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Accepted by A. Bauer: 7 Feb. 2019; published: 27 Mar. 2019
ZOOTAXA
ISSN 1175-5326 (print edition)
ISSN
1175-5334
(online edition)
Copyright © 2019 Magnolia Press
Zootaxa 4571 (3): 383
–
397
https://www.mapress.com/j/zt/
Article
383
https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4571.3.6
http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:0E5F4B76-D144-495B-89F0-0FDCC8332CAE
A new species of rock-dwelling Cnemaspis Strauch, 1887
(Squamata: Gekkonidae) from Tamil Nadu, southern India
AKSHAY KHANDEKAR
1,2
1
Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, 560012, India
2
National Centre for Biological Sciences, TIFR, Bengaluru, 560065, India .
E-mail: akshaykhandekar555@gmail.com
Abstract
A new species of the gekkonid genus Cnemaspis is described based on a series of nine specimens from near Sankari in
Salem district, Tamil Nadu state, southern India. The new species is diagnosable by the following suite of characters: a
small-sized Cnemaspis (adult snout to vent length less than 33 mm); heterogeneous dorsal pholidosis consisting of weakly
keeled granular scales intermixed with large strongly keeled, conical tubercles, 9–11 rows of dorsal tubercles, 12–17 tu-
bercles in paravertebral rows; spine-like scales absent on flank, 17–20 lamellae under digit IV of pes. Males with 4–6 fem-
oral pores on each thigh, separated on either side by eight poreless scales from four precloacal pores; precloacal pores
separated medially by a single poreless scale; two single dorsal ocelli on occiput and between forelimb insertions, two
pairs of ocelli on either side just anterior and posterior to forelimb insertions. Cnemaspis agarwali sp. nov. is the fifth
endemic species of Cnemaspis from peninsular India outside the Western Ghats and highlights the rich and unique diver-
sity of this understudied region.
Key words: Day gecko, endemic, Gekkonidae, taxonomy, Tamil Nadu, peninsular India
Introduction
The gekkonid genus Cnemaspis Strauch, 1887, characterized by the presence of circular pupil and slender digits, is
among the most speciose genera in the family Gekkonidae with at least 143 currently recognized species
distributed in South Asia, Southeast Asia and tropical Africa (Uetz et al. 2018; Cyriac et al. 2018; Sayyed et al.
2018). In last two decades, Asian Cnemaspis have undergone several taxonomic revisions, which led to substantial
increase in new species descriptions, largely from Southeast Asia and Sri Lanka (Das & Bauer 1998; Das 2005;
Manamendra-Arachchi et al. 2007; Wickramasinghe & Munindradasa 2007; Grismer et al. 2010, 2014;
Vidanapathirana et al. 2014; Wickramasinghe et al. 2016; Agarwal et al. 2017; Iskandar et al. 2017). Although the
known species diversity is currently grouped under a single genus based on morphological similarities, large scale
phylogenetic analyses have shown that Cnemaspis is not monophyletic and is represented by three unrelated,
geographically disjunct clades from South Asia, tropical Africa, and Southeast Asia (Gamble et al. 2012; Pyron et
al. 2013; Zheng & Wiens 2016).
In India, the genus Cnemaspis, currently represented by 33 species, has a disjunct distribution, with a single
species reported from Assam in north-east India, two insular species from Andaman Islands, and the rest
distributed in peninsular India excluding the northern Eastern Ghats (Das & Ahmed, 2007; Giri et al. 2009a;
Srinivasulu et al. 2015; Smith, 1935; Venugopal, 2010; Giri et al. 2009a; Uetz et al. 2018; Cyriac et al. 2018;
Sayyed et al. 2018). The maximum diversity of Cnemaspis is concentrated in the Western Ghats biodiversity
hotspot with 25 known species (Cyriac et al. 2018; Sayyed et al. 2018). Fifteen of these species are endemic to the
central and southern Western Ghats, C. anamudiensis Cyriac, Johny, Umesh, & Palot, C. australis Manamendra-
Arachchi, Batuwita & Pethiyagoda, C. beddomei (Theobald), C. gracilis (Beddome), C. indica (Gray), C. jerdonii
(Theobald), C. kottiyoorensis Cyriac & Umesh, C. littoralis (Jerdon), C. maculicollis Cyriac, Johny, Umesh, &
Palot, C. monticola Manamendra-Arachchi, Batuwita & Pethiyagoda, C. nairi Inger, Marx & Koshy, C. nilagirica
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Manamendra-Arachchi, Batuwita & Pethiyagoda, C. ornata (Beddome), C. sisparensis (Theobald), and C.
wynadensis (Beddome) (Smith 1935; Manamendra-Arachchi et al. 2007; Cyriac & Umesh 2014; Cyriac et al.
