid:zoobank.org:pub:3A08F03D-4E26-4CAF-9017-844F841EABA6 |
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persistent identifier |
https://treatment.plazi.org/id/B963EB62-3B17-5468-B451-82D336208E45 |
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treatment provided by |
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scientific name |
Cnemaspis samui |
| status |
sp. nov. |
Cnemaspis samui sp. nov.
Figs 3 View Figure 3 , 4 View Figure 4 , 5 View Figure 5 , 6 Ko Samui Rock Gecko Thai common name: Jing Jok Niew Yaow Ko Samui (จิ้งจกนิ้วยาวเกาะสมุย) View Figure 6
Holotype
(Fig. 3 View Figure 3 ). ZMKU R 00974, adult male from Thailand, Surat Thani Province, Ko Samui District, Ang Thong Subdistrict, Hin Lad Waterfall (9°31.151'N, 99°57.598'E; 150 m a.s.l.), collected on 19 June 2018 by Natee Ampai, Attapol Rujirawan, Siriporn Yodthong and Korkhwan Termprayoon.
Paratypes
(Fig. 4 View Figure 4 ). Seventeen paratypes (adult males = 14, adult females = 3). Five adult males (ZMKU R 00966-00970), same collection data as holotype except collected on 26 September 2015 by Natee Ampai, Attapol Rujirawan, Siriporn Yodthong, Korkhwan Termprayoon, and Anchalee Aowphol. Nine adult males (ZMKU R 00971-00973, ZMKU R 00975-00979 and ZMKU R 00983) and three adult females (ZMKU R 00980-00982), same data as holotype.
Diagnosis.
Cnemaspis samui sp. nov. differs from all other members of the C. siamensis group by having the following combination of characters: (1) SVL 37.0-42.3 mm in adult males (mean 39.90 ± 1.98 mm; N = 15) and 36.4-41.6 mm in adult females (mean 39.75 ± 2.91 mm; N = 3); (2) eight or nine supralabial and infralabial scales; (3) ventral scales keeled (4) 5-8 pore-bearing precloacal scales in males, arranged in a chevron, separated, pore rounded in males; (5) 25-27 paravertebral tubercles, arranged randomly; (6) 4-6 small, subconical spine-like tubercles present on lower flanks; (7) 22-25 subdigital lamellae under 4th toe; (8) enlarged median subcaudal scale row present; (9) ventrolateral caudal tubercles anteriorly present; (10) one or two postcloacal tubercles on lateral surface of hemipenial swellings at the base of tail in males; and (11) gular region, abdomen, limbs and subcaudal region yellowish only in males.
Description of holotype.
An adult male in good state of preservation; 42.3 mm SVL; head relatively moderate in size (HL/SVL 0.27), narrow (HW/SVL 0.16), flattened (HD/HL 0.39), depressed (HD/SVL 0.11), and head distinct from neck; snout moderate (ES/HL 0.43), in lateral profile slightly concave; loreal region slightly inflated, canthus rostralis not prominent, smoothly rounded; postnasal region constricted medially; scales of rostrum round, juxtaposed, keeled, larger than conical scales on occiput; weak, supraorbital ridges; gular and throat scales granular, keeled and round; shallow frontorostral sulcus; eye large (ED/HL 0.21) with round pupil; orbit with extra-brillar fringe scales slightly largest anteriorly; scales on interorbitals and supercilium slightly keeled; eye to ear distance greater than eyes diameter (EE/ED 1.33); ear opening vertical, oval, taller than wide (EL/HL 0.09); rostral slightly concave; rostral bordered posteriorly by supranasals and internasal; rostral in contact laterally with first supralabials; 9R,L supralabials decreasing in size posteriorly; 8R,L infralabials decreasing in size posteriorly; nostril small, oval, oriented dorsoposteriorly, surrounded posteriorly by small postnasal scales; mental scales enlarged, subtriangular, concave, extending to level of second infralabials, bordered posteriorly by three large postmentals.
Body relatively slender, elongate (AG/SVL 0.42); small, keeled, dorsal scales equal in size throughout body intermixed with several large, keeled, scattered, conical tubercles; 26 paravertebral tubercles randomly arranged; four small, subconical spine-like tubercles on flanks; tubercles present on lower flanks; tubercles extend from occiput to tail; pectoral and abdominal scales keeled, round, flat, slightly larger than dorsal and not larger posteriorly; ventral scales of brachia smooth, raised and juxtaposed; eight separated pore-bearing precloacal scales, arranged in a chevron, with rounded pores; precloacal depression absent; femoral pores absent.
