Cnemaspis ranganaensis Sayyed & Sulakhe 2020, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Sayyed, Amit
name: Sulakhe, Shauri
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2020
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Reptilia
Squamata
Gekkonidae
Cnemaspis
Cnemaspis ranganaensis

description: Cnemaspis ranganaensis sp. nov.
(Figs. 1–7, Table 1–2)
ZOOBANK registration: xxxxxx.
Holotype. BNHS 2840 ³, Rangana Fort (16°04′39″N, 73°51′03″E; ca. 652 m asl), Bhudargad Taluka, Kolhapur District, Maharashtra, India (Fig. 2), collected by Amit Sayyed, 30 December 2019.
Paratypes. BNHS 2841 ³ and BNHS 2842, ♀, locality as for holotype, collected by Kiran Ahire, Devendra Bhosle and Abhijit Nale on, 30 December 2019.
Suggested common name. Rangana dwarf gecko
Diagnosis and comparison with Indian congeners. A small-sized Cnemaspis, SVL less than 34 mm. Dorsal pholidosis heterogeneous, with feebly keeled; small, granular scales intermixed with irregular, slightly larger, feebly keeled tubercles; 3 or 4 spine-like tubercles on flank, conical tubercles absent on flank; gulars flat, smooth; 93–101 paravertebral scales, 59–63 mid-dorsal scales; 93–101 longitudinal scales from mental to cloaca, 30–31 scales across belly; ventral scales smooth, imbricate. Males with 2–3 femoral pores on each thigh, 3 pre-cloacal pores, 8 or 9 poreless scales between femoral and precloacal pores. Supralabials to angle of jaw 6–7, infralabials to angle of jaw 6–7. Lamellae under fourth digit of manus, 13–14, and pes, 16–18. Tail with small, granular, keeled, pointed, subimbricate, intermixed with enlarged, strongly keeled, conical tubercles forming whorls; scales on ventral tail imbricate, smooth, with three rows of large, slightly elongated median subcaudals; very small post cloacal spur in both sexes.
Cnemaspis ranganaensis sp. nov. can be distinguished from all other Indian congeners on the basis of the following differing or non-overlapping characters: SVL less than 34 mm (versus Ẑ 40 in C. anaikattiensis (Theobald), C. anamudiensis Cyriac, Johny, Umesh & Palot, C. anandani Murthy, Nitesh, Sengupta & Deepak, C. bangara Agarwal, Thackeray, Pal, Khandekar, C. beddomei (Theobald), C. chengodumalaensis Cyriac, Palot, Deuti & Umesh, C. graniticola Agarwal, Thackeray, Pal, Khandekar, C. heteropholis Bauer, C. jerdonii (Theobald), C. kolhapurensis Giri, Bauer & Gaikwad, C. kottiyoorensis Cyriac & Umesh, C. maculicollis Cyriac, Johny, Umesh & Palot, C. magnifica Khandekar, Thackeray, Pal & Agarwal, C. nairi Inger, Marx, and Koshy, 1984, C. nilagirica Manamendra-Arachchi, Batuwita, and Pethiyagoda, C. ornata (Beddome), C. sisparensis (Theobald), C. thackerayi Khandekar, Gaitonde & Agarwal, C. wynadensis (Beddome), C. yelagiriensis Agarwal, Thackeray, Pal, Khandekar, C. zacharyi Cyriac, Palot, Deuti & Umesh. 2020); mid-dorsal scales heterogenous (versus dorsal scales homogenous in C. adii Srinivasulu, Kumar & Srinivasulu, C. assamensis Das & Sengupta, C. boiei (Gray), C. indica (Gray), C. jerdonii (Theobald), C. kolhapurensis, C. littoralis (Jerdon), C. mysoriensis (Jerdon), C. nilagirica and C. zacharyi); spine like tubercles present on flanks (versus spine like tubercles absent in C. aaronbaueri Sayyed, Grismer, Campbell & Dileepkumar, C. adii, C. agarwali Khandekar, C. ajijae Sayyed, Pyron & Dileepkumar, C. amba Khandekar, Thackeray & Agarwal, C. anamudiensis, C. anaikattiensis, C. australis Manamendra-Arachchi, Batuwita & Pethiyagoda, C. avasabinae Agarwal, Bauer & Khandekar, C. bangara, C. beddomei, C. boiei, C. chengodumalaensis, C. girii Mirza, Pal, Bhosale & Sanap, C. graniticola, C. heteropholis, C. indica, C. kolhapurensis, C. kottiyoorensis, C. maculicollis, C. magnifica, C. mahabali Sayyed, Pyron & Dileepkumar, C. nairi, C. limayei Sayyed, Pyron & Dileepkumar, C. ornata, C. otai Das & Bauer, C. shevaroyensis Khandekar, Gaaitonde & Agarwal, C. sisparensis, C. thackerayi, C. yercaudensis Das & Bauer, C. wynadensis, C. yelagiriensis and C. zacharyi); gular scales flat, smooth (versus carinate in C. andersonii (Annandale), C. wicksi (Stoliczka), and C. monticola Manamendra-Arachchi, Batuwita, and Pethiyagoda); tail with a series of three large, smooth, slightly elongated median subcaudals (versus median row of sub-caudal scales not enlarged in C. adii, C. ajijae, C. amba, C. flaviventralis Sayyed, Pyron & Dahanukar, C. girii, C. gracilis (Beddome), C. koynaensis Khandekar, Thackeray & Agarwal, C. limayei; C. monticola, C. australis with keeled sub-caudals); presence of both precloacal and femoral pores (versus absence of femoral pores in C aaronbaueri, C. anamudiensis, C. avasabinae, C. beddomei, C. maculicollis, C. nairi, C. ornata; femoral pores present in C. ajijae, C. amba, C. anandani, C. chengodumalaensis C. flaviventralis, C. girii, C. heteropholis, C. indica, C. jerdonii, C. kottiyoorensis, C. koynaensis, C. limayei, C. littoralis, C. magnifica, C. mahabali, C. nilagirica, C. sisparensis, C. wynadensis and C. zacharyi; no precloacal or femoral pores in C. assamensis and C. boiei, a continuous series of precloacal-femoral pores in C. kolhapurensis); continuous series of three precloacal pores (versus precloacal pores separated medially by poreless scales in C. gracilis, C. shevaroyensis and C. thackerayi); The new species closely resembles C. amboliensis Sayyed, Pyron & Dileepkumar, C. goaensis (Sharma) and C. indraneildasii Bauer (a junior synonym of C. goaensis), however differs from these by maximum snout to vent length 34 mm (versus 32 mm in C. amboliensis and 30 mm in C. goaensis / C. indraneildasii); dorsal scales feebly keeled (versus dorsal scales strongly keeled in C. amboliensis and C. goaensis; dorsal scales small, conical, with pointed, slightly enlarged tubercles scattered throughout in C. indraneildasii); rostral scale not divided, median groove absent; ventral surface of neck smooth; scales on dorsal aspect of thigh and tibia feebly keeled (versus rostral scale partially divided by a median groove; ventral surface of neck weakly carinate; scales on thigh and tibia smooth in C. goaensis, scales on forelimb and hindlimb tricarinate in C. amboliensis); mid-body scales across the belly 30–31 (versus mid-body scales 19–22 in C. amboliensis, 20–22 in C. goaensis); subcaudal scales with median series and adjunct rows enlarged, imbricate and smooth (versus sub-caudals smooth, imbricate, second and third rows on each side or midline carinate in C. amboliensis); lamellae under fourth digit of pes, 16–18 (versus 10–11 in C. amboliensis and 12 in C. indraneildasii). Cnemaspis goaensis and C. indraneildasii have a very similar overlapping morphological pattern, thus all comparisons with C. goaensis also apply to C. indraneildasii.