2018). The remaining ten species—C. ajijae Sayyed, Pyron & Dileepkumar, C. amboliensis Sayyed, Pyron &
Dileepkumar, C. flaviventralis Sayyed, Pyron & Dahanukar, C. girii Mirza, Pal, Bhosale & Sanap, C. goaensis
Sharma, C. heteropholis Bauer, C. indraneildasii Bauer, C. kolhapurensis Giri, Bauer & Gaikwad, C. limayei
Sayyed, Pyron & Dileepkumar, and C. mahabali Sayyed, Pyron & Dileepkumar are known from the northern
Western Ghats (Das & Bauer 2000; Giri et al. 2009a; Mirza et al. 2014; Sayyed et al. 2016; Sayyed et al. 2018).
Apart from the Western Ghats, seven species are reported from other parts of India - two species—C. andersonii
(Annandale) and C. wicksii (Stoliczka), from the Andaman Islands; Cnemaspis assamensis Das & Sengupta from
Assam, northeast India (Das & Ahmed, 2007), and four species—C. adii Srinivasulu, Kumar & Srinivasulu, C.
mysoriensis (Jerdon), C. otai Das & Bauer, and C. yercaudensis Das & Bauer, from peninsular India outside the
Western Ghats. Amongst the peninsular Indian forms, the former two are from the Deccan and Mysore Plateau,
Karnataka respectively and the latter two are from Vellore Fort and Yercaud Hills, Tamil Nadu respectively (Das &
Bauer 2000; Giri et al. 2009b; Srinivasulu et al. 2015).
A taxonomic revision of the Sri Lankan Cnemaspis by Manamendra-Arachchi et al. (2007) addressed a few
issues primarily relevant to Sri Lankan lineages along with descriptions of three new species from southern India
(C. monticola, C. australis, and C. nilagirica), and synonymised C. anaikattiensis with C. sisparensis. Importantly,
they provided detailed redescriptions of Indian species described prior to 1984, entirely based on museum
specimens. This review partially enabled future workers to stabilize taxonomy of a few species (Ganesh at al.
2011; Giri et al. 2009a; Cyriac & Umesh 2013) and describe several novel species from India (Giri et al. 2009b;
Cyriac & Umesh 2014; Mirza et al. 2014; Srinivasulu et al. 2015; Sayyed et al. 2016; Cyriac et al. 2018; Sayyed et
al. 2018).
During recent herpetological explorations in Salem district in north-western Tamil Nadu (Fig.1), India, nine
individuals of an unknown Cnemaspis species were collected from granite boulders near Sankari. It differs from its
congeners occurring in the region, viz C. mysoriensis and C. yercaudensis in postmental arrangement, dorsal
philodosis, number of midventrals, number of precloacal and femoral pores, and overall colouration. Detailed
comparison of Cnemaspis from Sankari with existing museum material and published data on the types of extant
species allows me to describe it as a new species.
Materials and methods
Taxon sampling. Specimens were caught by hand and euthanized using halothane. Tail tips of four individuals
were collected as tissue samples in molecular grade ethanol and stored at –20
0
C for genetic analyses. Specimens
were fixed in 4% formaldehyde for 24 hours, washed in water and transferred to 70% ethanol for long-term
storage. Specimens have been deposited in the collection facility of National Centre for Biological Sciences,
Bengaluru (NCBS/ Akshay Khandekar field series: AK) and Bombay Natural History Society, Mumbai (BNHS).
Morphological and meristic data. A total of nine specimens of the new species were used to collect
morphological data. Counts and measurements were taken under a Wild M5 dissecting microscope and on the right
side of the body, where possible. Colour pattern was recorded from photographs taken in life. The following
measurements were taken with a Digimax Digital Vernier Caliper (to the nearest 0.1 mm): snout vent length (SVL,
from tip of snout to vent); axilla to groin length (AGL, from posterior margin of forelimb insertion to anterior
margin of hindlimb insertion); body width (BW, maximum body width); forearm length (FL, from elbow to distal
end of wrist); crus length (CL, from knee to heel); tail length (TL, from vent to tip of tail); tail width (TW,
measured at widest point of tail); head length (HL, distance between retroarticular process of jaw and snout-tip);
head width (HW, maximum width of head); head depth (HD, maximum head depth at occiput); eye diameter (ED,
greatest horizontal diameter of eye); eye to nares distance (EN, distance between anterior margin of eye and
posterior edge of nostril); eye to snout distance (ES, distance between anterior margin of eye and tip of snout); eye
to ear distance (EE, distance from anterior edge of ear opening to posterior margin of eye); ear length (EL,
maximum length of ear opening); internarial distance (IN, distance between nares); interorbital distance (IO,
shortest distance between left and right supraciliary scale rows).
Meristic data recorded for all specimens included number of supralabials (SL), and infralabials (IL), (from
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rostral and mental, respectively, to posterior-most enlarged scale at angle of the jaw); dorsal tubercle rows (DTR,
number of longitudinal rows of enlarged tubercles around the body counted at mid-body), paravertebral tubercles
(PVT, number of enlarged tubercles between forelimb and hindlimb insertions counted in a straight line on the left
parasagittal row), ventral scales (VS, counted from posterior of mental to anterior border of cloaca); mid-body
scale rows across the belly (MVSR, counted at midbody ventral between the lowest rows of dorsal scales); femoral
pores (FP); precloacal pores (PP), transverse subdigital lamellae, counted from the base of the digits to the claw
and including the claw sheath on the finger 1 (LamF1), finger 4 (LamF4), toe 1 (LamT1), toe 4 (LamT4).