Fore and hind limbs moderately elongate, slender; scales beneath forearm slightly raised, smooth and subimbricate; subtibial scales keeled; palmar scales smooth, flat and subimbricate; digits long, slender, distinctly inflected joint with strong, slightly recurved claws; subdigital lamellae unnotched; lamellae beneath first phalanges wide; lamellae beneath phalanx immediately following inflection granular; lamellae of distal phalanges wide; lamellae beneath inflection large; interdigital webbing absent; enlarged submetatarsal scales on 1st toe present; total subdigital lamellae on fingers I-V: 18-21-22-24-23 (right manus), 18-21-22-24-23 (left manus); fingers increase in length from first to fourth with fifth nearly equal in length as fourth; relative length of fingers IV>V>III>II>I; total subdigital lamellae on toes I-V: 14-20-21-24-23 (right pes), 14-(broken)-21-24-23 (left pes); toes increase in length from first to fourth with fifth nearly equal in length as fourth; relative length of toes IV>V>III>II>I.
Tail complete, entire cylindrical, relatively slender, swollen at the base; tail length (TL) 52.2 mm; tail length longer than snout-vent length (TL/SVL 1.23); subcaudal scales keeled, juxtaposed, larger than dorsal scales of the tail; shallow, middorsal furrow; deeper lateral caudal furrow present; enlarged, transverse caudal tubercles arranged in segmented whorls, encircling tail; enlarged median subcaudal scale row present; caudal tubercles present between upper and lower of lateral furrow; 1R,L enlarged postcloacal tubercle at lateral surface of hemipenial swellings at the base of tail.
Measurements of holotype
(in mm; Table 5 View Table 5 ). SVL 42.3; TL (complete tail) 52.2; TW 4.4; FL 6.5; TBL 7.9; AG 17.9; HL 11.5; HW 6.9; HD 4.5; ED 2.5; EE 3.3; ES 5.0; EN 4.0; EL 1.0; IN 1.1; IO 3.3.
Coloration in life
(Figs 3 View Figure 3 , 4A View Figure 4 ). Dorsal ground color of head dark brown, top of head and snout bearing small, diffuse, finely speckled with yellowish spots; 3R,L thin, and faint dark postorbital stripes extending from eye to nape; pupil black with orange streak; irregular, pale yellowish marking on nape; a single yellowish prescapular crescent on shoulder each side, located at forelimb insertion dorsoanteriorly; dorsal ground color of body, limbs and tail brown overlain with black irregular blotches; two dark blotches form a bipartite pattern on nape; light-grey vertebral blotches extending from the nape to tail; flanks with scattered, incomplete light-grey to yellowish blotches becoming smaller posteriorly; tubercles on the whole body white or yellow; subconical spine-like yellowish tubercles on lower flanks; digits with dark brown and yellow bands; dorsum caudal bands light-grey and dark brown; ventral surfaces grayish-white intermixed with yellowish blotches on side of body; ventral pattern sexually dimorphic, gular, flanks, and caudal regions yellowish only in males; no dark markings on gular and belly; ventral side of caudal yellowish and indistinct bands.
Coloration in preservative
(Figs 5 View Figure 5 , 6 View Figure 6 ). Dorsal ground color of head, body, limbs and tail darker brown than coloration in life; indistinct, irregular vertebral blotches; all yellowish spots and markings on head, body, limbs, and tail faded to whitish gray; banding on the tail faded and less prominent; ventral surface whitish gray with indistinct darker marking; gular, pectoral and tail regions with faint dark blotches.
Variation and additional information.
Most paratypes closely resemble the holotype in all aspect of pattern and coloration. Morphometric and meristic variation within the type series is presented in Table 5 View Table 5 . Some paratypes differ in their degree of vertebral blotches. Sexual dimorphism in color pattern was apparent, as all adult male paratypes have yellowish coloration in the gular, flanks and caudal regions but this yellowish coloration was absent in females. ZMKU R 00968, ZMKU R 00971, ZMKU R 00973 (three adult males), and ZMKU R 00981-00982 (two adult females) have regenerated tails of uniform tan coloration. ZMKU R 00969 and ZMKU R 00975 (two adult males) have broken tail tips. ZMKU R 00976 (one adult male) has approximately three-fourth of the tail broken. ZMKU R 00966-00969, ZMKU R 00971, ZMKU R 00977, ZMKU R 00980, and ZMKU R 00983 (eight adult males) have paler dorsal markings that more resemble transverse bands than paravertebral blotches. ZMKU R 00969 and ZMKU R 00983 (two adult males) have 2R,1L enlarged postcloacal tubercles on the lateral surface of the hemipenial swelling at the base of tail.
