Cnemaspis persephone Khandekar & Thackeray & Agarwal 2024, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Khandekar, Akshay
name: Thackeray, Tejas
name: Agarwal, Ishan
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Squamata
Gekkonidae
Cnemaspis
Cnemaspis persephone

description: Cnemaspis persephone sp. nov.
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: C3E8A346-C6F7-4013-8F81-B7876CC41A44
(Figs 2–6; Tables 3–5)
Holotype. NRC-AA-8354 (AK-R 992), adult male, from Karian Shola (10.47450°N, 76.83503°E; ca. 780 m asl.), Anaimalai Tiger Reserve, Coimbatore District, Tamil Nadu State, India; collected by Akshay Khandekar, Ishan Agarwal, Swapnil Pawar and team on 21 th May 2022.
Paratypes. NRC-AA-8362 (AK-R 991) and NRC-AA-8355 (AK-R 2652) adult females, same data as holotype except latter was collected on 8 th October 2022; NRC-AA-8356 (AK-R 2653), NRC-AA-8358 (AK-R 2655) adult females, NRC-AA-8357 (AK-R 2654) subadult female, from near Varagaliyar Elephant Camp (10.41475°N, 76.86493°E; ca. 720 m asl.), Anaimalai Tiger Reserve; NRC-AA-8359 (AK-R 2665) adult male, NRC-AA-8360 (AK-R 2679) subadult female, NRC-AA-8361 (AK-R 2685) adult female, from Perungundru Hill trail (10.42297°N, 76.87189°E; ca. 600 m asl.), Anaimalai Tiger Reserve, Tamil Nadu State, India; same collection data as holotype except collected on 9 th October 2022.
Etymology. Named for Persephone, the Queen of the Underworld and Goddess of spring in Ancient Greek mythology and religion, who spent half the year in the Underworld and the other half above ground. This is an allusion to the natural history of the new species, only found in the soil under rocks and logs or at the base of vegetation; though presumably emerging at night at least at some time of the year. The specific epithet is treated as a noun in apposition.
Suggested Common Name. Anaimalai ground-dwelling dwarf gecko.
Diagnosis. A medium-sized Cnemaspis, maximum snout to vent length up to 39.6 mm (n = 9). Dorsal pholidosis homogeneous; weakly keeled granules which are smallest on paravertebral region, increasing in size towards flank, largest on mid flank, gradually decreasing in size ventrolaterally; 40–43 granules around the body at midbody, ventral scales subequal from chest to vent, smooth, subcircular and subimbricate with rounded end; 19–22 scales across belly at midbody, 108–125 longitudinal scales from mental to cloaca; subdigital scansors smooth, unnotched, some divided and others entire, a slightly enlarged metacarpal scale below digit I; 12–15 lamellae under digit I of manus and 11–13 under digit I of pes, 17–21 lamellae under digit IV of manus and 18–24 lamellae under digit IV of pes; males with five or six femoral pore series on each thigh separated by 13 poreless scales (n = 2/9); scales on non-regenerated tail dorsum homogeneous; small, smooth, elongate, flattened, and subimbricate scales, gradually increasing in size laterally; median row of subcaudals smooth, roughly rectangular, distinctly enlarged; postcloacal tubercle absent. No sexual dichromatism; dorsal colouration olive-brown, a small black spot each on the occiput and nape, indistinct light middorsal streak with indistinct small black middorsal spots to tail base, (middorsal streak prominent in juveniles); tail with alternating, irregular light and dark bands.