Comparative data on described species of Cnemaspis from peninsular India and Sri Lanka was collected from
following publications: Smith (1935), Das & Sengupta (2000), Das & Bauer (2000), Bauer (2002), Manamendra-
Arachchi et al. (2007), Wickramasinghe & Munindradasa (2007), Giri et al. (2009a & 2009b), Cyriac & Umesh
(2013 & 2014), Srinivasulu et al. (2015), and Cyriac et al. (2018) and from museum specimens listed in the
Appendix 1.
FIGURE 1. Relief map of India showing type localities of Cnemaspis species occurring outside the Western Ghats and in
peninsular India (unfilled white circle). Type locality of Cnemaspis agarwali sp. nov. situated on a small hillock near Kidayur
road, Sankari, in Salem district of Tamil Nadu, India (solid black circle).
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Taxonomy
Cnemaspis agarwali sp. nov.
(Figs. 2–7; Table 1)
Holotype. NCBS-AU486, adult male, from near Kidayur road (11.500° N 77.859° E; datum WGS84; ca. 350 m
asl), Sankari, Salem district, Tamil Nadu state, India, collected by A. Khandekar, C. Daniel, I. Agarwal and R.
Chaitanya on 12 November 2017.
Paratypes. NCBS-AU487, BNHS 2337, adult males, NCBS-AU485, BNHS 2336, adult females, same
collection data as holotype. NCBS-AU488, NCBS-AU490, and BNHS 2338, adult males, BNHS 2339, adult
female, same data as holotype except collected by A. Khandekar, I. Agarwal and N. Gaitonde on 19 April 2018.
Etymology. The specific epithet is a patronym, honouring Ishan Agarwal for his contributions to Indian lizard
taxonomy and biogeography, and constant support and encouragement to the author.
Suggested Common Name. Agarwal’s dwarf gecko
Diagnosis and comparison with Indian congeners: A small-sized Cnemaspis, snout to vent length less than
33 mm. Dorsal pholidosis heterogeneous, weakly keeled granular scales intermixed with large strongly keeled,
conical tubercles, 9–11 rows of dorsal tubercles, 12–17 tubercles in paravertebral rows; spine-like scales absent on
flank. Ventral scales on belly smooth, subimbricate, 24–26 scales across the belly, 102–117 longitudinal scales
between mental to anterior border of cloaca. Two pairs of postmentals, inner postmentals strongly in contact with
each other, outer postmentals separated by two enlarged chin scales. Subdigital scansors smooth, entire, unnotched;
lamellae under digit IV of pes 17–20. Males with 4–6 femoral pores on each thigh, separated on either side by eight
poreless scales from four precloacal pores; precloacal pores separated medially by a single poreless scale.. Tail
with enlarged, strongly keeled, conical tubercles forming whorls; a median row of sub-caudals smooth, enlarged.
Dorsum with 5–7 light grey vertebral blotches between neck and tail base; two single dorsal ocelli on occiput and
between forelimb insertions, two pairs on either side just anterior and posterior to forelimb insertions; throat off-
white, strongly suffused yellow on lateral margins with three black longitudinal streaks running parallel to each
other; original tail in males with alternating black and whitish-grey bands, regenerated tail orange.
Cnemaspis agarwali sp. nov. can be distinguished from all other Indian congeners on the basis of the
following differing or non-overlapping characters: spine-like scales absent on flank (versus spine-like scales
present on flank in C. amboliensis, C. assamensis, C. flaviventralis, C. goaensis, C. indraneildasii, C. jerdonii, C.
littoralis, C. monticola, and C. nilagirica); scales on dorsal aspect of trunk heterogeneous (versus scales on dorsal
aspect of trunk homogeneous in C. adii, C. assamensis, C. australis, C. boiei (Gray), C. indica, C. indraneildasii,
C. jerdonii, C. kolhapurensis, C. littoralis, C. nilagirica and C. sisparensis); tail with median row of sub-caudal
scales smooth and enlarged (versus median row of sub-caudal scales smooth and not enlarged in, C. ajijae Sayyed,
Pyron & Dileepkumar, C. flaviventralis, C. girii, C. limayei; C. monticola, C. australis with keeled sub-caudal);
absence of keeled scales on the venter or gular regions (versus keeled scales on the venter or gular region in C.
beddomei and C. goaensis); males with 4–6 femoral pores on each thigh, separated on either side by eight poreless
scales from four precloacal pores; precloacal pores separated medially by a single poreless scale (versus precloacal
pores absent, femoral pores present in C. ajijae, C. anaikattiensis, C. flaviventralis, C. girii, C. indica, C. jerdonii,
C. kottiyoorensis, C. limayei, C. littoralis, C. mahabali, C. sisparensis, C. heteropholis, C. wynadensis; only
precloacal pores present in C. anamudiensis, C. beddomei, C. maculicollis, C. nairi, C. ornata; both femoral and
precloacal pores absent in C. boiei, C. assamensis; three femoral and four precloacal pores present in C. otai; two
femoral and two precloacal pores in C. adii; four to five femoral and three precloacal pores in C. australis; two to
four femoral and three precloacal pores in C. goaensis; 3–6 femoral pores on each thigh, separated on either side by
7–10 poreless scales from two precloacal pores; precloacal pores separated medially by two or three poreless scale
in C. gracilis; two femoral and two precloacal pores in C. mysoriensis; three femoral and two precloacal pores in C.
yercaudensis; a continuous series of 26–28 precloacal-femoral pores in C. kolhapurensis).