Distribution.
Cnemaspis samui sp. nov. is currently only known from the type locality at Hin Lad Waterfall (9°31.151'N, 99°57.598'E; 150 m a.s.l.; Fig. 7 View Figure 7 ), Ang Thong Subdistrict, Ko Samui District, Surat Thani Province, Thailand, approximately 35 km off the mainland of Don Sak District, Surat Thani Province in the Gulf of Thailand.
Natural history.
The type locality is surrounded by lowland evergreen forest with granitic rocky outcrops along Lipa Yai Canal in the western part of Ko Samui. All specimens of C. samui sp. nov. were found along rocky stream outcrops of Hin Lad Waterfall during the day (1435-1752 h) and night (1800-1845 h) with air temperatures of 26.2-30.1 °C and relative humidity of 76.9-92.7%. Their microhabitats in rocky boulders were relatively dry and cool. The male holotype was found at night (1845 h) perched upside down on an overhanging surface of a granitic rock boulder near a stream. Most specimens were found on or within deep cracks or crevices of boulders, or in shaded areas of the boulder near a stream, except that ZMKU R 00969 was found on a tree trunk and ZMKU R 00977 was found in a soil hole at the base of a boulder. Two gravid females ZMKU R 00981-00982 were carrying one or two eggs in July 2018. Some juveniles (not collected) were mostly found perched on vegetation (e.g., log, vine, tree root). Cnemaspis samui sp. nov. is assumed to be a diurnal rock-dwelling species. During the day, geckos were found to be active, wary and fast-moving. They were most often observed clinging upside down to the undersides of rock boulders and within deep crevices. When disturbed, they would quickly move to deeper cover and hide in the shaded area between boulder and the ground. At night, they were found to be inactive, slow moving, sheltered in crevices or cracks on rock walls, or sleeping on vegetation near rock boulders, making them easier to approach than during the day. During field surveys, the larger nocturnal gekkonid Cyrtodactylus zebraicus (Taylor, 1962) was found in sympatry on the ground and vegetation near a stream.
Etymology.
The specific epithet samui is a noun in apposition and refers to the type locality of Ko Samui.
Comparisons.
Cnemaspis samui sp. nov. is distinguished from all members of the Cnemaspis siamensis group ( C. adangrawi , C. chanardi , C. huaseesom , C. kamolnorranathi , C. lineatubercularis , C. omari , C. phangngaensis , C. punctatonuchalis , C. selenolagus , C. siamensis , C. thachanaensis , and C. vandeventeri ) by having a unique combination of morphological characteristics (Table 6 View Table 6 ) and uncorrected pairwise sequence divergences of mtDNA (ND2) of 8.86-26.83% (Table 2 View Table 2 ).
Cnemaspis samui sp. nov. is distinguished from C. adangrawi Ampai et al. 2019 by having maximum SVL of 42.3 mm (vs. 44.9 mm); eight or nine supralabial scales (vs. 10 scales); tubercles on lower flanks present (vs. absent); 22-25 lamellae under 4th toe (vs. 26-28 lamellae); enlarged median row of subcaudal scales present (vs. absent); and yellow coloration in the subcaudal region present (vs. absent).
Cnemaspis samui sp. nov. is distinguished from C. chanardi Grismer et al. 2010 by having maximum SVL 42.3 mm (vs. 40.9 mm); 22-25 lamellae under 4th toe (vs. 26-29 lamellae); single median row of subcaudals keeled (vs. smooth); and ventrolateral caudal tubercles anteriorly present (vs. absent).
Cnemaspis samui sp. nov. is distinguished from C. huaseesom Grismer et al. 2010 by having maximum SVL of 42.3 mm (vs. 43.5 mm); pore-bearing precloacal scales row separated (vs. continuous); 25-27 paravertebral tubercles (vs. 18-24 tubercles); ventral and subcaudal scales keeled (vs. smooth); single median row of subcaudals keeled (vs. smooth); enlarged median row of subcaudal scales present (vs. absent); ventrolateral caudal tubercles anteriorly present (vs. absent); and subtibial scales keeled (vs. smooth).