Comparisons with members of wynadensis clade. Cnemaspis persephone sp. nov. can be easily distinguished from all 11 members of the wynadensis clade and C. bireticulata by a combination of the following differing or nonoverlapping characters: medium-sized Cnemaspis, maximum snout to vent length up to 40 mm (versus large-sized Cnemaspis, maximum snout to vent length> 50 mm in C. anaikattiensis, C. lithophilis, C. magnifica, C. sisparensis, and C. zacharyi; snout to vent length up to 45.0 mm in C. balerion and C. heteropholis, snout to vent length up to 44.0 mm C. bireticulata, snout to vent length up to 49.0 mm in C. chengodumalaensis); dorsal pholidosis homogeneous consisting of granules that are smallest on paravertebral region and largest on mid flank (versus dorsal pholidosis heterogeneous consisting of granules intermixed with enlarged tubercles in C. anaikattiensis, C. bireticulata, C. chengodumalaensis, C. heteropholis, C. kottiyoorensis, C. lithophilis, C. magnifica, and C. wynadensis); 19–22 ventral scales across belly at midbody (versus 28–32 ventral scales across belly at midbody in C. anaikattiensis, 26 in C. bireticulata, 25 or 26 in C. kottiyoorensis, 24–28 in C. lithophilis, 24–26 in C. magnifica, 27–30 in C. sisparensis, and 25–28 in C. zacharyi); 108–125 longitudinal ventral scales from mental to cloaca (versus 147–153 longitudinal ventral scales from mental to cloaca in C. anaikattiensis, 141–150 in C. chengodumalaensis, 126–129 in C. lithophilis, 133–160 in C. magnifica, 139–143 in C. sisparensis, and 150–153 in C. zacharyi); males with five or six femoral pores on each thigh separated by 13 poreless scales (versus males with seven or eight femoral pores on each thigh separated by 15 or 16 poreless scales in C. anaikattiensis, eight to nine femoral pores separated by 14–16 poreless scales in C. balerion, seven or eight femoral pores separated by 16 poreless scales in C. bireticulata, 6–8 femoral pores separated by 14–16 poreless scales in C. chengodumalaensis, five or six femoral pores separated by 16–18 poreless scales in C. heteropholis, six or seven femoral pores separated by 15 or 16 poreless scales in C. magnifica, seven or eight femoral pores separated by 17–19 poreless scales in C. sisparensis, five or six femoral pores separated by 22–24 poreless scales in C. zacharyi, and a continuous series of 24–28 precloaco-femoral pores in C. kolhapurensis). Cnemaspis persephone sp. nov. is diagnosed against the other new species as part of its description below.
Description of the holotype. Adult male in good state of preservation except tail and head bent towards right side and a fold of skin running from axilla to groin tip on lower flank on right side (Fig. 2A, B); SVL 32.1 mm, head short (HL/SVL 0.26), wide (HW/HL 0.67), not strongly depressed (HD/HL 0.40), distinct from neck. Loreal region marginally inflated, canthus rostralis indistinct. Snout half of head length (ES/HL 0.46), almost 2.5 times eye diameter (ES/ED 2.35); scales on snout and canthus rostralis circular, protrudent, subequal, smooth, much larger than those on forehead and interorbital region; scales on forehead similar to those on snout and canthus rostralis except smaller and slightly elongate; scales on interorbital region, occipital, and temporal region even smaller, granular (Fig. 3A). Eye small (ED/HL 0.19); with round pupil; supraciliaries short, larger anteriorly; 10 interorbital scale rows across narrowest point of frontal bone; 30 scale rows between left and right supraciliaries at mid-orbit (Fig. 3A). Ear-opening deep, oval, small (EL/ HL 0.09); eye to ear distance much greater than diameter of eye (EE/ED 1.70) (Fig. 3C). Rostral almost twice as wide (1.5 mm) as high (0.8 mm), marginally divided dorsally by a weakly developed rostral groove for less than half of its height; a single enlarged, roughly triangular supranasal on each side, almost three times larger than upper postnasal, and in contact with each other on snout; rostral in contact with supralabial I, nostril, and supranasal on either side; nostrils oval, surrounded by two postnasals, supranasal, rostral and supralabial I on either side; two roughly circular postnasals on either side, the one touching supranasal more than twice larger than lower, not in contact with lower postnasal; two single row of scales separate orbit from supralabials (Fig. 3C). Mental enlarged, subtriangular, slightly wider (2.1 mm) than high (1.5 mm); two pairs of postmentals, inner pair roughly triangular, much shorter (0.5 mm) than mental, separated from each other below mental by three slightly enlarged median chin shields; inner pair bordered by mental, infralabial I, outer postmental, and three slightly enlarged chin shields on either side; outer postmentals roughly rectangular, slightly smaller (0.4 mm) than inner pair, bordered by inner postmentals, infralabial I and II, and four enlarged chin shields on either side; 10 slightly enlarged gular scales between left and right outer postmentals; all chin scales bordering postmentals more or less flattened, subcircular, smooth, juxtaposed, and much smaller than outermost postmentals; scales on rest of gular and throat, much smaller, smooth, and granular (Fig. 3B). Infralabials bordered below by a row or two of slightly enlarged, much elongated scales, decreasing in size posteriorly. Nine supralabials up to angle of jaw on left and 10 on right side, and five at midorbital position on each side; supralabial I largest, gradually decreasing in size posteriorly; nine infralabials on left and 11 on right side up to angle of jaw, and five at midorbital position on either side; infralabial I largest, gradually decreasing in size posteriorly (Fig. 3C).
