Hemiphyllodactylus banaensis Tri, Grismer, Thai & Wood, 2014, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Tri, Ngo Van
name: Grismer, L. Lee
name: Thai, Pham Hong
name: Wood, P. L.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2014
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Reptilia
Squamata
Gekkonidae
Hemiphyllodactylus
Hemiphyllodactylus banaensis

description: Hemiphyllodactylus banaensis sp. nov.
Ba Na Dwarf Gecko
Figs. 3, 4, 5
Holotype. Adult male (ITBCZ 2465) collected on 2 February 2013 by Pham Hong Thai at 21:45hrs from Ba Na summit of Ba Na–Nui Chua Nature Reserve, HoaVang District, Da Nang City, Vietnam (15°59’30’’N, 107°59’50’’E; 1300 m.a.s.l.).
Paratypes. Eight additional specimens collected by Pham Hong Thai very near the type locality but on different days: ITBCZ 2450 on 19 August 2012, ITBCZ 2461–2464 on 23 September 2012, ITBCZ 2466–67 and ITBCZ 2469 have the same data as the holotype. ITBCZ 2468 was collected by Ngo Van Tri on 2 February 2013.
Diagnosis. Hemiphyllodactylus banaensis sp. nov. can be distinguished from all other species of Hemiphyllodactylus by having the unique combination of a maximum SVL of 48.2 mm in males and 51.0 mm in females; seven chin scales extending transversely from the union of the first and second infralabials and posterior margin of mental; enlarged postmental scales; three circumnasal scales; 4–11 scales between supranasals; 9–12 supralabials; 9–11 infralabials;18–20 longitudinally arranged dorsal scales at midbody contained within one eye diameter; 9–12 longitudinally arranged ventral scales at midbody contained within one eye diameter; lamellar formula on hand 3 (II), 4–5 (III), 4–5 (IV), 4 (V); lamellar formula on foot 4 (II), 5 (III), 5 (IV), 5 (V); 20–21 precloacal and femoral pore-bearing scales contiguous in males and 0–20 contiguous pore-bearing precloacal scales in females; dorsal pattern on body composed of transverse blotches and two whitish stripes across shoulder extending to sacrum; postsacral mark whitish brown and bearing anteriorly projecting arms; and caecum and oviducts unpigmented. These characters and potentially diagnostic morphometric characters are scored across all species of Hemiphyllodactylus in Table 1.
Description of holotype. Adult male; head triangular in dorsal profile, depressed, distinct from neck; lores and interorbital regions flat; rostrum relatively long (NarEye/HeadL = 0.25); prefrontal region flat to weakly concave; canthus rostralis smoothly rounded, barely discernible; snout moderate, rounded in dorsal profile; eye large; auricular opening oval, small; eye to ear distance greater than diameter of eye; rostral wider than high, partially divided dorsally, bordered posteriorly by large supranasals; nine internasals; external nares bordered anteriorly by rostral, dorsally by supranasal, posteriorly by three postnasals (Fig. 3 A), ventrally by first supralabial; 11 (R,L) square supralabials tapering to below posterior margin of orbit; 10 (R, L) square infralabials tapering to below posterior margin of orbit; scales of rostrum, lores, top of head, and occiput small, granular, those of rostrum largest; dorsal superciliaries flat, rectangular, imbricate; mental subtriangular, bordered laterally by first infralabials and posteriorly by two large postmentals; each postmental bordered by four scales; four enlarged sublabials contact first three infralabials on each side; row of eight scales extending transversely from juncture of first and second infralabials and contacting mental (Fig. 3 B); nine supralabials extend to midorbital region on both sides; 12 enlarged extend supralabials to angle of on both sides; infralabials 9 (L)–10 (R); gular scales rounded, small, granular, grading posteriorly into slightly larger, juxtaposed, throat and pectoral scales (Fig. 3 B) which grade into slightly larger, subimbricate ventrals.
Body somewhat elongate, dorsoventrally compressed; ventrolateral folds absent; dorsal scales small, granular (Fig. 3 C), lacking interstitial granules, 15 scales contained within one eye diameter; ventral scales, flat, subimbricate, much larger than dorsal scales (Fig. 3 D), nine scales contained within one eye diameter; enlarged femoral and precloacal scales bear 13 precloacal pores in chevron-shaped series contiguous with four pore-bearing femoral scales on each side midway between knee and hind limb insertion (Fig. 4); forelimbs short, robust, covered with granular scales dorsally and with slightly larger, flat, subimbricate scales ventrally; palmar scales flat, juxtaposed; all manual digits except digit I well developed; digit I vestigial, clawless; distal subdigital lamellae of digits II–V undivided, angular and U-shaped; lamellae proximal to these transversely expanded; lamellar formula of manual digits II–V: 3–4–4–4; five transversely expanded lamellae on digit I; claws on digit II–V well developed, unsheathed; distal portions of digits strongly curved, terminal joint free, arising from central portion of lamellar pad (Fig. 3 G); hind limbs short, more robust than forelimbs, covered with slightly pointed, juxtaposed scales dorsally and by larger, flat subimbricate scales ventrally; plantar scales low, flat, juxtaposed; all digits except digit I well developed; digit I vestigial, clawless; distal, subdigital lamellae of pedal digits II–V undivided, angular and U-shaped; lamellae proximal to these transversely expanded; lamellar formula of pedal digits II–V: 4–5–5–5(R); five transversely expanded lamellae on digit I; claws on digits II–V well developed, unsheathed; distal portions of digits strongly curved, terminal joint free, arising from central portion of lamellar pad (Fig. 3 H); tail relatively short, regenerated, approximately 0.8 times SVL,round in cross-section; all caudal scales flat, imbricate, not forming distinct caudal segments (Fig. 3 E). Morphometric data are presented in Table 1.