Cnemaspis agarwali sp. nov. closely resembles C. gracilis in snout-vent length, dorsal pholidosis, mental and
postmental arrangement, ventral scales in longitudinal series, and presence of femoral and precloacal pores.
However, it can be distinguished from it by lacking enlarged, conical tubercles on lower flank (versus one or two
rows of enlarged, conical tubercles present on lower flank); four precloacal pores separated medially by a single
poreless scale (versus two precloacal pores separated medially by two or three poreless scales); by having 12–17
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tubercles in paravertebral rows (versus 9–12 tubercles in paravertebral rows in C. gracilis); by having 9–11 rows of
dorsal tubercles (versus 11–14 rows of dorsal tubercles in C. gracilis); lamellae under digit IV of pes 17–20 (versus
lamellae under digit IV of pes 22); presence of two single dorsal ocelli on occiput and between forelimb insertions,
two pairs on either side just anterior and posterior to forelimb insertions (versus presence of two single dorsal ocelli
on occiput and between forelimb insertions in C. gracilis).
Description of the holotype. Adult male is in good state of preservation except the head is slightly bent to the
right and a dorsolateral fold of skin runs from behind the eye to the groin on the right side; artefacts of preservation
(Fig. 2 A). SVL 29.8 mm, head short (HL/SVL ratio 0.25), wide (HW/HL ratio 0.73), not strongly depressed (HD/
HL ratio 0.46), distinct from neck. Loreal region slightly inflated, canthus rostralis not prominent. Snout elongate
(ES/HL ratio 0.52), longer than eye diameter (ED/ES ratio 0.41); scales on snout and canthus rostralis large,
weakly keeled, juxtaposed; larger than those on forehead and interorbital region; occipital and temporal region with
much smaller granular scales, intermixed with slightly larger, roughly rounded, tubercles (Fig. 3 A). Eye small
(ED/HL ratio 0.21); with round pupil; orbit with extra-brillar fringe with small scales that are largest anteriorly;
supraciliaries not elongate. Ear opening deep, vertical, small (EL/HL ratio 0.06); eye to ear distance greater than
diameter of eye (EE/ED ratio 1.68) (Fig. 3 C, D). Rostral much wider (1.4 mm) than long (0.6 mm), incompletely
divided dorsally by a strongly developed rostral groove for more than half of its length; single enlarged supranasal,
slightly larger than postnasals, separated from one another by much smaller single internasal and two smaller scales
on the snout; rostral in contact with supralabial I, nasal, supranasal, internasal and scales separating internasals;
nostrils oval, each surrounded by postnasal, supranasal, rostral and supralabial I; two rows of scales separate the
orbit from the supralabials (Fig. 3 A). Mental enlarged, subtriangular, marginally wider (1.4 mm) than long (1.3
mm); two pairs of postmentals, inner pair large, roughly rectangular, bordered by mental, infralabial I, outer
postmentals and two enlarged chin shields; outer postmentals slightly smaller than inner postmentals, bordered by
infralabials I, II, inner postmentals and four enlarged chin shields; two enlarged gular scale prevents contact of left
and right outer postmentals; chin shields bordering postmentals flat, smooth, slightly smaller than outermost
postmentals, rest granular, much smaller, smooth. Infralabials bordered below by a row of slightly enlarged scales,
decreasing in size posteriorly (Fig. 3 B). Supralabials counted upto angle of jaw seven (L)—six (R), and six at
midorbital position on both sides; supralabial I largest, decreasing in size posteriorly; seven infralabials upto angle
of jaw on both sides, and five (L)—six (R) at midorbital position; infralabial I largest, decreasing in size
posteriorly (Fig. 3 C, D). Extra-brillar fringe scales 10–11 on each side, interorbital scale rows across narrowest
point of frontal bone nine or ten; 22 scale rows between left and right supraciliaries at midorbit (Fig. 3 A).
Body relatively slender, not elongate (AGL/SVL ratio 0.41) without ventrolateral folds or spine-like scales on
flanks. Dorsal scales on trunk heterogeneous, weakly keeled granular scales intermixed with much larger strongly
keeled, conical tubercles. Tubercles in approximately 11 longitudinal rows at mid-body; 14 tubercles in
paravertebral row from occiput to dorsal side of anterior margin of cloaca. Scales on nape slightly smaller than
granular scales on dorsum, smaller still on occiput (Fig. 2 A) Ventral scales slightly larger than dorsal; those on
belly smooth, subimbricate, slightly rounded, subequal from chest to vent; midbody scale rows across belly 25; 105
scales between mental to anterior border of cloaca; scales on throat and pectoral region more elongate than those on
belly, flat and imbricate; gular region with slightly smaller granules with those on chin bordering postmentals,
enlarged, juxtaposed and flattened (Fig. 2 B). Four femoral pores on right thigh and five on left, separated on either
side by eight poreless scales from four precloacal pores; precloacal pores separated medially by a single poreless
scale (Fig. 5 C).
