Cyrtodactylus pecelmadiun, Riyanto & Sidik & Hamidy & Grismer, 2025

Riyanto, Awal, Sidik, Irvan, Hamidy, Amir & Grismer, L. Lee, 2025, A New Species Belonging to the Cyrtodactylus sadleiri Complex (Squamata: Gekkonidae) Has Been Discovered in East Java, Indonesia, Zootaxa 5570 (1), pp. 81-99 : 87-90

Cyrtodactylus pecelmadiun sp. nov.

English Common Name: Pecelmadiun’s Bent-toed Gecko

Indonesia Common Name: Cecak Jari Bengkok Pecel Madiun

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:2DDA0FF0-1D85-4E10-ADDB-77C43549C178

( Figs. 5 & 6 )

Holotype. MZB Lace 15689 , adult male ( Fig. 5A ) from Tanjungsepreh Village , Maospati District, Magetan Regency, East Java Province, Indonesia (7.59701S; 111.4141E; 137 m asl), collected 9 May 2023 by Awal Riyanto and Asrael Racho.

Paratypes. MZB Lace 15690 ( Fig. 5B ), adult male, MZB Lace 15691 , sub adult female from Pekukuhan Village , Mojosari, Mojokerto Regency, East Java Province, Indonesia (7.51245S; 112.527E; 60 m asl), collected 11 March 2023 by Awal Riyanto, Richo Firmansyah, Nanang Kamaludin and Faturrahman; MZB Lace 15692 , female, from Tanjungsepreh Village , Maospati District, Magetan Regency, East Java Province, Indonesia (7.59619S; 111.41171E; 137 m asl), collected 12 March 2023 by Awal Riyanto, Richo Firmansyah, Nanang Kamaludin and Faturrahman Sidiq; MZB Lace 15693 , 15694 , 15695 , 15696 and 15697 , males, same data as holotype .

Diagnosis. The following combination of characters distinguishes C. pecelmadiun sp. nov. from all other congeners: adult males reaching 67.2 mm SVL and females 59.0 mm SVL; dorsal tubercles absent on brachium, present on antebrachium and within the ventrolateral fold; 18–20 irregular dorsal tubercle rows at midbody; 26–28 paravertebral tubercles per series; 28–34 ventral scale rows across belly; precloacal groove present with 32–37 precloacofemoral pores in males, absent in females; enlarged femoral and precloacal scales arranged in a continuous series; abrupt transition between the enlarged femorals and the adjacent scales on the posterior margin of the thigh; and subequal median subcaudal scales not transversely enlarged.

Description of holotype. Moderate-sized species, 64.5 mm SVL; head triangular in dorsal view, distinct from neck; tubercles present on the occiput and dorsolateral of head; head long (HL/SVL 0.28), rather wide (HW/SVL 0.20), head wider than high (HW/HH 1.67); snout elongate (SL/HL 0.39); canthus rostralis rounded, distance between eye-to-naris greater than the diameter of orbit (EE/OD 1.26); eye large (OD/HL 0.25); supraciliaries extending from anterior-ventral to posterior-dorsal edge of eye, longest at the anterior-dorsal part; ear opening small, dorsoventrally oblong, and oriented about 45 degrees to apex of rictus.

Rostral rectangular, incompletely divided dorsally by a Y-shaped shallow groove, wider than hight (RW/RH 1.54), bordered posterolaterally by first supralabials and naris, and dorsally by three postrostral scales; naris oval, bordered anteriorly by rostral, anterodorsally by 1 postrostral, posteriorly by three scales in right side and by three scales in left side, and ventrally by first supralabials; orbit separated from supralabials by two rows of small lorilabial scales; 11 supralabial scales to angle of jaw in right side, 10 in left side; 8 infralabial scales right side, 7 in left side. Mental triangular, slightly wider than long (ML/MW 0.76); bordered laterally by first infralabials, posteriorly by a pair of enlarged first postmentals, which contact medially over about 58.7% of their length; second postmentals ovoid, about one-third of the first postmentals and separated from each another by 4 granular scales; gular sales small, granular, grading to slightly smaller size posteriorly.

Body elongate (AGL/SVL 0.43); dorsal scales small and granular, interspersed with relatively high, keeled to rounded tubercles irregularly arranged in 20 longitudinal rows at midbody; ventrolateral body folds with blunt conical tubercles; 26 paravertebral tubercles in each row. Ventral scales larger than dorsal scales, smooth, flat, imbricate, 30 ventral scale rows between ventrolateral body folds across the belly; enlarged scales immediately anterior to the cloacal opening absent.

