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| Cnemaspis muria
Riyanto, Munir, Martamenggala, Fitriana & Hamidy, 2019
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Abstract
We describe a new species of rock gecko of the genus Cnemaspis from Java, Indonesia, representing the first record of the genus for this Island. The new species was collected from the southern slopes of Gunung Muria, a dormant volcano in Central Java. The new species is easily distinguished from all congeners by having a maximum SVL of 58.1 mm in males and 56.9 mm in females; a pair of sharp conical tubercle clusters on the occiput; a warty bridge on the nuchal loop, extending from the upper tympanum and curving to the nape; dorsal tubercles not linearly arranged; 18–20 paravertebral tubercles; postmentals separated by one scale; gular, pectoral and abdominal scales, ventral scales of fore- and hindlimbs, and subcaudal scales keeled; no tubercles on lower flank; precloacal and femoral pores absent; enlarged submetacarpal scales present on the first digit of the manus; 38–40 ventral scales; 31–35 lamellae under fourth toe; two postcloacal tubercles on each side; enlarged median subcaudal scales row present; caudal tubercles encircling tail; and a sexually dimorphic ventral color pattern, with males having a yellow belly and females white and the ventral surface of the tail in males yellow proximally changing to white at mid-length, whereas in females, alternating black and white rings completely encircle the tail, which is black distally.
Keywords: Reptilia, Central Java, Cnemaspis, first record, Mount Muria, new species
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| FIGURE 3. Close up of the head of Cnemaspis muria sp. nov. showing a pair of sharpe conical tubercles clustered on the occiput (yellow arrows) and nuchal loop bearing a bridge of warts in a curved line from the upper tympanum to the nape (red arrows). Photo by A. Riyanto. |
Cnemaspis muria sp.nov.
Muria Rock Gecko
Cicak Batu Gunung Muria
Holotype. MZB. Lace. 14571 (Fig. 2A), an adult male from the river bank at Gunung Muria, Kajar (village), Dawe (District), Kudus (Regency), Jawa Tengah (Province), Indonesia (...; elevation 599 m asl), collected on 11 August 2018 by Awal Riyanto, Misbahul Munir, Rubby Alfian, Lianita Rarasandy and Rega D. Ganiarta.
Diagnosis. Cnemaspis muria sp. nov. differs from its congeners in Southeast Asian by the following combination characters: (1) maximum SVL of at least 58.1 mm in males and 56.9 mm in females, (2) a pair of sharpe conical tubercle clusters on occiput, (3) nuchal loop bearing a bridge of warts from the upper tympanum to the nape and made in a curved line, (4) dorsal tubercles not linearly arranged, (5) 18–20 paravertebral tubercles, (6) postmental separated by a single scale, (7) gular, pectoral, abdominal, subantebrachial, subbrachial, subfemoral, subtibial and subcaudal scales keeled, (8) no tubercles on lower flank, (9) both precloacal and femoral pores absent, (10) enlarged submetacarpal scales present at the base of first finger, (11) enlarged submetatarsal present at the base of first toe , (12) 38–40 ventral scales, (13) 31–35 lamellae under fourth toe, (14) two postcloacal tubercles on each side, (15) enlarged median subcaudal scale row present, (16) caudal tubercles encircling tail, (17) sexually dimorphic in color pattern: males with a yellow belly and the proximal subcaudal surfaces yellow becoming white distally, female with a white belly with proximal subcaudal surface of alternating white and black rings and black coloration distally.
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| FIGURE 2. Types specimens of Cnemaspis muria sp. nov. A. Holotype (MZB.Lace.14571), male. B. Paratype (MZB. Lace.14564), female. C. Paratype (MZB.Lace.14572), male. Photos A and C by A. Riyanto, B by A. I. S. Martamenggala. |
Etymology. The specific epithet muria is a noun in apposition and refers to Gunung Muria, the type locality of this species, and so far, the only known locality for the genus Cnemaspis in Java.
Distribution. Cnemaspis muria sp. nov. is only known from its type locality, in the southern foothills of Gunung Muria, a dormant volcano 1602 m in maximum elevation, located in the center of the Muria Peninsula of northern Central Java (Jawa Tengah). Gunung Muria represents the first, and so far, the only known locality for the genus Cnemaspis in Java (Fig. 7).
Natural history. Cnemaspis muria sp. nov. is a scansorial species known only from large granite rock microhabitats along rivers and coffee plantations (Fig. 8) on the southern slope of Gunung Muria at middle elevations, between 560 and 599 m. The holotype was caught at night, hanging on a tree root, 2 m above a dry river bank. The paratypes MZB. Lace. 14564 and MZB. Lace. 14572 were also caught at night, whereas the other paratypes were caught during the day hanging on shaded crevices of rocks. MZB. Lace. 14572 and four another specimens not collected were found foraging on rock walls, and sympatric with Cyrtodactylus sp.
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| The habitat type of Cnemaspis muria sp. nov. in Kajar village, Dawe District, Kudus Regency in Gunung Muria. (A) Large rocks in a small river. |
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| The habitat type of Cnemaspis muria sp. nov. in Kajar village, Dawe District, Kudus Regency in Gunung Muria. (B) Large rock in a coffee plantation.
Photo by A. I. S. Martamenggala.
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Awal Riyanto, Misbahul Munir, Andri I. S. Martamenggala, Yuli Sulistya Fitriana and Amir Hamidy. 2019. Hiding in Plain Sight on Gunung Muria: A New Species and First Record of Rock Gecko (Cnemaspis Strauch, 1887; Squamata, Gekkonidae) from Java, Indonesia. Zootaxa. 4608(1);155–173. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4608.1.9