Molecular results. (Fig. 1) The newly generated 16S rRNA sequence of the new species clustered with the available sequencesKX753644 and KX753645 from Danoli, Sindhudurg district, Maharashtra and should be considered as conspecific with C. ranganaensis sp. nov. The new species belongs to the C. goaensis clade and was recovered as sister to C. goaensis with high support values (ML bootstrap 91%, BI posterior probabilities 0.99). The uncorrected pairwise genetic p- distance between the new species and C. goaensis + C. indraneildasii ranged between 1.9 and 3.0 % and that to C. amboliensis ranged between 5.2 and 5.4%.
Description of the holotype. An adult male in good state of preservation (Fig. 3 A, B), SVL 32.2mm, head short (HL/SVL 0.27), wide (HW/HL 0.60), not strongly depressed (HD/HL 0.38), distinct from neck. Loreal region slightly inflated, canthus rostralis not prominent. Snout less than half of head length (ES/HL 0.46), scales on snout and canthus rostralis weakly keeled, larger than those on forehead and interorbital region; scales on occipital and temporal region small, granular. Eye small (ED/HL 0.12), with round pupil; supraciliaries 15, not elongate; earopening vertical, deep, small (EOD/HL 0.04); eye to ear distance greater than diameter of eye (ET/ED 2.54); number of interorbital scales 23. Rostral much wider than deep (RW/RD 1.6), not divided, medial groove absent; single enlarged supranasal on each side, larger than postnasals, separated from each other by smaller single internasal; nostrils oval, each surrounded by two postnasal, supranasal, rostral and supralabial I; number of canthal scales 15; a single row of scales separate the orbit from the supralabials. Mental enlarged, subtriangular, slightly wider than long (MW/ML1.3), posteriorly not pointed; two pairs of postmentals, first pair rectangular, large; an enlarged gular scale prevent contact of left and right first postmentals; outer postmentals small, bordered by infralabials I and II, three enlarged gular scales prevent contact of left and right outer postmentals; chin shields bordering postmentals flat, smooth, smaller than first and second postmentals; Infralabials bordered below by a row of small, elongated scales, decreasing in size posteriorly. Supralabials to angle of jaw six (R)/seven (L); infralabials to angle of jaw seven (R)/seven (L) (FIg. 4 C), Body relatively slender, trunk less than half of SVL (AG/SVL 0.41), without ventrolateral folds. Dorsal scales on trunk heterogeneous, feebly keeled; small, granular scales intermixed with irregular, slightly larger, rounded, feebly keeled tubercles (Fig. 3 A, C); four spine-like tubercles on right and left flank (Fig. 3 E); paravertebral scales between pelvic and pectoral limb insertion points along a straight line immediately left of the vertebral column 99; number of mid-dorsal scales 61; scales on neck and sacrum feebly keeled. Scales on nape slightly smaller than those on paravertebral rows, slightly larger than those on occiput. Ventral scales larger than dorsals, imbricate, smooth, rounded, larger than those on chest (Fig. 3 B, D); 111 midventral scales from the first scale posterior to the mental to last scale anterior to the vent; mid-body scales 31.Scales on throat smooth, imbricate, smaller than those on belly; gular region smooth, with smaller, granules with those on chin bordering postmentals, enlarged, juxtaposed (Fig. 4 B). Scales on dorsal aspect of hand feebly keeled, imbricate, slightly pointed (Fig. 4 A); scales on forearm smaller than those on upper arm; ventral aspect of upper arm and forearm smooth, roughly rounded, imbricate. Scales on dorsal aspect of thigh and tibia feebly keeled, slightly pointed, imbricate; scales on tibia smaller than those on thigh, scales on ventral aspect of thigh smooth, roughly rounded, imbricate; scales on palm and foot smooth, circular, imbricate. Forelimbs moderately long; upper arm shorter than lower arm (UAL/SVL 0.12, FAL/SVL 0.13). Hind limbs long, tibia longer than femur (FEL/SVL 0.15, TBL/SVL 0.16); Series of unpaired lamellae on basal