Body relatively slender (BW/AGL 0.41),trunk less than half of SVL (AGL/SVL 0.37) without spine-like tubercles on flank (Fig. 4A–C). Dorsal pholidosis homogeneous; weakly keeled granules which are smallest on paravertebral region, increasing in size towards flank, largest on mid flank, gradually decreasing in size ventrolaterally; granules on occiput and nape slightly smaller than paravertebral granules; 41 granules around the body at midbody (Fig. 4A, C). Ventral scales much larger than granules on dorsum, subequal from chest to vent, smooth, subcircular and subimbricate with rounded end; scales on femur marginally enlarged; midbody scale rows across belly 19; 122 scales from mental to anterior border of cloaca (Fig. 4B). Precloacal pores absent, femoral pores elongate, six on each thigh, separated medially by 13 poreless scales (Fig. 3D).
Scales on palm and soles granular, smooth, rounded, and flattened, a slightly enlarged metacarpal scale on palm below digit I; scales on dorsal aspects of limbs homogeneous; weakly keeled and slightly larger than those on paravertebral region; dorsal scales on forelimb slightly smaller than those on hind limb; those on wrist smooth, flattened and subimbricate; scales on ventral aspect of upper arm smooth, granular, much smaller than granules on paravertebral region, scales on ventral aspect of lower arm with much larger scales than those on upper arm, smooth, subcircular and subimbricate scales, much smaller than midbody ventrals; ventral aspect of thigh and shank with enlarged, smooth, flattened, subimbricate scales, marginally larger than body ventrals (Fig. 2A, B). Forelimbs and hindlimbs slightly long, slender (LAL/ SVL 0.13); (CL/SVL 0.18); digits long, with a strong, recurved claw, distinctly inflected, distal portions laterally compressed conspicuously. Digits with both paired and unpaired lamellae, separated into a basal and narrower distal series by single enlarged lamella at inflection; one or two paired on basal series, and 1–4 paired lamellae above the inflection; basal lamellae series: (2-4-4-5-4 right manus, 2-6-5-7- 5 right pes), (2-4-3-5-4 left manus, Fig. 3E; 2-6-4-7-5 left pes, Fig. 3F); distal lamellae series: (10-12-16-15-12 right manus, 9-12-15-14-14 right pes), (10-12-15-15-12 left manus, Fig. 3E; 9-12-14-14 -15 left pes, Fig. 3F). Relative length of digits (measurements in mm in parentheses): IV (3.2)> V (3.0)> III (2.9)> II (2.7)> I (2.0) (left manus); IV (4.1)> V (3.8)> III (3.7)> II (2.9)> I (1.9) (left pes).
Tail original, subcylindrical, slender, entire, slightly longer than body (TL/SVL = 1.16) (Fig. 2C, D). Dorsal pholidosis on tail homogeneous; small, smooth, elongate, flattened, and subimbricate scales, gradually increasing in size laterally (Fig. 2C). Scales on tail venter much larger than those on dorsal aspect, smooth, roughly subcircular, flattened, subimbricate; median series smooth, roughly rectangular, distinctly enlarged than rest (Fig. 2D). Tail base with much smaller, smooth, subimbricate scales; postcloacal tubercle absent on either side (Fig. 2D).
