Cnemaspis punctatonuchalis Grismer, Sumontha, Cota, Grismer, Wood, Pauwels & Kunya, 2010, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Grismer, Lee
name: Sumontha, Montri
name: Cota, Michael
name: Grismer, Jesse L.
name: Wood, Perry L.
name: Pauwels, Olivier S. G.
name: Kunya, Kirati
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2010
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Reptilia
Squamata
Gekkonidae
Cnemaspis
Cnemaspis punctatonuchalis

description: Cnemaspis punctatonuchalis sp. nov.
Spotted-neck Rock Gecko
Djing Djok Niew Yaow Khor Joot Figures 17, 18
Holotype. Adult male (THNHM 2001) from Thap Sakae District, Prachuap Khirikhan Province, Thailand. Exact locality, collector, and date of collection unknown.
Paratypes. THNHM 1899 is from the same locality as the holotype and no other data are known. ZMKU Rep-000314 was collected from Hauy Yang, Thap Sakae District, Prachuap Khirikhan Province on 1 Mar 2010 by Parinya Pawangkhanant and Komson Hongphattharakeeree.
Diagnosis. Adult males reaching 49.6 mm SVL, adult females reaching 43.8 mm; eight supralabials; seven or eight infralabials; gulars smooth; forearm scales keeled; subtibials, ventrals, subcaudals smooth; dorsal tubercles keeled; 24–27 paravertebral tubercles; enlarged, elongate pairs or trios of isolated tubercles on flanks; dorsolateral, lateral, and ventrolateral caudal tubercles present only anteriorly; caudal tubercles do not encircle tail; caudal tubercles absent from lateral, caudal furrow; middorsal caudal furrow absent; median row of smooth, enlarged subcaudals; no pore-bearing, precloacal scales; 1–3 postcloacal tubercles; shield-like subtibials and enlarged, submetatarsals absent; 29–31 subdigital lamellae on fourth toe; no dark, longitudinal, gular markings or blotches; head not yellow in adult males; black neck patch enclosing a white to yellow ocellus present in adult males; no dark shoulder patch enclosing white to yellow ocellus; no prominent, yellow to white, prescapular crescent or transverse bars on flanks. These differences are summarized across all species in TABLES 1 and 2.
Description of holotype. Adult male; SVL 45.8 mm; head oblong in dorsal profile, moderate in size (HL/ SVL 0.26), somewhat narrow (HW/SVL 0.16), flat (HD/HL 0.42), distinct from neck; snout short (ES/HL 0.49), concave in lateral profile; postnasal region constricted medially; scales of rostrum low, rounded, juxtaposed, weakly keeled, larger than similarly shaped scales on occiput; weak, supraorbital ridges; no frontonasal sulcus; canthus rostralis smoothly rounded; eye large (ED/HL 0.17); extra-brillar fringe scales small in general but slightly larger anteriorly; pupil round; ear opening oval, taller than wide; rostral concave dorsally, dorsal 80% divided by longitudinal groove; rostral bordered posteriorly by two supranasals, an azygous postrostral of similar size, and nostrils; bordered laterally by first supralabials; 8R,9L raised supralabials of similar size, but smallest posteriorly; 7R,L infralabials, decreasing gradually in size posteriorly; nostrils small, oblong, oriented dorsolaterally; bordered posteriorly by small, granular, postnasal scales; mental large, triangular, flat, extending to level of second infralabials, bordered posteriorly by three postmentals of similar size; gular scales smooth, rounded, juxtaposed; throat scales smooth, flat, subimbricate. Body slender, elongate (AG/SVL 0.45); small, raised, smooth, dorsal scales generally equal in size throughout body, intermixed with numerous, large, multi-keeled, semi-longitudinally arranged tubercles becoming spinose laterally and grouped in pairs or trios; tubercles extend from occiput to base of tail and are smallest anteriorly; 24–27 paravertebral tubercles; pectoral and abdominal scales smooth, flat, imbricate; abdominal scales larger than pectoral scales and dorsals; no pore-bearing, precloacal scales; forelimbs moderately long, slender, dorsal scales smooth; ventral scales of forearm smooth, juxtaposed to subimbricate; palmar scales smooth, flat, subimbricate; digits long with an inflected joint; claws recurved; subdigital lamellae unnotched; subdigital lamellae wide throughout length of digits, bearing a larger scale at digital inflections; interdigital webbing generally absent; fingers increase in length from first to fourth with fifth same length as fourth; hind limbs longer and thicker than forelimbs; dorsal scales of thigh, smooth, raised, juxtaposed; dorsal scales of foreleg weakly keeled, subimbricate; ventral scales of hind limb smooth, imbricate; plantar scales smooth, flat, subimbricate; no enlarged subtibials or submetatarsals; 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 digital inflections; interdigital webbing absent; toes increase in length from first to fourth with fourth and fifth nearly equal in length; 29 subdigital lamellae on fourth toe; dorsal, caudal scales arranged in segmented whorls; caudal scales low, weakly keeled, juxtaposed anteriorly; middorsal furrow absent; lateral, caudal furrow weak; median row of enlarged, smooth, subcaudal scales; four scales per caudal segment; other subcaudals smooth; paravertebral rows of large, keeled, caudal tubercles extend length of tail; dorsolateral, lateral, and ventrolateral rows of tubercles present only anteriorly; caudal tubercles do not encircle tail, absent from lateral, caudal furrow; 1–3 postcloacal tubercles; tail approximately 1.2% times SVL.
