Cnemaspis basalticola Khandekar & Thackeray & Agarwal & Gangalmale & Kininge & Gaikwad 2024, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Khandekar, Akshay
name: Thackeray, Tejas
name: Agarwal, Ishan
name: Gangalmale, Satpal
name: Kininge, Saurabh
name: Gaikwad, Sunil M.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Reptilia
Squamata
Gekkonidae
Cnemaspis
Cnemaspis basalticola

description: Cnemaspis basalticola sp. nov.
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 92375AFA-59F6-4E70-8BFF-67C812B113E9
(Figs 3–7; Tables 3–5)
Holotype. NRC-AA-8414 (AK-R 2904), adult male, from Ratangad Fort (19.5035°N, 73.7013°E; ca. 1120 m asl.), Ahmednagar District, Maharashtra State, India; collected by Akshay Khandekar, Satpal Gangalmale, Saurabh Kininge and Swapnil Pawar on 2 nd October 2023.
Paratypes. NRC-AA-8415 (AK-R 2903), adult male and NRC-AA-8416 (AK-R 2905), adult female, same data as holotype.
Etymology. The specific epithet is an adjective formed from the Latin “ basaltes ” for basalt and the suffix “- cola ”, meaning inhabitant or dweller, as the species inhabits basalt rock formations.
Suggested English common name. Basalt dwarf gecko or Ratangad dwarf gecko.
Diagnosis. A small-sized Cnemaspis, snout to vent length less than 35 mm (n = 3). Dorsal pholidosis heterogeneous; weakly keeled, granules intermixed with large, weakly keeled, irregularly arranged tubercles; enlarged tubercles gradually increasing in size towards flank, tubercles in lowest row short and spine-like; 6–8 rows of dorsal tubercles at midbody; paravertebral tubercles irregularly arranged; gular scales, smooth, subcircular, flattened, and subimbricate; ventral scales subequal from chest to vent, smooth, subcircular, subimbricate with rounded end; 24 or 25 midventral scales across belly, 127–134 ventral longitudinal scales from mental to cloaca; subdigital scansors smooth, basal three or four unpaired, distal mostly entire, unnotched; 11 or 12 lamellae under digit I of manus and pes, 18–20 lamellae under digit IV of manus and 21–24 lamellae under digit IV of pes; males with three or four femoral pores on each thigh separated medially by 25–27 poreless scales (n = 2); tail dorsum with weakly keeled, granular, similar in size and shape to granules on midbody dorsum, gradually becoming larger, flattened, imbricate posteriorly, intermixed with enlarged, strongly keeled, distinctly pointed, conical tubercles forming whorls; six tubercles each on first nine whorls, four in 10–15 th whorls; median row of subcaudals Type A. Dorsal colouration faded greenish-brown, distinct dark ocellus on neck followed by about five or six irregular dark crossbars up to tail-base, crossbars continue onto tail, fine yellow streaks on flanks, not strongly sexually dichromatic (Fig. 6).
Comparisons with members of the girii clade. Cnemaspis basalticola sp. nov. can be easily distinguished from all members of the girii clade by the presence of irregularly arranged paravertebral tubercles (versus more or less regular series of PVT except in C. mahabali: 18–23 in C. ajijae, 17–22 in C. amba, 17–21 in C. barkiensis, 13–19 in C. chandoliensis, 20–24 in C. flaviventralis, 18–23 in C. girii, 18–25 in C. koynaensis, 8–12 in C. limayei, 16–20 in C. maharashtraensis, 17–23 in C. rajgadensis, 17–19 in C. sahyadriensis, 7–10 in C. uttaraghati); 6–8 DTR (versus 12–13 in C. ajijae, 11–14 in C. amba, 11–13 in C. barkiensis, 12–13 in C. chandoliensis, 14–16 in C. flaviventralis, 14–15 in C. girii, 10–14 in C. koynaensis, 10 in C. maharashtraensis, 12–14 in C. rajgadensis, and 10–12 in C. sahyadriensis); 127–134 (mean 132.0) ventral scales (versus 110–129 (120.6) in C. mahabali); 18–20 (mean 18.5) TLAMF4 and 20–24 (22.2) TLAMT4 (versus 14–16 TLAMF4 and 16–19 TLAMT 4 in C. limayei, 15–17 (16.6) TLAMF4 and 16–19 (17.4) TLAMT 4 in C. mahabali); and body size SVL up to 35.0 mm (versus SVL up to 27.0 mm in C. fortis and up to 38.0 mm in C. flaviventralis); 24 or 25 MVSR (versus 33–35 in C. fortis). Cnemaspis basalticola sp. nov. is similar to C. uttaraghati, but can be distinguished based on the following characters: 24 or 25 MVSR (versus 27–32 in C. uttaraghati), 25–27 scales between femoral pores (versus 22–24 in C. uttaraghati) and small body size SVL up to 35.0 mm (versus SVL up to 38.9 mm in C. uttaraghati). Cnemaspis basalticola 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 digit IV and V on right manus, and digit II on right pes are incomplete, tail tip slightly bent towards left and a ~ 2.1 mm long incision present on the abdominal region for tissue collection (Fig. 3A–E). SVL 34.8 mm, head short (HL/SVL 0.27), wide (HW/ HL 0.65), not strongly depressed (HD/HL 0.42), and distinct from neck. Loreal region slightly inflated, canthus rostralis not prominent. Snout half of head length (ES/HL 0.45), more than twice as long as eye diameter (ES/ED 2.15); scales on snout and canthus rostralis large, roughly oval on snout and elongate on canthus rostralis; scales on snout weakly keeled, somewhat conical, much larger than those on forehead and interorbital region; occipital and temporal region with much smaller granules