Colouration in life (Fig. 5A). Dorsal ground colour of head, body, limbs and tail olive-brown with fine speckling of lighter and darker markings; head with a cream blotch anterior to dark spot on neck, no preorbital streak, indistinct dark postorbital streaks enclosing light brown streak continue till about ear opening; supralabials and infralabials olive brown; two lighter streaks running ventrolaterally from angle of jaw onto throat. A small black spot on the occiput and one on the neck followed by six indistinct small black spots along light mid-vertebral streak to tail base; original tail with about 12 alternating, irregular light and dark bands. Pupil black outlined by thin, orange-red iris. Limbs without prominent spots or bands, digits alternating with light and dark bands. Ventrals pale grey, throat and pectoral region darker, throat with small light grey blotches; infralabials, mental, postmentals and one or two rows bordering infralabials black. Ventral surface of tail black with indistinct fine white bands.
Variation and additional information from the paratype series. Mensural, meristic and additional character state data for the type series is given in Tables 3–5 respectively. There are four adult females, one adult male, and two subadult females ranging in size from 25.4–39.2 mm (Figs 5B, C; 6A, B). All paratypes resemble the holotype except as follows: rostral divided dorsally by a strongly developed rostral groove for almost half of its height in all paratypes except for NRC-AA-8360; a single internasal present between supranasals in all the paratypes except for NRC-AA-8355. Inner postmental separated from each other below mental by two slightly enlarged chin shields in NRC-AA-8358, and four in NRC-AA-8362; inner postmentals bordered by mental, infralabial I, outer postmental in all paratypes, additionally, four slightly enlarged chin shields in NRC-AA-8358, two on left and three on right side in NRC-AA-8360, four on left and three on right in NRC-AA-8355. The type of scales and their numbers bordering outer postmentals are variable in all paratypes. NRC-AA-8360 with original and complete tail, marginally longer than body (TL/SVL 1.05); four paratypes —NRC-AA-8355, NRC-AA-8356, NRC-AA-8358 and NRC-AA-8362 with entire but partially regenerated tails, marginally shorter than body (TL/SVL = 0.96, 0.82, 0.93 and 0.97 respectively); NRC-AA-8357 with more than half portion of the tail broken and missing, NRC-AA-8359 and NRC-AA-8361 with completely broken and missing tails. Regenerated portion of tail dark brown in NRC-AA-8355, NRC-AA-8356, NRC-AA-8358 and NRC-AA-8362 (Fig. 6). Both males and females in the type series have similar colouration with some darker individuals and the middorsal streak varying from indistinct to absent, regenerated portion of the tail being dark grey. The new species shows ontogenetic colour variation where subadults have a prominent light brown mid-dorsal streak that extends along the dorsum, light brown head, lighter limbs and orange tail with alternating light and dark bands (Fig. 5A–C).
Distribution and natural history. Cnemaspis persephone sp. nov. is currently known only from three localities in Anaimalai Tiger Reserve, Tamil Nadu (Karian shola, Varagaliyar Elephant Camp and Perungundru Hill) within <10 km straight line distance (Fig. 1). The new species was only seen in evergreen forest patches between elevations of 600–800 m asl. (Fig. 7A). Individuals of the new species were found inactive during daytime surveys (0900–1500 hrs) under or inside decaying fallen logs on the forest floor (Fig. 7B). We found only nine individuals of the new species in six hours of search by five team members. Surveys at the type locality during heavy rain did not yield any specimens. The new species is likely nocturnal in habit like other members of its clade as we only found inactive individuals under cover during our daytime searches. However, Anaimalai Tiger Reserve has high elephant activity on account of which we were not permitted to sample after dark. Sympatric lizards at the type locality include Hemidactylus cf. frenatus, H. cf. leschenaultii, Dravidoseps nilgiriensis (Ganesh, Srikanthan, Ghosh, Adhikari, Kumar & Datta-Roy), Eutropis carinata (Schneider), E. brevis (Gunther), Ristella sp., Draco dussumieri Duméril & Bibron, and Monilesaurus cf. rouxii.
description: Published as part of Khandekar, Akshay, Thackeray, Tejas & Agarwal, Ishan, 2024, Two new nocturnal species of South Asian Cnemaspis Strauch, 1887 (Squamata: Gekkonidae) of the wynadensis clade from the southern Western Ghats, India, pp. 353-386 in Zootaxa 5443 (3) on pages 358-369, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5443.3.3, http://zenodo.org/record/11045311