Cnemaspis triedra Sayyed & Kirubankaran & Khot & Harsan & Adhikari & Sayyed & Sayyed & Fazil & Jerith & Deshpande & Purkayastha & Sulakhe 2023, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Sayyed, Amit
name: Kirubankaran, Samson
name: Khot, Rahul
name: Harsan, Shiva
name: Adhikari, Omkar
name: Sayyed, Ayaan
name: Sayyed, Masum
name: Fazil, Ahamed
name: Jerith, Ahamed
name: Deshpande, Shubhankar
name: Purkayastha, Jayaditya
name: Sulakhe, Shauri
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2023
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Squamata
Gekkonidae
Cnemaspis
Cnemaspis triedra

description: Cnemaspis triedra sp. nov. Figs 2, 3, 4, 5.
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 8CEAC9B7-0607-4E72-BB1E-5B82A9E38604
Holotype. Adult male, BNHS 2912 (28.6 SVL), collected on a rock near the cashew plantation Melur (10.080769°N, 78.24219°E; alt. 242 m a.s.l.), near Alagarkovil, Madurai District, Tamil Nadu, India; collected by Amit Sayyed on 03 October 2022.
Paratypes. Adult male, BNHS 2913 (29.1 SVL), and adult female, BNHS 2914 (29.2 SVL); collected on 21 January 2023, by Amit Sayyed and Samson Kirubakaran, locality data same as holotype.
Diagnosis. A small-sized Cnemaspis with adult SVL <30mm; dorsal scales heterogeneous; scales small, granular, weakly keeled, intermixed with randomly arranged, weakly keeled, larger tubercles, similar on flanks; enlarged tubercles on the dorsal body are three to four times larger than the granular scales; conical and spine-like tubercles absent on both sides of the flanks; 6 supralabials; 6–7 infralabials; mid-dorsal scales 54–55; scales on snout and canthus rostralis smooth, much larger than those on forehead and interorbital region; scales on nape and occiput granular, unkeeled, smaller than those on paravertebral rows, intermixed with randomly arranged, larger conical tubercles; scales on ventral surface of head, neck, chest, arm and pes smooth, cycloid; mid-ventral scales 109–115, midbody scales 29–30; subdigital lamellae under fourth digit of manus 10–12, under fourth digit of pes 10–11; males with 4–5 femoral pores on each thigh, single precloacal pore, eight to eleven poreless scales between precloacal and femoral pores; dorsal scales of limbs granular, weakly keeled; dorsal scales on tail keeled, granular, intermixed with enlarged, strongly keeled, distinctly pointed, conical tubercles; scales on ventral aspect of tail large, subimbricate, smooth; median series distinctly larger than rest; a single enlarged, conical postcloacal spur on each side; a small circular central black dorsal ocellus on occiput; a large black ocellus on posterior neck, flanked anteriorly on each side by a faint black ocellus.
Comparisons with members of C. gracilis clade. Cnemaspis triedra sp. nov. is a member of the C. gracilis clade and can be easily distinguished from all 12 remaining members of the clade by a combination of the following differing or non-overlapping characters: spine-like tubercles absent on flanks (versus spine-like tubercles present on flanks in C. agayagangai Agarwal, Thackeray & Khandekar, C. fantastica Agarwal, Thackeray & Khandekar, C. ganeshaiahi Narayanan,Pal,Grismer&Aravind, C.gracilis (Beddome), C.mundanthuraiensis Khandekar,Thackeray & Agarwal, C. rudhira Agarwal, Thackeray & Khandekar, C. salimalii Agarwal, Thackeray & Khandekar); conical tubercles absent on flanks (versus present in C. jackeii Pal, Mirza, Dsouza & Shanker, C. shevaroyensis Khandekar, Gaitonde & Agarwal, and C. thackerayi Khandekar, Gaitonde & Agarwal); larger conical tubercles present on nape and occiput (versus presence of only small, granular scales in C. agayagangai, C. fantastica, C. ganeshaiahi, C. gracilis, C. mundanthuraiensis, C. pachamalaiensis Agarwal, Thackeray & Khandekar, C. salimalii); single precloacal pores (versus four in C. agarwali Khandekar, two in C. agayagangai, two to four in C. fantastica, four to six in C. ganeshaiahi, three or four in C. jackeii, five in C. pachamalaiensis, four in C. thackerayi). Numbers of mid-ventral scales 109–115 (versus 124 in C. ganeshaiahi, 125 in C. jackeii, 128 in C. mundanthuraiensis, 128 in C. salimalii); weakly keeled, larger tubercles on dorsal body (versus large strongly keeled, conical tubercles in C. agarwali, C. agayagangai, C. fantastica, C. jackeii, C. mundanthuraiensis, C. salimalii, C. shevaroyensis and C. thackerayi). SVL<30 mm (versus up to 33 mm in C. agarwali, C. fantastic, C. ganeshaiahi, C. gracilis, 44 mm in C. pachamalaiensis, C. rudhira, 35 mm in C. shevaroyensis, 42 mm in C. salimalii, and 41 mm. in C. thackerayi); number of scales across the belly 29–30 (versus 24–26 in C. agarwali, 28–34 in C. agayagangai, less than 28 in C. ganeshaiahi, 26–27 in C. gracilis, 30–34 in C. mundanthuraiensis, less than 25 in C. shevaroyensis and C. thackerayi).