intermixed with slightly larger, weakly keeled, conical tubercles (Fig. 4A). Eye small (ED/HL 0.21); with round pupil; orbit with 14–16 extra-brillar fringe scales, largest scales on anterior side; supraciliaries not elongate; eight interorbital scale rows across narrowest point of frontal; 28 scale rows between left and right supraciliaries at mid-orbit (Fig. 4A, C). Ear opening deep, vertical, small (EL/HL 0.06); eye to ear distance greater than diameter of eye (EE/ED 1.35) (Fig. 4C). Rostral two times wider (1.6 mm) than high (0.8 mm), incompletely divided dorsally by a strongly developed rostral groove and by an enlarged internasal scales about more than half of its height; a single enlarged, roughly rectangular supranasal on each side, separated from each other on snout by a single slightly smaller internasal; two enlarged postnasals on each side, upper one slightly larger than lower; rostral in contact with supralabial I, lower postnasal, nasal, supranasal and internasal on either side; nostrils oval, surrounded by upper and lower postnasals, supranasal, and rostral on each side; a single row of scales separate the orbit from the supralabials (Fig. 4C). Mental enlarged, subtriangular, marginally wider (2.0 mm) than long (1.7 mm); two pairs of postmentals, inner pair marginally larger (0.7 mm) than outer pair (0.6 mm), roughly rectangular, separated from each below mental by an enlarged chin shield; inner pair bordered by mental, infralabial I, outer postmentals, median chin shield and a single enlarged chin shield on left and two on right side; outer postmentals roughly rectangular, bordered by inner postmentals, infralabial I and II, and by four enlarged chin shields on either side; four enlarged gular scales prevent contact of left and right outer postmentals; chin shields bordering postmentals smaller than outermost postmentals, more or less flattened and juxtaposed, rest of the scales on gular even smaller, smooth, subcircular, flattened, and subimbricate (Fig. 4B). Infralabials bordered below by a row of slightly enlarged scales, decreasing in size posteriorly. Eight supralabials on left and nine on right side up to angle of jaw; six supralabials at mid-orbital position on either side; supralabial I largest, decreasing in size posteriorly; seven infralabials up to angle of jaw and five at midorbital position on either side; infralabial I largest, infralabials decreasing in size posteriorly (Fig. 4C).
Body relatively slender (BW/AGL 0.40), trunk less than half of SVL (AGL/SVL 0.42) with five short spine-like tubercles on left and six on right ventrolateral flank (Fig. 5A–C). Dorsal pholidosis heterogeneous; weakly keeled, granules intermixed with irregularly arranged rows of enlarged, weakly keeled, conical tubercles; granules gradually increasing in size towards each flank, largest on mid-flank; enlarged tubercles on lowest row short, spine-like; paravertebral tubercles much smaller than enlarged tubercles on flanks, irregular; approximately eight rows of dorsal tubercles at midbody (Fig. 5A–C). Ventral scales much larger than granules on dorsum, subequal from chest to vent, smooth, subcircular, subimbricate with rounded end; scales above cloaca and thigh slightly larger than those on midbody ventral; 24 midventral scales across belly; 127 ventral scales from mental to anterior border of cloaca (Figs 3B, 5B). Femoral pores somewhat elongate, four on each thigh, separated medially by 25 poreless scales (Fig. 4D).
Scales on palm and soles smooth, subcircular, subimbricate and more or less flattened (Fig. 4E, F); scales on dorsal aspects of limbs heterogeneous in shape and size; scales on upper arm and thigh much larger than granules on body dorsum, elongate, subimbricate with pointed ends; scales on lower arm and shank slightly smaller than upper arm and thigh respectively, weakly keeled, subcircular and subimbricate with rounded end, gradually becoming larger, flattened and subimbricate anterolaterally and posteriorly, largest on anterolateral aspect of the hands and feet; scales on ventral aspect of upper arm smooth, granular, much smaller than granules on body dorsum, scales on ventral aspect of lower arm with much larger scales than those on upper arm, smooth, flattened subcircular and subimbricate scales with rounded end; ventral aspect of thigh and shank with enlarged, smooth, flattened, subimbricate scales, slightly larger than midventrals (Fig. 3A, B). Forelimbs and hindlimbs slightly long, slender (LAL/SVL 0.16); (CL/SVL 0.19); 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; first three or four basal lamellae paired; all lamellae unpaired above inflection; basal lamellae series: (2-4-5-5-5 right manus, 2-6-7-5-4 right pes), (2-4-5-5-6 left manus, Fig. 4E; 2-5-6-9-4 left pes, Fig. 4F);
distal lamellae series: (9-11-16-*-* right manus, 9-12-16-15-15 right pes; * = digit incomplete or missing), (9- 11-13-11-12 left manus, Fig. 4E; 9-11 -14-15-13 left pes, Fig. 4F). Relative length of digits (measurements in mm in parentheses): IV (4.6)> III (4.2)> II (3.8)> V (3.6)> I (2.7) (left manus); IV (5.8)> III (5.1)> V (4.9)> II (4.4)> I (2.4) (left pes).