portion of digits, separated from narrower distal lamellae by a single large scale at the inflection; subdigital lamellae on finger I: 8, finger II: 11, finger III: 13, finger IV: 13, finger V: 13; toe I: 8, toe II: 13, toe III: 16, toe IV: 18 and toe V (Fig. 4 E, F): 15. Relative length of digits, fingers: IV (2.7 mm)>V (2.5 mm)> III (2.3mm)> II (2.3 mm)> I (1.4 mm); toes: IV (3.3 mm)>V (2.9 mm)>III (2.6 mm)> II (2.4 mm)> I (1.5 mm). Two femoral pores on right thigh and three on left; three precloacal pores (Fig. 4 D).Tail long, cylindrical, base slightly swollen; tail slightly longer than snout-vent length (TL/SVL ratio 1.00). Dorsal scales on tail granular, keeled, pointed, subimbricate posteriorly, intermixed with enlarged, strongly keeled, conical tubercles forming whorls (Fig. 5 A); one small post-cloacal spur on each side of lateral surface of hemipenal bulges at base of tail; Scales on ventral aspect of tail imbricate, smooth, with a series of three large, slightly elongated median subcaudal scales of which the median series is slightly large in the size of adjunct two rows, larger than those on dorsal (Fig. 5 B); those on tail base much smaller, imbricate and smooth.
Colouration in life. Body colour on the dorsal surface brown; few irregular dark black patches scattered on the dorsal surface of the head; half circular black mark present on the posterior head; elongated black mark on cervical vertebrae. Pupil circular, black with an orange rim. The mid dorsal body consists of four irregular black half circular marks with mild yellow patches between fore limbs and hind limbs. Faded dark brown patches on each lower and upper arm; yellow patches on fingers. The ventral surface of the head, body and tail grey; ventral view of lower and upper arm grey. The original part of tail brown, with 12 irregular black markings; base of tail has diminished ‘W’ shaped marking. Ventral tail grey (Fig. 6).
Colour in alcohol. Colour pattern in preservative similar to that in life with some fading, but dorsal background colour darker and all yellow areas faded to white.
Variation. Mensural data for the type series is given in (Table 1). There are two male and one female specimens ranging in size from 30.1 mm to 33.7 mm. Both paratypes resemble the holotype in meristic and mensural characters except as follows: BNHS 2840 and BNHS 2842 have six or seven supralabials, and BNHS 2842 with six supralabials only; scales between eyes to tympanum 19–20. BNHS 2840 and BNHS 2842 have two postmentals and BNHS 2841 has three postmentals; paravertebral scales 93–101; number of mid-dorsal scales 59–63; 30 midventral scales in BNHS 2841, BNHS 2842 and 31midventral scales in BNHS 2840.Number of lamellae on digit IV of the manus ranges from 13–14; on digit IV of the pes ranges from 16–18. Base colour of the dorsal body (in life) of males brown and females yellow.
Distribution and ecology. (Fig. 2) Cnemaspis ranganaensis sp. nov. is known from the type locality (Rangana Fort, Bhudargad Taluka, Kolhapur), at an elevation of ca. 652 m asl. (Fig. 7 A). The new species is also recorded from Danoli, Sindhudurg District, Maharashtra. The types were observed during our field survey in daytime (1600hrs), in late December. All the types were collected on trunk of moss-covered trees below ~ 2 m height, hatched and unhatched eggs were observed under tree bark (Fig 7 B). Our observations suggest that this could be an arboreal species that is active during the day. Co-occurring species found at the type locality were Hemidactylus prashadi, Calotes cf. versicolor, Ahaetulla nasuta and Boiga sp.
Etymology. Named for the Rangana region of the Kolhapur District, Maharashtra, India from where the type series was collected.
description: Published as part of Sayyed, Amit & Sulakhe, Shauri, 2020, A new Cnemaspis Strauch, 1887 (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from the northern Western Ghats, Maharashtra, India, pp. 83-98 in Zootaxa 4885 (1) on pages 85-89, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4885.1.5, http://zenodo.org/record/4296413