Cnemaspis triedra sp. nov. closely resembles C. reticulata Sayyed, Kirubakaran, Khot, Abinesh, Harshan, Sayyed, Sayyed, Adhikari, Purkayastha, Deshpande & Sulakhe. However, it can be easily distinguished from it by having SVL of less than 30 mm versus 35 mm; enlarged tubercles on the dorsal body three to four times larger than the granular scales versus enlarged tubercles on the dorsal body slightly larger than granular scales; six large, white patches on the paravertebral region between limbs insertion versus net-like structure on the dorsal body; a large, black ocellus on posterior neck flanked anteriorly on each side by a faint black ocellus versus a half circular central black dorsal ocellus on posterior neck flanked anteriorly and posteriorly on each side by three dark ocelli; lower number of mid-dorsal (54–55) and mid-ventral scales (109–115) (versus 75–77 and 110–120 respectively); a single precloacal pore versus two precloacal pores separated medially by two poreless scales in C. reticulata. Meristic characters of the member of Cnemaspis gracilis clade are reported in Table 3.
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TABLE 2. (Continued)
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TABLE 4. (Continued)
Description of the holotype. Adult male generally in good state of preservation (Fig. 2 A, B). SVL 28.6 mm, head short (HL/SVL 0.31), not wide (HW/HL 0.55), not depressed (HD/HL 0.37), distinctly larger from neck. Loreal region slightly inflated, canthus rostralis not prominent. Snout slightly longer than half of head length (ES/HL 0.40); scales on snout and canthus rostralis large, round, juxtaposed, un-keeled, much larger than those on forehead and interorbital region; occipital and temporal region with larger, unkeeled, granular scales (Fig. 3 A). Eye small (ED/ HL 0.20), with round pupil; supraciliaries not elongate. Tympanum deep, ear-opening very small (EOD/HL 0.03); eye to ear distance greater than diameter of eye (ET/ED 1.16). Rostral much wider (1.6 mm) than high (0.5 mm), not divided dorsally, rostral groove absent; enlarged supranasal on each side, twice the size of postnasals, separated from each other by single enlarged triangular internasal scale; rostral in contact with supralabial I, nasal, supranasal and internasal; nostrils very small, oval, bordered by postnasals, supranasal and rostral; three rows of small scales separate the orbit from the supralabials (Fig. 3 C). Mental enlarged, subtriangular, not pointed posteriorly, longer (1.7 mm) than wide (1.1 mm); two pairs of postmentals, inner pair large, separated by single small scale, postmentals bordered posteriorly by eight smaller, rounded scales; gular scales granular, cycloid, smooth; throat scales, flat, cycloid, equal in size those on gular (Fig. 3 B). Supralabials up to angle of jaw, six on the right and left side; supralabial 1 slightly smaller than 2, slightly decreasing in size posteriorly; infralabials up to angle of jaw seven on the right and six on the left side; infralabial 1 smaller than 2 in size. 10 canthal scales between naris to anterior most point of the orbit; 18 interorbital scales. Body relatively slender (TW/SVL 0.20), trunk less than half of SVL (AG/SVL 0.41) without ventrolateral folds. Dorsal pholidosis heterogeneous; scales small, granular, weakly keeled, intermixed with randomly arranged, weakly keeled, larger tubercles, similar on flanks (Fig. 4A, C); enlarged tubercles on the dorsal body three to four times larger than the granular scales; number of mid-dorsal scales 55; conical and spine-like tubercles absent on either side of the flanks, (Fig. 4C). Granular scales on nape unkeeled, slightly smaller than those on paravertebral rows, intermixed with randomly arranged, larger tubercles, scales on occiput unkeeled, similar in size than those on nape, intermixed with few randomly arranged, larger, conical tubercles. Scales on ventral surface of neck, chest, arm and pes smooth, cycloid; mid-ventral scales 109, midbody scales 30 across the ventral between the lowest rows of dorsal scales (Fig. 4B); five femoral pores on right and four on left thigh, single precloacal pore, eight poreless scales on right and eleven on left side between precloacal and femoral pores (Fig. 3 D); Forelimbs moderately long, slender; dorsal scales of brachium weakly keeled, imbricate; scales of forearm weakly keeled, imbricate, smaller than those on brachials; ventral scales of brachium smooth, flat, cycloid, smaller than those on forearm; scales beneath forearm, smooth, flat, cycloid; palmar scales smooth, flat, slightly raised; claws slightly recurved; dorsal scales of thigh and tibia weakly keeled, imbricate; ventral scales of thigh and tibia flat, cycloid; subtibial scales weakly keeled; plantar scales weakly keeled, raised; digits long with an inflected joint; subdigital lamellae unnotched; lamellae beneath distal phalanges slightly widened (Fig 3E, F); subdigital lamellae on finger I: 8, finger II: 9, finger III: 11, finger IV: 10, finger V: 9; toe I: 7, toe II: 9, toe III: 10, toe IV: 10 and toe V: 12. Length of digits, fingers: IV (2.6 mm) ≥V (2.6 mm)> III (2.1 mm)>II (1.9 mm)>I (1.4 mm); toes: IV (3.9 mm)>V (3.6 mm)>III (3.4 mm)> II (3.1 mm)> I (1.6 mm). Tail entire and original, cylindrical, moderately slender, flattened beneath, longer than snout-vent length (TL/SVL 1.4). Dorsal scales on tail base keeled, granular, slightly smaller in size and shape to granular scales on mid-body dorsum, gradually becoming larger, flattened, imbricate posteriorly, intermixed with enlarged, strongly keeled, distinctly pointed, conical tubercles; enlarged tubercles on the tail forming whorls; four tubercles each on first to twelve whorls, rest scales of the tail with decreased in size with paravertebral tubercles (Fig. 2 A, B). Scales on ventral aspect of tail much larger than those on dorsal aspect, subimbricate, smooth; median series distinctly larger than rest, slightly rectangular; scales on tail base slightly smaller than those on mid-body ventrals, smooth, imbricate; a single enlarged, conical postcloacal spur on each side.
