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Morphological and molecular analyses reveal two new insular species of Cnemaspis Strauch, 1887 (Squamata, Gekkonidae) from Satun Province, southern Thailand.

ABSTRACT: We describe two new insular gecko species of the genus Cnemaspis from Tarutao, Adang, and Rawi islands in Satun Province, southern Thailand. The new species are distinguished from their congeners in having a unique combination of morphological, scalation, and color pattern characters, and by genetic divergence in the mitochondrial NADH dehydrogenase subunit 2 (ND2) gene. Cnemaspistarutaoensis sp. nov. was found to be a member of the C.kumpoli group, but is distinguished from all other species in that group by having 8-9 supralabials and 8 infralabials; 4-5 pore-bearing precloacal scales, pores rounded; 17-19 paravertebral tubercles randomly arranged; 27-29 subdigital lamellae under the fourth toe; subcaudal region yellowish, with smooth scales and a single enlarged median row; black gular markings in males and females; and 17.24-22.36% uncorrected pairwise sequence divergences. Cnemaspisadangrawi sp. nov. was found to be a member of the C.siamensis group, but is distinguished from all other species in that group by having 10 supralabials and 9 infralabials; 6-8 pore-bearing precloacal scales, pores rounded and arranged in a chevron shape; 23-25 randomly arranged, separated paravertebral tubercle rows; 26-28 subdigital lamellae under the fourth toe; subcaudal scales keeled, without enlarged median row; gular region, abdomen, limbs and subcaudal region yellowish in males only; gular marking absent in males and females; and 8.30-26.38 % uncorrected pairwise sequence divergences. Cnemaspistarutaoensis sp. nov. occurs in karst formations on Tarutao Island, while Cnemaspisadangrawi sp. nov. is found near granitic, rocky streams on Adang and Rawi islands.

SUBMITTER: Ampai N

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6614150 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:The rock-dwelling gecko genus Cnemaspis is one of the most species-diverse genera of gekkonid in Thailand. Earlier studies relied on morphological data to identify species, but cryptic morphology often obscured species diversity in Cnemaspis. In this study, an integrative taxonomic approach based on morphological characters and sequences of the mitochondrial NADH dehydrogenase subunit 2 (ND2) gene were used to clarify current taxonomy of the Cnemaspis siamensis complex and delimit a new species from Lan Saka District, Nakhon Si Thammarat Province, southern Thailand. Cnemaspis lineatubercularis sp. nov. is distinguished from other congeneric species by the combination of morphological characters: (1) maximum snout-vent length (SVL) of 40.6 mm (mean 38.8 ± SD 1.4, N = 12) in adult males and maximum SVL of 41.8 mm (mean 39.5 ± SD 1.9, N = 7) in adult females; (2) 8-9 supralabial and infralabial scales; (3) gular, pectoral, abdominal, and subcaudal scales keeled; (4) rostral, interorbitals, supercilium, palmar scales, and ventral scales of brachia smooth; (5) 5-6 small, subconical spine-like tubercles present on flanks; (6) 19-21 paravertebral tubercles linearly arranged; (7) 27-29 subdigital lamellae under the fourth toe; (8) 4-7 pore-bearing precloacal scales, pores rounded arranged in chevron shape and separated only in males; (9) one postcloacal tubercles each side in males; (10) ventrolateral caudal tubercles present anteriorly; (11) caudal tubercles restricted to a single paravertebral row on each side; (12) single median row of subcaudal scales keeled and lacking enlarged median row; and (13) gular region, abdomen, limbs and subcaudal region yellowish only in males. Genetically, the uncorrected pairwise divergences between the new species and their congeners in the C. siamensis group were between 15.53-28.09%. The new species is currently known only from granitic rocky streams at Wang Mai Pak Waterfall in the Nakhon Si Thammarat mountain range. Its discovery suggests that additional unrecognized species of Cnemaspis may still occur in unexplored areas of southern Thailand.

Project description:Three new species of Rock Geckos Cnemaspis lineogularis sp. nov., C. phangngaensis sp. nov., and C. thachanaensis sp. nov. of the chanthaburiensis and siamensis groups are described from the Thai portion of the Thai-Malay Peninsula. These new species are distinguished from all other species in their two respective groups based on a unique combination of morphological characteristics, which is further supported by mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) from the NADH dehydrogenase subunit 2 gene (ND2). Cnemaspis lineogularis sp. nov. is differentiated from all other species in the chanthaburiensis group by having a smaller maximum SVL 38 mm, 13 paravertebral tubercles, enlarged femoral scales, no caudal bands, and a 19.5-23.0% pairwise sequence divergence (ND2). Cnemaspis phangngaensis sp. nov. is differentiated from all other species in the siamensis group by having the unique combination of 10 infralabial scales, four continuous pore-bearing precloacal scales, paravertebral tubercles linearly arranged, lacking tubercles on the lower flanks, having ventrolateral caudal tubercles anteriorly present, caudal tubercles restricted to a single paraveterbral row on each side, a single median row of keeled subcaudals, and a 8.8-25.2% pairwise sequence divergence (ND2). Cnemaspis thachanaensis sp. nov. is distinguished from all other species in the siamensis group by having 10 or 11 supralabial scales 9-11 infralabial scales, paravertebral tubercles linearly arranged, ventrolateral caudal tubercles anteriorly, caudal tubercles restricted to a single paravertebral row on each side, a single median row of keeled subcaudal scales, lacking a single enlarged subcaudal scale row, lacking postcloaclal tubercles in males, the presence of an enlarged submetatarsal scale at the base if the 1st toe, and a 13.4-28.8% pairwise sequence divergence (ND2). The new phylogenetic analyses place C. punctatonuchalis and C. vandeventeri in the siamensis group with C. punctatonuchalis as the sister species to C. huaseesom and C. vandeventeri as the sister species to C. siamensis, corroborating previous hypotheses based on morphology. The discovery of three new karst-dwelling endemics brings the total number of nominal Thai Cnemaspis species to 15 and underscores the need for continued field research in poorly known areas of the Thai-Malay Peninsula, especially those that are threatened and often overlooked as biodiversity hot spots.

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Morphological and molecular analyses reveal two new insular species of Cnemaspis Strauch, 1887 (Squamata, Gekkonidae) from Satun Province, southern Thailand.

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