Coloration in life (Fig. 5). Top of head unicolor, dull orange, transitioning into a slightly darker rust-orange coloration on body; longitudinal series of small, dark, diffuse, postorbital spots; preorbital stripedark, diffuse; postorbital stripe slightly more prominent, extending to anterior margin of forearm, becoming more faint, diffuse, and wider as it continues along ventrolateral margin of body to groin and onto postsacral region; postsacral marking light orange, bearing anteriorly projecting arms and dark medial spot; dorsal surface of limbs same color as body; tail regenerated immediately posterior to postsacral marking and unicolor dark brown dorsally and ventrally; lateral portions of body, head, and limbs with distinct transition between dull or rust-orange dorsal coloration and immaculate, cream-colored ventral coloration.
Variation (Fig. 5). Color pattern varies considerably. Adult female ITBCZ 2467 is nearly unicolor except for faint banding on the tail; adult female ITBCZ 2468 has a bold mottled dorsal pattern; and adult female ITBCZ 2469 has a nearly unicolor brown dorsum with faint, light colored dorsolateral stripes contacting the well-defined light colored postsacral marking. Variation in scalation and morphometrics is presented in Table 2.
Distribution. Hemiphyllodactylus banaensis sp. nov. is known only from the type locality Ba Na–Nui Chua Nature Reserve, HoaVang District, Da Nang City, Central Vietnam (Fig.1) but is expected to range more widely throughout the summit of Bach Ma National Park in Thua Thien Hue City.
ITBCZ ITBCZ ITBCZ ITBCZ ITBCZ ITBCZ ITBCZ ITBCZ ITBCZ ITBCZ ……continued on the next page ITBCZ ITBCZ ITBCZ ITBCZ ITBCZ ITBCZ ITBCZ ITBCZ ITBCZ ITBCZ Natural History. Most of the specimens were collected at night on the walls of the buildings approximately 3– 4 m above the ground. These buildings were located near the edge of forest vegetation (Fig. 6). Other specimens were seen on tree trunks at night. The paratype ITBCZ 2462 and 2466 are females carrying two eggs. The presence of males in this population indicates that Hemiphyllodactylus banaensis sp. nov. is bisexual.
Etymology. This specific epithet is derived from the name of Ba Na Mountain and is in reference to the type locality.
Comparisons. The taxonomy of Grismer et al. (2013) is used for comparisons below. Hemiphyllodactylus banaensis sp. nov. has a manual lamellar formula of 3 or 4–4 or 5–4 or 5–4, which separates it from H. aurantiacus Beddome (2–2–2–2), H. chiangmaiensis Grismer, Wood Jr. & Cota (3–3–3 or 4–3), H. ganoklonis Zug (3–4–4–3), H. harterti (Werner) (3–3–3–3), H. insularis Taylor, H. tehtarik Grismer, Wood, Anuar, Muin, Quah, McGuire, Brown, Ngo & Thai, and H. yunnanensis (Boulenger) (3–3–3–3), H. margarethae Brongersma (4–4–4–4), H. titiwangsaensis Zug (3–4–4–4), H. typus Bleeker (3–4–4–4), and (3–3–3–3). Hemiphyllodactylus banaensis sp. nov. differs from all other species of Hemiphyllodactylus except for H. margarethae, and H. titiwangsaensis in having a lamellar foot formula of 4–5–5–5. It differs from H. aurantiacus, H. ganoklonis, H. insularis, H. margarethae and H. typus by presence of precloacal-femoral pores in a continuous series. Hemiphyllodactylus banaensis sp. nov. differs from H. titiwangsaensis by having a maximum SVL less than 51.0 mm versus 62.0 mm. Hemiphyllodactylus banaensis sp. nov. differs from all Hemiphyllodactylus species except for H. yunnanensis by a greater maximum SVL Hemiphyllodactylus banaensis sp. nov. differs from all species except H. aurantiacus and H. chiangmaiensis by presence of dark dorsal transverse blotches. The postsacral markings in H. banaensis sp. nov. bear anteriorly projecting arms which differentiate it from H. aurantiacus, H. harterti, H. titiwangsaensis, and H. yunnanensis.
description: Published as part of Tri, Ngo Van, Grismer, L. Lee, Thai, Pham Hong & Wood, P. L., 2014, A new species of Hemiphyllodactylus Bleeker, 1860 (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from Ba Na – Nui Chua Nature Reserve, Central Vietnam, pp. 539-552 in Zootaxa 3760 (4) on pages 542-549, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3760.4.3, http://zenodo.org/record/227767