Cnemaspis rajakarunai Wickramasinghe, Vidanapathirana & Rathnayake, 2016, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Mendis Wickramasinghe, L. J.
name: Vidanapathirana, Dulan Ranga
name: Gayan Priyankara Rathnayake, R. M.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2016
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Reptilia
Squamata
Gekkonidae
Cnemaspis
Cnemaspis rajakarunai

description: Cnemaspis rajakarunai sp. nov.
Holotype. NMSL 2016.07.0 1 NH, Adult male, 38.1 mm SVL (Figure 2), from Salgala, Kegalle, Sabaragamuwa Province, Sri Lanka, (07°07'23.52"N, 080°15'01.44"E, elevation 310 m), 24 December 2012, collected by Dulan Ranga Vidanapathirana, Gayan Priyankara Rathnayake, and L. J. Mendis Wickramasinghe.
Paratype. DWC 2016.05. 0 1, adult female, 40.1 mm SVL (Figure 3), DWC 2016.05.0 2, adult male, 36.2 mm SVL (Figure 4), the same data as holotype.
Diagnosis. Cnemaspis rajakarunai sp. nov., was compared with all 22 extant species of the genus Cnemaspis known from Sri Lanka and the species can be readily distinguished from all known congeners by the following combination of characters: adult snout–vent length 36–40 mm (Table 1); precloacal pores absent, large femoeroprecloacal scales 22; femoral pores 7–8, enlarged femoral scales 6; ventral scales 146–186; supralabials (to midorbital position) 7; supralabials (to angle of jaws) 9 (Table 2); total lamellae on finger IV 19–22 (4–5: 14–17), shape of the basal lamellae on toe IV elliptical (Table 3); and colouration prominent crown shaped off white markings on mid body from neck to tail base, pointing towards head.
Description of holotype. Adult male, snout–vent length 38.1 mm, body elongate and depressed; head large (HL/SVL 0.3) (Figure 5), distinct from the neck (Figure 5 A & C); head depressed and narrow (HD/HL 0.3), snout long (SE/HW 0.7), longer than the eye width (EW/SE 0.4) (Figure 5 B); eye relatively small (EW/HL 0.2); ear opening small (EL/HL 0.1), bigger than nostrils, smaller than eyes, eye to ear distance is greater than the width of the eye (EE/EW 1.5) (Figure 5 B).
Rostral large, with a groove extending ⅔ of the scale; nostril separated by two enlarged supranasals and a single internasal scale; two postnasals, smooth, larger than the nostril; scales on snout and forehead granular, and flattened, larger than those in interorbital region, much larger than those on occiput; interorbital scales across midpoint 42, mid-interorbital scales small, smaller than the outer ones; supraciliaries relatively large, oval; scales around ear smaller and granular; nostrils oval, each surrounded by two postnasals, one supranasal, and rostral; several rows of scales separate orbit from supralabials; loreal region convex and covered with slightly large scales; supralabials (to midorbital position) 7; supralabials (to angle of jaws) 9; infralabials (to angle of jaws) 8, infralabials (to midorbit) 6; mental large, sub-triangular, wider than long, concave medially; two pairs of postmentals, smaller than the mental, anterior pair separated by one small scale, in contact with the first infralabial, posterior postmentals in contact with the 1st and 2nd infralabials, bounded by two juxtaposed, smooth scales (Figure 5 C); dorsal scales tiny, conical, intermittent with a few flat scales; scales on dorsum across mid body 84 (Figure 6 A), spine-like tubercles on lower and upper flanks (Figure 6 B); scales on dorsal forelimb and hind limb granular; ventrally, scales decrease in size from chin to anterior gular region; ventrals 146, ventrals across mid body 26, ventral scales smooth, imbricate (Figure 6 C) and smaller than the postmentals; scales in ventral portion of fore and hind limbs smooth, scales in the hind limb larger than forelimb, enlarged scales on ventral side of heel 11; femoral pores (left: right) 7:8, enlarged femoral scales 6; precloacal pores absent; precloacal scale larger than the anal scale (Figure 7), large femoero-precloacal scales 22; scales on dorsal and lateral tail, imbricate, large, and smooth, edges pointed and some circular (Figure 8 A & B), fairly large sized scales in pairs positioned evenly beside the mid line; a groove on mid dorsal tail (from base to mid region); few spine-like tubercles at the base of tail; mid subcaudals very large (Figure 8 C); 10 rows of small scales between the 1st large subcaudal and cloaca, mid subcaudals hexagonal, without keels; subcaudals between cloaca and tip of tail 87; digits slender, elongate and clawed, interdigital webs absent; basal lamellae entire and enlarged, larger than distal series; distalmost of basal series largest, basalmost lamellae of distal series sometimes fragmented; basal and distal series of lamellae separated by a single scale of intermediate width, shape of the basal lamellae on toe IV elliptical; total lamellae (left: right), finger I 11: 11, II 15: 15, III 16: 16, IV 17: 16, V 16:16, toe I 11: 11, II 16: 14, III 17: 17, IV 20: 19, V 20:18, relative length of digits IV>V>III>II>I (fingers) (Figure 9 A), and IV>V>III>II>I (toes) (Figure 9 B).
Colour in life. Dorsum body and limbs brown with small off white spots and darker blotching. Prominent off white markings on mid body from neck to tail, which are crown shaped pointing towards head (Figures 2, 6 A), well defined towards vent. Black spot margined with orange at nape. Tail with ten off white irregular cross bands till end of tail tip and a crown shaped mark at base of tail. Venter white.
Colour in alcohol. Colour pattern in preservative similar to that in life with some fading, but dorsal background colour slightly darker.
Etymology. The species is named in honor of Henry Rajakaruna, one of the grandmasters in Sri Lankan photography, in recognition of his services to promote Fine Art Photography, in Sri Lanka for over half a century. The species epithet rajakarunai is a noun in the genitive case.
Suggested vernacular names. The vernacular names assigned for the species are Rajakarunage diva huna, Rajakaruna pahalpalli and Rajakaruna’s day gecko in Sinhala, Tamil and in English, respectively.
Digits Holotype (NMSL) Paratypes (DWC)
2016.07.0 1 NH 2016.05.0 1 2016.05.0 2
description: Published as part of Mendis Wickramasinghe, L. J., Vidanapathirana, Dulan Ranga & Gayan Priyankara Rathnayake, R. M., 2016, Cnemaspis rajakarunai sp. nov., a rock dwelling day-gecko (Sauria: Gekkonidae: Cnemaspis) from Salgala, an unprotected lowland rainforest in Sri Lanka, pp. 92-108 in Zootaxa 4168 (1) on pages 94-104, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4168.1.4, http://zenodo.org/record/256707