Cyrtodactylus otai Nguyen, Le, Pham, Ngo, Hoang, Pham & Ziegler, 2015, sp. nov.

Cyrtodactylus otai sp. nov.

(Figs. 2, 3)

Holotype. IEBR A.2015.26 (HB 2014.8), adult male, collected on 11 April 2014 by T. Q. Nguyen, C. T. Pham, M. D. Le, and H. N. Ngo (hereafter TQN et al.), in karst forest near Hang Kia Village (20o44.347’N, 104o53.392’E, elevation 1232 m a.s.l.), Hang Kia Commune, within Hang Kia—Pa Co NR, Mai Chau District, Hoa Binh Province, northwestern Vietnam.

Paratypes. IEBR A.2015.27 (HB.2014.7), adult male, ZFMK 96721 (HB 2014.9), adult male, IEBR A.2015.28 (HB 2014.10), adult female, the same data as the holotype; VNMN A.2015.60 (HB.2014.1), adult female, collected on 10 April 2014 by TQN et al., in karst forest near Hang Kia Village (20o43.502’N, 104o54.292’E, elevation 981 m a.s.l.) within Hang Kia—Pa Co NR, Hoa Binh Province, northwestern Vietnam.

Diagnosis. The new species can be distinguished from other members of the genus Cyrtodactylus from Indochina by a combination of the following characters: medium size (SVL up to 90.6 mm); ciliaria 26–30, dorsal tubercles in 11–14 irregular rows; 38–43 ventral scale rows; ventrolateral folds present without interspersed tubercles; precloacal pores absent in females, 7–8 in males, in a continuous row; enlarged femoral scales absent; 2 or 3 postcloacal tubercles; subcaudals slightly enlarged; lamellae under toe IV 19–22; head and neck with dark blotches; nuchal loop discontinuous; five or six brown dorsal bands between limb insertions.

Description of holotype. Adult male, snout-vent length (SVL) 86.8 mm; body elongate (AG/SVL 0.43); head distinguished from neck, elongate, depressed (HL/SVL 0.28, HW/HL 0.73, HH/HL 0.41); loreal region concave; snout long (SE/HL 0.40), round anteriorly, longer than diameter of orbit (OD/SE 0.67); snout scales small, round, granular, larger than those on frontal and parietal regions; eye large (OD/HL 0.27), pupils vertical; upper eyelid fringe with spinuous scales; ear oval–shaped, small (ED/HL 0.1); rostral wider than high with a medial suture, bordered by first supralabial, nostril and supranasal on each side; supranasals separated from each other by two small scales; nares round, surrounded by supranasal, rostral, first supralabial, and three postnasals; mental triangular, slightly narrower than rostral (RW 4.2 mm, MW 3.9 mm); postmentals two, enlarged, in broad contact posteriorly, bordered by mental anteriorly, first infralabial laterally, and an enlarged chin scale posteriorly; supralabials 9/9; infralabials 9/9.

Dorsal scales granular; dorsal tubercles round, conical, present on occipital region and back, each surrounded by 8–9 granular scales, in 12 or 13 irregular longitudinal rows at midbody; ventral scales smooth, medial scales 2 or 3 times larger than dorsal scales, round, subimbricate, largest posteriorly, in 42 or 43 longitudinal rows at midbody; lateral skin folds distinct without tubercles; gular region with homogeneous smooth scales; 180 ventral scales between mental and cloacal slit; precloacal groove absent; enlarged femoral scales absent; two rows of enlarged scales present in posterior region of pore-beared scales; femoral pores absent, precloacal pores 7, in a continuous row, pore-bearing scales enlarged.

Fore and hind limbs moderately slender (ForeaL/SVL 0.16, CrusL/SVL 0.19); forelimbs dorsally covered by few slightly developed tubercles; hindlimb dorsally covered by distinctly developed tubercles; fingers and toes without distinct webbing; each claw bordered by two scales; subdigital lamellae: finger I 13 (with 4 basally broadened lamellae), finger II 16 (5), finger III 19 (7), finger IV 19 (7), finger V 18 (6), toe I 14 (5), toe II 18 (7), toe III 20 (8), toe IV 22 (9), toe V 21 (8).

Tail complete, longer than snout–vent length (TaL 97.6 mm, Tal/SVL 1.12); postcloacal tubercles 3/3; dorsal tail base with distinct tubercles; subcaudals slightly enlarged, flat, smooth.

Coloration in preservative. Ground color of dorsal head and back greyish cream; a narrow dark brown band present in snout region; dorsal head with dark brown marking, oval, arched and lozenge shape; a dark stripe extending from posterior corner of eye rearwards to above tympanum, forming a broken nuchal loop posteriorly; labials brown with cream sutures; neck with some large dark blotches, forming a discontinuous band; dorsum with six transverse dark brown bands between fore- and hind-limb insertions, edged in white anteriorly and posteriorly; dorsal surface of fore and hind limbs with dark blotches and bars; tail greyish cream with nine dark brown bands; chin, throat, chest, belly and lower limbs cream; ventral surface of tail grey with seven dark brown bands. For coloration in life see Fig. 2.