Cnemaspis samui sp. nov. is distinguished from C. kamolnorranathi Grismer et al. 2010 by having maximum SVL 42.3 mm (vs. 37.8 mm); pore-bearing precloacal scales row separated (vs. continuous); pore-bearing precloacal scales rounded (vs. elongated); 25-27 paravertebral tubercles (vs. 19-24 tubercles); enlarged median subcaudal scale row present (vs. absent); ventrolateral caudal tubercles anteriorly present (vs. absent); yellow coloration in the subcaudal region present (vs. absent); and ventral pattern sexually dimorphism present (vs. absent).
Cnemaspis samui sp. nov. is distinguished from C. lineatubercularis Ampai et al. 2020 by having maximum SVL 42.3 mm (vs. 41.8 mm); 25-27 paravertebral tubercles (vs. 19-21 tubercles); paravertebral tubercles randomly arranged (vs. linearly arranged); 22-25 lamellae under 4th toe (vs. 27-29 lamellae); enlarged median row of subcaudal scales present (vs. absent); and caudal tubercles restricted to a single paravertebral row on each side absent (vs. present).
Cnemaspis samui sp. nov. is distinguished from C. omari Grismer et al. 2014 by having maximum SVL 42.3 mm (vs. 41.3 mm); single median row of subcaudals keeled (vs. smooth); enlarged median row of subcaudal scales present (vs. absent); and ventrolateral caudal tubercles anteriorly present (vs. absent).
Cnemaspis samui sp. nov. is distinguished from C. phangngaensis Wood et al. 2017 by having eight or nine supralabial scales (vs. 10 scales); eight or nine infralabial scales (vs. 10 scales); 5-8 pore-bearing precloacal scales in males (vs. four scales); pore-bearing precloacal scales row separated (vs. continuous); 25-27 paravertebral tubercles (vs. 22 tubercles); paravertebral tubercles randomly arranged (vs. linearly arranged); tubercles on lower flanks present (vs. absent); 22-25 lamellae under 4th toe (vs. 29 lamellae); enlarged median row of subcaudal scales present (vs. absent); and caudal tubercles restricted to a single paravertebral row on each side absent (vs. present).
Cnemaspis samui sp. nov. is distinguished from C. punctatonuchalis Grismer et al. 2010 by having maximum SVL of 42.3 mm (vs. 49.6 mm); pore-bearing precloacal scales present (vs. absent); 22-25 lamellae under 4th toe (vs. 29-31 lamellae); ventral and subcaudal scales keeled (vs. smooth); single median row of subcaudals keeled (vs. smooth); and yellow coloration in the subcaudal region present (vs. absent).
Cnemaspis samui sp. nov. is distinguished from C. selenolagus Grismer et al. 2020 by having maximum SVL 42.3 mm (vs. 36.2 mm); eight or nine supralabial scales (vs. 10 or 11 scales); eight or nine infralabial scales (vs. 10 scales); pore-bearing precloacal scales row separated (vs. continuous); pore-bearing precloacal scales shape rounded (vs. elongated); 25-27 paravertebral tubercles (vs. 16-18 tubercles); tubercles on lower flanks present (vs. absent); enlarged median row of subcaudal scales present (vs. absent); ventrolateral caudal tubercles anteriorly present (vs. absent); subtibial scales keeled (vs. smooth); and yellow coloration in the subcaudal region present (vs. absent).
Cnemaspis samui sp. nov. is distinguished from C. siamensis (Smith, 1925) by having maximum SVL 42.3 mm (vs. 39.7 mm); pore-bearing precloacal scales present (vs. absent); single median row of subcaudals keeled (vs. smooth); ventrolateral caudal tubercles anteriorly present (vs. absent); and yellow coloration in the subcaudal region present (vs. absent).
Cnemaspis samui sp. nov. is distinguished from C. thachanaensis Wood et al. 2017 by having maximum SVL 42.3 mm (vs. 39.0 mm); eight or nine supralabial scales (vs. 10 or 11 scales); pore-bearing precloacal scales present (vs. absent); 25-27 paravertebral tubercles (vs. 15-19 tubercles); paravertebral tubercles randomly arranged (vs. linearly arranged); enlarged median row of subcaudal scales present (vs. absent); caudal tubercles restricted to a single paravertebral row on each side absent (vs. present); one or two postcloacal tubercles in males (vs. absent); and yellow coloration in the subcaudal region present (vs. absent).
Cnemaspis samui sp. nov. is distinguished from C. vandeventeri Grismer et al. 2010 by having maximum SVL of 42.3 mm (vs. 44.7 mm); 5-8 pore-bearing precloacal scales (vs. four scales); ventrolateral caudal tubercles anteriorly present (vs. absent); and having yellow coloration in the subcaudal region present (vs. absent).
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