Scales on palm and sole, smooth, flat and roughly rounded; scales on dorsal aspect of manus and pes
heterogenous, upper arm with scales slightly larger than those on dorsum, weakly keeled, subimbricate; those near
forearm insertion, much smaller, granular; dorsal aspect of forearm with scales smaller than those on upperarm,
weakly keeled, flat, roughly rounded; scales on elbow weakly keeled, subimbricate and similar in size to those on
upper arm; dorsal aspect of hand predominantly bearing small, flattend weakly keeled, imbricate scales. Ventral
aspect of upper arm with smooth, roughly rounded, weakly conical granules; scales on fore arm and wrist with
larger, smooth, weakly imbricate scales. Scales on dorsal aspect of thigh larger than those on dorsum, weakly
keeled, imbricate except those near hindlimb insertion which are much smaller, roughly rounded, conical granules.
Scales on dorsal aspect of knee and shank slightly smaller than those on dorsum of thigh, subimbricate, weakly
keeled; dorsal aspect of foot predominantly bearing small, flattend, weakly keeled, imbricate scales; scales on
ventral aspect of thigh similar to those on midbody ventrals; those on ventral surface of shank larger than those on
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thigh, smooth, imbricate (Fig. 2 A, B). Fore and hind limbs moderately long, slender (FL/SVL ratio 0.16); (CL/
SVL ratio 0.20); digits long, with a strong, recurved claw, distinctly inflected, distal portions laterally compressed
conspicuously. Series of unpaired lamellae on basal portion of digits, separated from narrower distal lamellae by a
single large scale at the inflection; proximal lamellae series: 2–3–3–3–3 (right manus; Fig. 5 A), 2–3–5–5–4 (right
pes; Fig. 5 B), 1–3–3–3–3 (left manus), 1–3–5–5–5 (left pes)); distal lamellae series: 8–10–11–11–10 (right manus;
Fig. 5 A), 8–10–12–12–12 (right pes; Fig. 5 B), 8–10–11–11–14 (left manus), 8–9–12–13–13 (left pes)). Relative
length of digits (measurements in mm in parentheses): IV (2.55) > III (2.52) > V (2.30) > II (2.15) > I (1.55) (left
manus); IV (3.40) > V (3.15) > III (2.97) > II (2.71) > I (1.41) (left pes).
FIGURE 2. Dorsal view (A) and ventral view (B) of Cnemaspis agarwali sp. nov. (holotype, NCBS-AU486). Scale bars 10
mm.
Tail not entire, more than half of its length original, short, cylindrical, relatively slender, total length including
regenerated portion 16.0 mm (Fig. 2 A). Dorsal scales at the base of tail granular, similar in size and shape to
granular scales on midbody dorsum, gradually becoming larger, flatter, subimbricate posteriorly, intermixed with
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slightly enlarged, strongly keeled, conical tubercles forming whorls; four to six tubercles on first two to five
whorls. Regenerated portion of tail covered above with scales similar to those on original tail, without enlarged
tubercles forming whorls (Fig. 2 A). Scales on ventral aspect of original tail much larger than those on dorsal,
imbricate, smooth, with a series of three enlarged subcaudal scales of which the median series is almost twice the
size of adjunct two rows, roughly hexagonal; those on tail base much small, imbricate and smooth. Regenerated
portion of tail covered below with much larger, smooth, roughly rectangular scales, a single enlarged postcloacal
spur on each side (Fig. 5 D).
FIGURE 3. Head of Cnemaspis agarwali sp. nov. (holotype, NCBS-AU486), dorsal (A), ventral (B), right side lateral (C), and
left side lateral (D) view. Scale bars 5 mm.
Colouration in life (based on paratype NCBS-AU490, Fig. 7 A) Dorsal ground colour of head, body and limbs
and tail base light orange. Snout, canthus rostralis light yellow and orange; occiput with light orange blotch mixed
with few light enlarged tubercles; two single dorsal ocelli on occiput and between forelimb insertions, two pairs of
ocelli on either side just anterior and posterior to forelimb insertions; labials light yellow, four or five indistinct light
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grey cross-bars; supraciliary scales in front of eye bright yellow, those above eye light yellow and each scale dotted
with brown; seven pairs of orange paravertebral blotches partially fused middorsally to form five indistinct mid dorsal
pale yellowish vertebral blotches; limbs with four or five light orange bands, irregularly spotted with few light brown
tubercles; original tail ash-grey with darker tubercles forming nine indistinct bands from tail base to regenerated
portion, which is dark orange. Belly, underside of limbs light yellow with few black dotted scales scattered irregularly;
gular region with two longitudinal brown streaks on either side running from angle of jaw up to the anterior margin of
neck; tail ventrum ashy white with brown markings, regenerated portion dark orange. Pupil black, iris golden.
