Cyrtodactylus sharkari, Grismer, L. Lee, Wood, Perry L., Anuar, Shahrul, Quah, Evan S. H., Muin, Mohd Abdul, Mohamed, Maketab, Onn, Chan Kin, Sumarli, Alexandra X., Loredo, Ariel I. & Heinz, Heather M., 2014

Grismer, L. Lee, Wood, Perry L., Anuar, Shahrul, Quah, Evan S. H., Muin, Mohd Abdul, Mohamed, Maketab, Onn, Chan Kin, Sumarli, Alexandra X., Loredo, Ariel I. & Heinz, Heather M., 2014, The phylogenetic relationships of three new species of the Cyrtodactylus pulchellus complex (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from poorly explored regions in northeastern Peninsular Malaysia, Zootaxa 3786 (3), pp. 359-381 : 367-369

Cyrtodactylus sharkari sp. nov.

Sharkari’s Bent-toed Gecko Fig. 3

Holotype. Adult male LSUHC 11022 collected on 23 June 2013 by Chan Kin Onn at 2200 hrs from Gua Gunting, Merapoh, Pahang, Peninsular Malaysia (4° 42.069 N 101° 58.512 E; at 257 m elevation).

Diagnosis. Cyrtodactylus sharkari sp. nov. can be differentiated from all other species of Cyrtodactylus by having 11 supralabials; 8–10 infralabials; moderately strong body tuberculation; no tubercles on the ventral surface of the forelimbs, gular region, or in the ventrolateral body folds; 31 paravertebral tubercles; 24 longitudinal tubercle rows on body; 41 ventral scales; 24 subdigital lamellae on the fourth toe; 46 femoroprecloacal pores; shallow precloacal groove; four dark dorsal body bands; body band/interspace ratio 1.75; body bands and nuchal loop edged with a thin yellowish line; no scattered white tubercles on the dorsum; seven dark caudal bands on the original tail; white caudal bands nearly immaculate; and a maximum SVL of 100.1 mm. These characters are scored across all species of the C. pulchellus complex in Table 5.

Description of holotype. Adult male SVL 100.1 mm; head large, moderate in length (HL/SVL 0.27), wide (HW/HL 0.73), somewhat flattened (HD/HL 0.40), distinct from neck, triangular in dorsal profile; lores concave anteriorly, inflated posteriorly; frontal and prefrontal regions deeply concave; canthus rostralis sharply rounded anteriorly; snout elongate (ES/HL 0.44), rounded in dorsal profile, laterally constricted; eye large (ED/HL 0.22); ear opening elliptical, moderate in size (EL/HL 0.09), obliquely oriented; eye to ear distance greater than diameter of eye; rostral rectangular, divided dorsally by an inverted Y-shaped furrow, bordered posteriorly by left and right supranasals, and one medial postrostral (=internasal), bordered laterally by first supralabials; external nares bordered anteriorly by rostral, dorsally by large anterior supranasal and smaller posterior supranasal, posteriorly by one postnasal, ventrally by first supralabial; 11(R,L) rectangular supralabials extending to just beyond upturn of labial margin, tapering abruptly below midpoint of eye; first supralabial largest; 10(R) 8(L) infralabials tapering in size posteriorly; scales of rostrum and lores flat, larger than granular scales on top of head and occiput, those on posterior portion of canthus rostralis slightly larger; scales of occiput and top of head between eyes intermixed with small tubercles; large, boney frontal ridges bordering orbit confluent with boney, transverse, parietal ridge; dorsal superciliaries elongate, smooth, largest anteriorly; mental triangular, bordered laterally by first infralabials and posteriorly by left and right, rectangular postmentals which contact medially for 40% of their length; single row of slightly enlarged, elongate sublabials extending posteriorly to fifth infralabials; small, granular to flat, gular scales grading posteriorly into larger, flat, smooth, imbricate, pectoral and ventral scales.

Body relatively short (AG/SVL 0.43) with well-defined, non-tuberculate, ventrolateral folds; dorsal scales small, granular, interspersed with larger, domed, regularly arranged, weakly keeled tubercles, smaller intervening tubercles absent; tubercles extend from top of head from occiput to caudal constriction and onto tail where they occur in transverse rows separated by eight or nine small, flat scales; caudal tubercles small, flattened, largest dorsally, absent laterally and ventrally; caudal tubercles decrease in size posteriorly, absent from posterior fourfifths of tail; tubercles on occiput and nape small, those on body largest; approximately 24 longitudinal rows of tubercles at midbody; 31 paravertebral tubercles; 41 flat imbricate ventral scales between ventrolateral body folds, ventral scales larger than dorsal scales; precloacal scales large, smooth; shallow precloacal groove.