Coloration (in alcohol). Dorsal ground color of head, body, limbs and tail light brown; top of head bearing large, diffuse, light and darker 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 (Fig. 18); black neck patch edged posteriorly by white antebrachial and brachial marking; five lightly colored, paravertebral, butterfly-shaped markings between forelimb insertions and base of tail; markings continue onto tail to form lightly colored bands; patches of enlarged tubercles on flanks white; other tubercles on body dark or lightly colored; limbs generally uniform brown bearing elbow and knee patches; digits white bearing thin, dark bands; all ventral surfaces uniform beige with fine, dark stippling in some scales..
Variation. Differences in squamation and morphometrics are presented in TABLE 7. The enlarged, paired, tubercles on the flanks are reduced in females. Some scale counts are missing because the paratype (THNHM 1899) had apparently been partially eaten by arthropods. THNHM 1899 generally approaches the holotype in all aspects of coloration and pattern in alcohol (Fig. 17). The reticulum on the throat, however, is not as obvious. THNHM 1899 has only 11 mm of tail. In life sexual dimorphism in color is distinct (Fig. 18). Adult males have a brownish-green head with a yellow neck which accentuates the black neck patch bearing the cream colored occelli. 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. The adult female (ZMKU Rep-000314) has a greyish dorsal ground color overall that is overlain by a prominent series of light and dark blotches on the head and a large light central nape blotch. Alternating dark and light paravertebrals blotches occur on the body that transform into a light banding pattern on the tail. The limbs are somewhat banded distally and spotted proximally.
THNHM 1899 THNHM 2001 ZMKU Rep 0 0 0 314 Distribution. Cnemaspis punctatonuchalis sp. nov. is known only from the district of Thap Sakae, Prachuap Khiri Khan Province, Thailand (Fig. 1).
Natural history. Specimens have only been observed at night on granite boulders.
Etymology. The specific epithet punctatonuchalis, is derived from the Latin adjective punctatus, meaning spotted and the Latin noun nuchalis, meaning neck and is in reference to the large, white ocellus on the side of the throat.
Comparisons. Cnemaspis punctatonuchalis sp. nov. can be diagnosed from all other Southeast Asian Cnemaspis in having pairs or trios of enlarged, elongate, isolated tubercles on the flanks and a black, neck patch enclosing a white to yellow ocellus. Its lack of precloacal pores in males further separates it from C. affinis, C. argus, C. bayuensis, C. biocellata, C. caudanivea, C. chanthaburiensis, C. dringi, C. flavigaster, C. flavolineata, C. karsticola, C. kumpoli, C. mcguirei, C. monachorum, C. nigridia, C. nuicamensis, C. paripari, C. perhentianensis, C. pseudomcguirei, C. chanardi sp. nov., C. vandeventeri sp. nov., C. kamolnorranathi sp. nov., C. narathiwatensis sp. nov., C. huaseesom sp. nov., and C. roticanai. Other differences in squamation are scored across all species in TABLE 1.
description: Published as part of Grismer, Lee, Sumontha, Montri, Cota, Michael, Grismer, Jesse L., Wood, Perry L., Pauwels, Olivier S. G. & Kunya, Kirati, 2010, A revision and redescription of the rock gecko Cnemaspis siamensis (Taylor 1925) (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from Peninsular Thailand with descriptions of seven new species, pp. 1-55 in Zootaxa 2576 on pages 38-42, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.275935