FIGURE 4. Details of dorsal pholidosis at midbody (A) and details of ventral scales at midbody (B) of Cnemaspis agarwali sp.
nov. (holotype, NCBS-AU486). Scale bars 5 mm.
Colouration in preservative (based on holotype NCBS-AU486, Fig. 2) Colours overall faded to light brown,
with orange almost completely lost except on regenerated portion of tail. Labials dotted with light brown, single
black streak starting from behind the eye till neck on either side. Two single dorsal ocelli on occiput and between
forelimb insertions, two pairs of ocelli on either side just anterior and posterior to forelimb insertions; six indistinct
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lighter mid-vertebral blotches of variable size and shape on back and tail base. Ventral side light yellow, throat with
two longitudinal streaks of dark brown on either side running from angle of jaw up to the anterior margin of neck.
FIGURE 5. Ventral view of right manus (A), and ventral view of right pes (B), precloacal and femoral region (C) and ventral
view of tail showing smooth, enlarged median subcaudal scale row on original portion of tail of Cnemaspis agarwali sp. nov.
(holotype, NCBS-AU486). Scale bars 5 mm.
Variation and additional information from type series. Mensural data for the type series is given in Table 1.
There are six male and three female specimens ranging in size from 28.9 mm to 33.0 mm. All paratypes resemble
the holotype except as follows: the number of lamellae on digit I of the manus ranges from 9–12 and on digit IV
from 13–17, on digit IV of the pes 17–20. NCBS-AU487 has six supralabials on left and five on right and NCBS-
AU490 has nine supralabials on left and seven on right side. Ventral scale counts vary from 102 in NCBS-AU487
to 117 in BNHS 2338; the number of femoral pores ranges from five or six. Holotype, NCBS-AU486 and five
paratypes—NCBS-AU485, NCBS-AU487, NCBS-AU486, BNHS 2336, and BNHS 2337 with incomplete tail;
two male paratypes, NCBS-AU490, BNHS 2338, and a female paratype, BNHS 2339 with complete tail, slightly
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longer than body (TL/SVL ratio 1.26, 1.39, and 1.27 respectively). Five males NCBS-AU487, NCBS-AU488,
NCBS-AU490, BNHS 2337, and BNHS 2338 match the holotype in overall colouration, three female specimens
BNHS 2336, NCBS-AU485 and BNHS 2339 are duller in appearance, tail light brown with indistinct black bands,
lacking ashy-grey colouration on tail.
FIGURE 6. Type series of Cnemaspis agarwali sp. nov. (from left to right, BNHS 2336, NCBS-AU485, NCBS-AU487,
BNHS 2337, NCBS-AU488, NCBS-AU490, BNHS 2338 and BNHS 2339). Scale bar 10 mm.
FIGURE 7. Cnemaspis agarwali sp. nov. in life, male (paratype, NCBS-AU490) (A) and female (paratype, BNHS 2339) (B).
Distribution and Natural history. Cnemaspis agarwali sp. nov. is so far known only from the type locality, at
an elevation of ca. 350 m asl. The species was encountered during a single day of fieldwork on an isolated rocky
hillock in mid-November near Kidayur road, Sankari. These scansorial, diurnal geckos were observed only on
large rocky boulders. On a subsequent visit to the same locality in mid-April, they were abundant and active in the
evening, only on the rocky boulders. Soon after dark, they became inactive and were observed predominantly on
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the ground, in dry leaf litter around the rocky boulders. A few individuals took refuge at base of the rocks and
inside the muddy crevices with their heads pointed towards opening of the crevice. Sympatric lizards at the type
locality include Hemidactylus frenatus Duméril & Bibron, Hemidactylus graniticolus Agarwal, Giri & Bauer,
Hemidactylus parvimaculatus Deraniyagala, Hemidactylus sp., Eutropis bibronii (Gray), Psammophilus dorsalis
(Gray) and Calotes versicolor (Daudin).
TABLE 1. Measurements (mm) and meristic data for the type series of Cnemaspis agarwali sp. nov. Abbreviations are
listed in Materials and Methods. * = tail broken. Numbers in parentheses indicate number of poreless scale separating
precloacal pore series.