Forelimbs moderate, relatively short (FL/SVL 0.17); scales on dorsal surfaces of forelimbs subimbricate, intermixed with larger tubercles; scales of ventral surface of forearm flat, subimbricate, lacking tubercles; palmar scales weakly rounded; digits well-developed, inflected at basal, interphalangeal joints; subdigital lamellae rectangular proximal to joint inflection, only slightly expanded distal to inflection; digits more narrow distal to joints; claws well-developed, sheathed by a dorsal and ventral scale; hind limbs more robust than forelimbs, moderate in length (TBL/SVL 0.20), larger tubercles on dorsal surface of thigh separated by smaller granular scales, tubercles on dorsal surfaces of foreleg same size as those on thigh; ventral scales of thigh flat, smooth, imbricate, larger than dorsal granular scales; ventral, tibial scales flat, smooth, imbricate; single row of greatly enlarged, flat, rectangular, imbricate, pore-bearing femoral scales extend from knee to knee through precloacal region where they are continuous with enlarged, pore-bearing precloacal scales; 46 contiguous, pore-bearing femoro-precloacal scales forming an inverted T bearing a shallow, precloacal groove in which 11 pore-bearing scales are found (six on left, five on right); postfemoral scales immediately posterior to pore-bearing scale row smaller, forming an abrupt union with pore-bearing postfemoral scales on posteroventral margin of thigh; plantar scales low, slightly raised; digits well-developed, inflected at basal, interphalangeal joints; subdigital lamellae proximal to joint inflection rectangular, only slightly expanded distal to inflection; digits more narrow distal to joints; claws well-developed, sheathed by a dorsal and ventral scale; 24(R,L) subdigital lamellae on 4th toe.

Tail 125.1 mm in length, 8.2 mm in width at base, tapering to a point; dorsal scales of tail flat, squarish; tail segmented with eight or nine transverse scale rows per segment; posterior margin of segments bordered by four larger tubercles dorsally in anterior four-fifths of tail, fewer posteriorly; subcaudal region bearing a median row of large transverse scales; very shallow dorsal and lateral caudal furrows extend entire length of tail; base of tail bearing hemipenial swellings; four small, postcloacal tubercles on hemipenial swellings; postcloacal scales smooth, flat, large, imbricate.

Coloration in life ( Fig. 3 ). Dorsal ground color of head, body, and limbs tan nearly immaculate; faint, Vshaped line on canthi rostrales; wide, dark brown nuchal loop edged anteriorly and posteriorly by thin, faint yellow line; four wide, dark brown body bands between nuchal loop and hind limb insertions edged anteriorly and posteriorly by thin, faint yellowish lines; band/interspace ratio 1.75; oblique, faint yellow line on posterior margin of thigh; eight nearly immaculate white caudal bands one-half to one-third width of dark brown caudal bands; ventral surface of head, body, and limbs beige, immaculate except for black stipples in each scale; dark brown and white caudal bands encircle tail.

Distribution. This species is known only from the type locality at Gua Gunting, Merapoh, Pahang, Peninsular Malaysia ( Fig. 1 ). It is expected that its distribution is more extensive throughout the limestone forest of this region.

Etymology. The specific epithet sharkari is a patronym honoring Dato Mohd. Sharkar Shamsudin Chairman of the Pahang State Tourism and Culture Committee for his persistence in ensuring the cancellation of the proposed cement plant in Merapoh.

Natural History. The holotype was collected at 2100 hrs approximately 2 m above the ground on a vertical surface of the perimeter of an extensive karst system surrounded by a limestone forest ( Fig. 3 ).

Comparisons (Tables 5, 6). Cyrtodactylus sharkari sp. nov. is differentiated from all other members of the C. pulchellus complex by having a combination moderately sized body tubercles and no tubercles in the gular region, ventrolateral body fold, or on ventral surfaces of forelimbs; 31 paravertebral tubercles; 41 ventral scales; 24 subdigital lamellae on fourth toe; 46 femoroprecloacal pores; four dorsal body bands between nuchal loop and hind limb insertions; body band/interspace ratio 1.75; no scattered pattern of white dorsal tubercles; seven dark caudal bands on original tail; white caudal bands nearly immaculate in adults; and a maximum SVL of 100.1 mm (Table 5). Within the C. pulchellus complex, C. sharkari sp. nov. is the sister species to C. trilatofasciatus ( Fig. 2 ) and is further separated from that species by having fewer paravertebral tubercles (31 versus 34–38); more ventral scales (41 versus 33–36); four versus three body bands ( Fig. 3 ); a smaller body band/interspace ratio (1.75 versus 2.00– 2.75); and a smaller maximum SVL (100.1 mm versus 122.2 mm). Additionally, these two species have a 2.4% sequence divergence between them ( Table 4 ). Given that C. sharkari sp. nov. is known only from a single specimen, it is expected that some of the diagnostic meristic characters may vary with the acquisition and examination of additional specimens.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Distribution of the species of the Cyrtodactylus pulchellus complex. Stars indicate the type localities of the three new species.

FIGURE 2. Likelihood topology (– ln L 15911.137535) of the Cyrtodactylus pulchellus complex with Maximum Likelihood bootstrap support values (ML) and Bayesian Posterior probabilities (BPP) respectively.

FIGURE 3. Upper: adult male holotype (LSUHC 11022) of Cyrtodactylus sharkari sp. nov. from Gua Gunting, Merapoh, Pahang, Peninsular Malaysia. Microhabitat of Cyrtodactylus sharkari sp. nov. at Gua Gunting (lower right) that is contiguous with Gua Goya (lower left) where this species is also expected to occur.