Species Cyrtodactylus otai sp. nov. Cyrtodactylus bobrovi sp. nov.

TABLE 4. Scalatiοn οf Cyrtodactylus otai sp. nov. and Cyrtodactylus bobrovi sp. nov. frοm Hοa Binh Prοvince, vietnam (M = male, F = female, min = minimum, max = maximum, οther abbreviatiοns defined in the text).

Cyrtodactylus otai sp. nov. Cyrtodactylus bobrovi sp. nov.

Species

IEBR ΖFMK IEBR IEBR vNMN Min‾Max IEBR vNMN IEBR vFM Min‾Max

A.2015.26 96721 A.2015.27 A.2015.28 A.2015.60 (N = 5) A.2015.29 A.2015.61 A.2015.30 2015.1 (N = 4)

Hοlοtype Paratype Paratype Paratype Paratype Hοlοtype Paratype Paratype Paratype Sex M M M F F M M F F SL 9⁄9 9⁄10 10⁄11 10⁄10 11⁄10 9‾11 11⁄10 9⁄9 11⁄10 10⁄10 9‾11 IL 9⁄9 10⁄10 10⁄11 10⁄11 10⁄11 9‾11 10⁄10 10⁄10 10⁄10 9⁄9 9‾10 N 5⁄5 4⁄5 5⁄5 5⁄5 4⁄4 4‾5 5⁄5 5⁄5 5⁄5 4⁄4 4‾5 IN 1 0 0 0 0 0‾1 0 0 0 0 0 CIL 26‾27 26‾27 28‾29 28‾30 26‾28 26‾30 35‾37 35‾36 36‾37 33‾34 33‾37 PM 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 GSΤ 8‾9 8‾9 9‾10 8‾9 9‾10 8‾10 9‾10 9‾10 9‾10 9‾10 9‾ 10 v 41 ‾43 38‾40 40‾42 42‾43 38‾40 38‾43 40-42 44‾45 40‾43 40‾41 40‾45 SLB 183‾185 184‾186 186‾188 185‾187 188‾191 183‾191 212‾215 206‾207 196‾197 195‾197 195‾215 EFS 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 FP 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 PP 7 8 7 0 0 7‾8 5 5 0 0 5 PAΤ 3⁄3 3⁄3 2⁄3 3⁄3 2⁄2 2‾3 2⁄3 1⁄1 2⁄2 2⁄2 1‾3 ΤubR 12‾13 13‾14 12‾13 13‾14 11‾13 11‾14 12‾14 12‾ 13 13-14 12 -13 12‾14 NSF

4 + 9 3+9 4+9 3+10 4+10 12‾14 4+10 4+10 4+11 4+11 14‾ 15 II 5 + 11 5+10 5+10 5+11 5+10 15‾16 5+12 5+11 5+11 5+11 16‾ 17 III 7 + 12 6+12 6+11 5+13 6+12 17‾19 6+14 6+14 6+14 5+13 18‾ 20 Iv 7 + 12 5+11 6+12 6+12 7+12 16‾19 6+14 7+13 6+15 5+14 19‾ 21 v 6 + 12 5+11 6+11 6+11 5+12 16‾18 6+13 6+11 6+12 6+12 17‾19 NSΤ

5+9 4+9 5+9 5+8 4+10 13‾14 4+10 4+10 5+10 4+10 14‾ 15 II 7 +11 6+11 6+11 6+11 6+11 17‾18 6+12 6+12 7+12 6+12 18‾ 19 III 8 +12 7+ 13 7+12 7+12 6+13 19‾20 6+13 6+12 6+15 6+12 18‾ 21 Iv 9 +13 8+12 8+12 8+14 7+12 19‾22 8+14 8+14 6+15 6+15 21‾ 22 v 8 +13 7+14 7+14 8+13 6+14 20‾21 7+16 7+14 7+15 8+14 21‾23

Sexual dimorphism and variation. The females differ from the males in the absence of precloacal pores and hemipenial swellings at the tail base. There is a dark brown blotch in the middle of the neck of the holotype and one paratype (VNMN A.2015.60) but absent in three other paratypes. For other morphological characters see Tables 3, 4.

Distribution. Cyrtodactylus otai is currently known only from the type locality, Hang Kia—Pa Co Nature Reserve in Hoa Binh Province, Vietnam (Fig. 6).

Etymology. We name this new species in honor of Prof. Dr. Hidetoshi Ota, Institute of Natural and Environmental Sciences, University of Hyogo, Japan, in recognition of his outstanding contributions towards gecko systematics. As common names we suggest Ota’s Bent-toed Gecko (English), Thạch sùng ngón ô-ta (Vietnamese).

Natural history. Specimens were found at night between 18:40 and 22:00, on limestone cliffs and in rock crevices, approximately 0.3–2.0 m above the ground, at elevations between 980 and 1230 m a.s.l. The surrounding habitat was disturbed evergreen forest of medium/small hardwoods and shrubs on the mountain slope and corn fields in the valleys. The humidity was approximately 76–90% and the air temperature ranged from 20 to 29o C. One female (IEBR A.2015.28) contained two eggs (12.9–14.4 mm in length and 8.7–9.4 mm in width).