Discussion
Cnemaspis agarwali sp. nov. is only the fifth endemic member of the genus Cnemaspis distributed in peninsular
Holotype Paratypes
Specimen No. NCBS-
AU486
NCBS-
AU487
NCBS-
AU485
NCBS-
AU488
NCBS-
AU490
BNHS
2336
BNHS
2337
BNHS
2338
BNHS
2339
Sex M MF MMF MMF
SVL 29.8 28.9 30.8 29.8 30.3 33.0 31.5 29.3 31.3
AGL 12.0 12.9 14.2 12.9 12.0 15.0 12.3 11.0 13.0
BW 7.5 6.2 7.0 6.5 6.5 8.5 7.2 5.7 6.5
TL 16.1* 17.6* 2.2* 5.8* 38.2 5.7* 4.7* 40.9 39.9
TW 3.6 3.7 2.5 2.8 3.6 3.2 3.6 2.9 3.4
HL 7.5 6.9 7.0 7.3 8.0 7.4 7.8 7.6 8.1
HW 5.5 5.2 5.3 5.2 5.6 5.8 5.6 5.1 5.5
HD 3.5 3.3 3.3 3.3 3.3 3.7 3.6 3.3 3.3
FL 4.8 4.3 4.6 4.7 4.7 4.9 4.6 4.8 4.9
CL 5.8 5.1 5.7 5.5 6.0 5.6 6.0 5.9 5.9
ED 1.6 1.5 1.3 1.5 1.6 1.5 1.7 1.6 1.6
EN 3.0 2.9 3.0 3.0 3.2 3.1 3.1 3.0 3.3
ES 3.9 3.6 3.7 3.9 3.9 4.0 4.1 4.0 4.1
EE 2.7 2.9 2.4 2.6 2.6 2.5 2.6 2.5 2.5
EL 0.5 0.5 0.4 0.5 0.4 0.4 0.3 0.4 0.5
IN 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.9 0.8 0.8 0.9 0.9 0.9
IO 2.7 2.7 2.7 2.6 2.7 3.4 2.6 2.6 2.9
FP (L/R) 4/4 6/5 0 4/4 5/5 0 5/6 6/5 0
PP (L/R) 2/2 (1) 2/2 (1) 0 2/2 (1) 2/2 (1) 0 2/2 (1) 2/2 (1) 0
DT R 11 9 9 9 11 11 10 9 10
PVT 14 1316141716161213
MVSR 25 24 24 25 26 26 24 26 24
VS 105 102 106 110 106 108 115 117 113
SL (L/R) 7/6 6/5 7/7 8/6 9/7 7/7 6/7 8/8 8/7
IL (L/R) 7/7 8/7 7/7 7/8 9/7 7/7 8/8 8/9 9/7
LamF1 (L/R) 9/10 11/10 9/9 9/9 10/9 10/10 10/12 10/10 10/10
LamF4 (L/R) 14/14 15/13 16/15 15/15 14/14 15/15 15/17 16/16 16/17
LamT1 (L/R) 9/10 9/9 9/9 9/9 9/9 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10
LamT4 (L/R) 18/17 18/17 19/19 17/18 17/17 18/20 19/19 18/18 19/18
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India outside the Western Ghats. The other four species include C. yercaudensis (type locality Yercaud Hills, Tamil
Nadu, located about 50 km east in straight-line distance), C. mysoriensis (type locality Bangalore, Karnataka,
located about 160 km northeast in straight-line distance), C. otai (type locality Vellore Fort, Tamil Nadu, located
about 210 km northeast in straight-line distance), and C. adii (type locality Hampi, Karnataka, located about 450
km north in straight-line distance).
FIGURE 8. Type locality of Cnemaspis agarwali sp. nov. near Kidayur road, Sankari village. East of Salem city, District
Salem, Tamil Nadu, India.
The new species seems to be a member of the Cnemaspis gracilis species group based on morphology and
colouration, and has evolved heterogeneous dorsal pholidosis consisting of weakly keeled, granular scales
intermixed with fairly regularly arranged rows of keeled tubercles, spine-like scales absent on flanks and male-
specific bright orange blotches on the dorsum as a synapomorphy. Cnemaspis gracilis seems to be widely
distributed within and outside of the Western Ghats and is reported from Sirumalai hills in Dindigul district
(Ganesh et al. 2016), Meghmalai Wildlife Sanctuary in Theni district (Chaitanya et al. 2019), Valparai in
Coimbatore district, Kolli hills in Namakkal district, Yercaud hills in Salem district and, Sitteri in Dharmapuri
district, Tamil Nadu (IA & AK pers. obs.). It has also been observed near Chunchi waterfalls in Bangalore Rural
district, Karnataka (IA & AK pers. obs.). The wide distribution of C. gracilis in the heterogeneous landscape of
southern India may include several cryptic species and needs to be further investigated (Khandekar et. al. in press).
The apparent low species diversity of Cnemaspis in peninsular India is possibly an artefact of incomplete
sampling (Das & Bauer 2000; Giri et al. 2009a; Mirza et al. 2014; Khandekar et. al. in press). However, the
broadly-spaced type localities of the four opportunistically described species from peninsular India outside the
Western Ghats indicate the widespread distribution of this genus (Das & Bauer 2000; Giri et al. 2009b; Srinivasulu
et al. 2015). Discovery of Cnempaspis agarwali sp. nov. from the lower elevations of eastern Tamil Nadu
highlights that this genus could be more widespread than currently understood and that regions of peninsular India
outside the Western Ghats potentially harbour many more distinct undescribed lineages. Therefore, systematic
studies with fine scale sampling across peninsular India are needed to uncover the true diversity and distribution of
peninsular Indian Cnemaspis.