Tail original, entire, sub-cylindrical, relatively slender, flattened beneath, slightly longer than snout-vent length (TL/SVL 1.17) (Fig. 3C–E). Dorsal scales on tail base weakly keeled, granular, similar in size and shape to granules on midbody dorsum, gradually becoming larger, flattened, imbricate posteriorly, intermixed with enlarged, strongly keeled, distinctly pointed and conical tubercles forming whorls; six tubercles each on first nine whorls, four on 10 th –15 th whorls (Fig. 3C, E). Scales on ventral aspect of tail much larger than those in dorsal profile, smooth, subimbricate; median series slightly larger than rest, with condition of 1–3 slightly enlarged scales alternating with a divided scale (Type A); scales on tail base slightly smaller, smooth, subimbricate; a single, enlarged, keeled postcloacal tubercle on either side (Figs 3D, 4D).
Colouration in life (Fig. 6A). Dorsal ground colour of head, body, limbs, and tail light greenish-brown; head mottled with light and dark markings, broken up criss-crossing dark lines on occiput and nape, brille dirty yellow. Dark brown preorbital streak from orbit forming an indistinct preorbital streak on snout; yellow and dark grey alternating bands on upper labials; two dark brown postorbital streaks, upper one small, half the length of lower, which continues until ear-opening. Dorsum with dark ocellus just anterior to forelimb insertions followed by six irregular cross bars, last on tail base posterior to hindlimb insertions; dark markings formed of black, brown, orange and some yellow markings linked by a faint yellowish vertebral streak; yellow streaks on lower flanks including spine-like tubercles. Dorsum of limbs with irregular dark bands; digits with alternating dark and light yellow-brown markings; dorsum of original portion of tail with ~13 alternating dark and ashy bands, dark brown bands speckled with orange (Fig. 6A, B). Gular, pectoral, abdominal region, and underside of limbs and tail off white with no dark markings; a few yellow scales near yellow streaks of the flank; postcloacal spur and conical tubercles in lateral and ventrolateral rows on tail close to the cloacal opening light yellow. Pupil black, iris bronze with a copper ring.
Variation and additional information from the paratype series. Mensural, meristic, and additional character data for the type series are given in Tables 3–5 respectively. The single adult male and female range between 31.7–35.0 mm in SVL (Fig. 7). Both Paratypes resemble the holotype except for the following characteristics: inner postmental scale bordered by mental, infralabial I, outer postmental, and by an enlarged median chin shield in both paratypes. In addition, the postmental is bordered by two enlarged chin shields on the left side and a single chin shield on right side in NRC-AA-8415. NRC-AA-8415 also has an original and complete tail, whereas NRC-AA-8416 has a regenerated tail tip. The tail is slightly longer than body in both specimens (TL = 1.15 and 1.14 respectively). NRC-AA-8415 has a fold of skin on either side of the dorsolateral flank (Fig. 7A, B). Both paratypes closely agree with the holotype in overall colouration and lack any strong sexually dichromatism (Fig. 6A, B).
Distribution and Natural history. Cnemaspis basalticola sp. nov. is only known from its type locality, Ratangad Fort, Ahmednagar District, Maharashtra (Fig. 1). The type locality is dominated by basaltic rock cliffs surrounded by semi-evergreen forests, at an elevation of 1000 m asl. (Fig. 8A). During our surveys in the post-monsoon season, individuals of the new species were observed active during the daytime (930–1300 hrs) in low abundance (n ≤ 5/hr), only on basalt rock walls <2 m height above ground and inside a man-made cave (Fig. 8B). A female paratype (NRC-AA-8416) was observed to be gravid with a pair of fully developed eggs visible from the belly, suggesting the post-monsoon could be the breeding period of the new species. Hemidactylus cf. aaronbaueri and Hemidactylus cf. murrayi were the only sympatric lizards we recorded during our survey.
description: Published as part of Khandekar, Akshay, Thackeray, Tejas, Agarwal, Ishan, Gangalmale, Satpal, Kininge, Saurabh & Gaikwad, Sunil M., 2024, Two new species of South Asian Cnemaspis Strauch, 1887 (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from the far northern peaks of the Western Ghats, India, pp. 451-478 in Zootaxa 5463 (4) on pages 456-463, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5463.4.1, http://zenodo.org/record/11611950