Colouration of male in life (Fig. 5 A). The dorsal aspect of the body in males is orange intermixed with yellow, scattered small black and white spots on flank; six large, white patches on the paravertebral region between limbs insertion. Head overall orange, yellow markings on forehead and snout, supraciliaries yellow; scattered, small yellow spots on temporal and parietal regions; a small circular central black dorsal ocellus on occiput; a large, black ocellus on posterior neck surrounded with orange scales flanked anteriorly on each side by a faint black ocellus. The limbs are orangish above with irregular yellow markings; digits are white with irregular black spots. Dorsal aspect of the tail with white and black bands, tail with ten alternating white and black bands. The ventral side of the head whitish with irregularly brown spots, ventral side of body and tail is whitish.
Colouration of holotype in preservative (Fig. 2 A, B). Orangish dorsum of the body and limbs turns to gray, yellow and white markings in life turn grey in preservative; ventral side of head, body and tail yellow.
Colouration of female in life (Fig. 5 B). The dorsal aspect of the body in females is orangish-yellow intermixed with scattered, small dull-brown spots on flank; six large, dull-brown patches on the paravertebral region between limbs insertion. Head overall orangish-yellow, dull-brown markings on forehead and snout, a small circular central black dorsal ocellus on occiput surrounded with orange scales; a large, black ocellus on posterior neck surrounded by orange scales flanked anteriorly on each side by a faint orange-black ocellus. The limbs are orangish-yellow above with irregular dull-brown markings. Dorsal aspect of the tail with orangish-yellow bands, the ventral side of the head, body and limbs white.
Variation. Mensural data for the type series are given in Table 2. The paratypes resemble the holotype except as follows: the number of lamellae on digit IV of the manus ranges from 10–12; on digit IV of the pes from 10–11; the number of infralabials ranges from six to seven to the angle of jaw; Ventral scale counts in longitudinal and transverse series vary from 109–115 and 54–55, respectively; males have four or five femoral pores. The two males in our collection match each other in overall colouration. There is strong sexual dichromatism in this species.
Etymology. The specific epithet is an adjective referring to the combination of three colour patterns on the dorsal body of the gecko.
Suggested Common Name: Painted Dwarf Gecko
Natural History (Fig. 1A, 10A). The species is currently only known from the type locality (Alagarkovil, Madurai District of Tamil Nadu). The individuals were found on rocks near cashew plantations and were collected in the evening between 17.00–19.00 hr. The individuals were not observed after dusk, indicating that the species is diurnal. During our second field survey at the type locality, we observed a gravid female carrying two eggs. This suggests that the reproductive season of the species extends until October. The surveys in additional parts of Madurai did not yield any individuals of the new species; hence, the species might be micro-endemic to the type locality, however, this needs to be confirmed with extensive sampling. The new species was found to be sympatric with Hemidactylus sp. and Lycodon fasciolatus (Shaw).
Distribution. Currently, Cnemaspis triedra sp. nov. is known only from its type locality Alagarkovil, Madurai District of Tamil Nadu.
description: Published as part of Sayyed, Amit, Kirubankaran, Samson, Khot, Rahul, Harsan, Shiva, Adhikari, Omkar, Sayyed, Ayaan, Sayyed, Masum, Fazil, Ahamed, Jerith, Ahamed, Deshpande, Shubhankar, Purkayastha, Jayaditya & Sulakhe, Shauri, 2023, Two new species of Cnemaspis Strauch, 1887 (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from southern India, pp. 301-332 in Zootaxa 5374 (3) on pages 304-308, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5374.3.1, http://zenodo.org/record/10150993