Acknowledgements
Thanks are due to Caleb Daniel, Ishan Agarwal, Krishna R. Chaitanya and Nikhil Gaitonde for helping in the
fieldwork. Tarun Karmakar for assisted in photographing type specimens; Rajesh Sanap and Zeeshan Mirza
provided topotypic photos of Cnemaspis gracilis. Ishan Agarwal and Nikhil Gaitonde helped with the map. I thank
Varad Giri at NCBS and Rahul Khot at BNHS for their help with the specimen registrations. Thanks to Ishan
Agarwal and two anonymous reviewers whose comments improved the manuscript.
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APPENDIX 1. Specimens examined
Cnemaspis ajijae: holotype, BNHS 2456 (adult male) from near Mahabaleshwar; paratype, BNHS 2457 (female) from
Panchgani, Satara district, Maharashtra, India. AK 321, AK 322, AK 323, AK 324, AK 325, AK 326, AK 327, AK 328,
AK 329, AK 330, AK 331, AK 332, AK 357, AK 429, AK 430, AK 431, AK 432, AK 433, AK 434, AK 435, AK 436, AK
437, AK 438 from Mahabaleshwar, Satara district, Maharashtra, India.
Cnemaspis amboliensis: holotype, BNHS 2458 (adult male); paratypes, BNHS 2459 (adult female), BNHS 2504, BNHS 2506,
BNHS 2507, BNHS 2508, and BNHS 2505 (all males) from Amboli, Sindhudurg district, Maharashtra, India. AK 181,
AK 190, AK 191, AK 192, AK 194 from Parpoli, near Amboli, Sindhudurg district, Maharashtra, India.
Cnemaspis flaviventralis: holotype, BNHS 2442, (adult male); paratypes, BNHS 2443 (male), BNHS 2444 (female) from
Amboli, Sindhudurg district, Maharashtra, India. AK 186, AK 187, AK 188, AK 189, AK 193, from Amboli, Sindhudurg
district, Maharashtra, India.
Cnemaspis girii: holotype, BNHS 2299 (adult male); paratypes, BNHS 2079, BNHS 2081 (males), BNHS 2078, BNHS 2080
(females) from Kaas Plateau, Satara district, Maharashtra, India. AK 439, AK 440, AK 441, AK 442 from Kaas Plateau,
Satara district, Maharashtra, India.
Cnemaspis goaensis: AK 358, AK 359, AK 360, AK 361, from Cancona, South Goa district, Goa, India. AK 195, AK 196, AK
197, AK 198, AK 199, VG 403, VG 404, VG 405, VG 406, from Sangli, Sangli district, Maharashtra, India.
Cnemaspis indraneildasii: AK 177, AK 178, AK 179, AK 180, AK 182, AK 183, AK 184, from Gund, Uttara Kanada district,
Karnataka; AK 185, from Ganeshgudi, Uttara Kanada district, Karnataka.
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Cnemaspis kolhapurensis: holotype, BNHS 1855 (adult male); paratypes, BNHS 1843, BNHS 1844, BNHS 1845, BNHS 1846
and BNHS 1847 from Dajipur, Kolhapur district, Maharashtra, India. AK 370, AK 371 from Dajipur, Kolhapur district,
Maharashtra, India.
Cnemaspis limayei: Holotype, BNHS 2454 (adult male); paratype BNHS 2455 (female) from Marutiwadi, near Phondaghat,
Sindhudurg district, Maharashtra, India.
Cnemaspis mahabali: holotype, BNHS 2449 (adult male); paratypes, BNHS 2502 and BNHS 2450 (adult males), BNHS 2451
and BNHS 2503 (adult females), from Bhira, near Tamhini, Pune district, Maharashtra, India.
Cnemaspis adii: BNHS 2464, and BNHS 2465 from near Hampi, Ballary district, Karnataka state, India.
Cnemaspis gracilis: CESG385 from near Chittur river, Palakkad District, Kerala, India. AK 133, AK 134, AK 135, AK 136,
AK 137, AK 138, AK 139, AK 140, AK 141, AK 142, AK 143, AK 144, from Valparai town, Coimbatore District, Tamil
Nadu, India.
Cnemaspis indica: BNHS 1252-10 (male), and BNHS 1252-1 (female) from Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu state, India. BNHS 2515,
BNHS 2516, from Ooty, Tamil Nadu state, India.
Cnemaspis littoralis: BNHS 1150 (male), from Nilambur, Malabar, Kerala state, India. BNHS 2517, BNHS 2518 from the
Kozhikode, Kerala state, India.
Cnemaspis kottiyoorensis: BNHS 2519 from Kannur, Kerala state, India.
Cnemaspis mysoriensis: AK569, AK570, AK 571 from National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS) campus, Bengaluru,
Bengaluru district, Karnataka, India.
Cnemaspis yercaudensis: NCBS-BH678 (adult male), and NCBS-BH677 (adult female) from near Grange resort, Yercaud
town, in the Shevaroys, Salem district, Tamil Nadu state, India. NCBS-BH679, BNHS 2533 (adult males), NCBS-BH680,
BNHS 2532, BNHS 2534 (adult females) from near Nallathambi resort, Kollimalai, Namakkal district, Tamil Nadu state,
India.
Cnemaspis otai: BNHS 2511, and BNHS 2512 from Vellore fort, Vellore district, Tamil Nadu state, India.