Forelimbs relatively short (ForL/SVL 0.15); dorsal scales on forelimbs and upper arms tri-keeled, forelimbs bearing tubercles, antebrachium lacking tubercles; palmar scales flat, smooth, subimbricate; digits well develop, inflected at basal interphalangeal joints, digits slightly narrower distal to inflection; subdigital lamellae transversely expanded along the entire length of each digit, but slightly compressed in both length and width immediately distal to interphalangeal inflection; subdigital lamellae on digits of manus: I(16), II(17), III(16), IV(15), V(14); claws well developed, sheathed by 2 dorsal scales and 1 ventral scale.

Hindlimbs longer than forelimbs (TibL/SVL 0.18); covered dorsally by granular scales interspersed with larger, keeled tubercles; anterioroventral scales of thigh rounded, smooth, flat, subimbricate to juxtaposed; enlarged femoral and precloacal scales arranged in a continuous series, the largest in femoral part; precloacal groove present; 32 precloacofemoral pores in Ʌ-shape ( Figure 6 ); ventral scales on tibia smooth, flat, subimbricate; plantar scales slightly raised; digits well developed, inflected at basal metapodial-phalangeal joints, digits slightly narrower distal to inflection; subdigital lamellae transversely expanded along the entire length of each digit, but slightly compressed in both length and width immediately distal to interphalangeal inflection; subdigital lamellae on digits of pes: I(12), II(16), III(16), IV(18), V(17); claws well developed, sheathed by 2 dorsal scales and 1 ventral scale.

Tail regenerated, 85.9 mm length; on the original part segmented, dorsally with keeled tubercles arranged in transverse rows forming whorls and original part of subcaudal without enlarged transverse plates; three postcloacal tubercles (spur) on each side in both sexes.

Coloration in life. Ground coloration overlain with brown markings widely edged in black. On the flanks, tubercles edging the brown; dorsal markings are frequently bright-yellow, sharply contrasting with the adjacent color. The anterior supraciliaries are also yellow with some black areas. The rostral, mental, narial region, and labials are mostly charcoal to black, with yellow spots on the rostral and narial regions, and the labials are marked by widely spaced distinctive yellow spots. Dorsally, paired subcircular blotches cover the nape and extend to the original tail where they transform into irregularly shaped bands; seven paravertebral blotches between axilla to groin and five on original tail; on the flanks thin blotches bordered by a thin yellow line occur between paired blotches. The iris is greenish yellow, edged in yellow and bearing a black reticulum.

Variation. Males have precloacofemoral pores and a precloacal groove, whereas females do not. The last one-half to the tail in the holotype is regenerated but complete in paratype (MZBLace 15690) ( Fig. 5B ). Detailed variation of mensural and meristic characters of the type series are presented in Table 4 .

Etymology. The specific epithet is a noun in apposition “pecel” and ‘madiun”. Pecel is a traditional chili sauce that is originally from East Java, and made from chili pepper, peanuts, garlic, lime, and palm sugar with various boiled vegetables (such as spinach, water spinach, casava leaves, papaya leaves, long beans, bean sprouts, or sesban flowers) and peanut brittle or anchovies as the secondary ingredients, and served in a plate made from banana leaves. Madiun refers to the name of the city that is famous for this traditional pecel culinary delight.

Comparison. Cyrtodactylus pecelmadiun sp. nov. differs statistically (p<0.05) from is sister species C. petani in the morphometric characters of SVL, AGL, HL, HW, HH, SL and OD, and the meristic characters DorT and VS. From more distantly related species in Java it differs from C. marmoratus , it can be differentiated by smaller adult body size in SVL (67.2 mm versus 85.7 mm), fewer ventral scales (30–35 versus 34–46), precloacal groove in Ʌshape (versus a deep inverse Y-shape), and fewer precloacofemoral pores (32–35 versus 24–52) and fewer subdigital lamellae under the fourth toe (17–18 versus 20–24 lamellae). It differs from C. semiadii in having a larger adult body size (known maximum SVL 67.2 mm versus 51.4 mm), precloacofemoral pores (versus precloacal pores), and abrupt transition (versus lacking). It differs from C. belanegara in having a larger adult body size (known maximum SVL 67.2 mm versus 53.8 mm), fewer ventral scales (28–34 versus 37–40, and precloacofemoral pores (versus discontinued precloacal and femoral pores).

It differs from Cyrtodactylus batucolus Grismer, Onn, Grismer, Wood & Belabut, 2008 from Malaysia by having fewer precloacofemoral pores (32–37 versus 43–46) and a smaller maximum adult SVL (67.2 mm versus 75.2 mm). From C. seribuatensis Youmans & Grismer, 2006 from Malaysia it differs in having fewer precloacofemoral pores (32–37 versus 40–44) and a smaller maximum adult SVL (67.2 mm versus 75 mm). Detailed comparison among other species of the C. sadleiri complex are presented in Table 5 .

Distribution and natural history. Cyrtodactylus pecelmadiun sp. nov. was collected in the lowlands of East Java. The type series was collected from a variety of habitats, i.e. paddy field embankments, a pile of building tiles left over from the building near the bushes and gardens in the village ( Figure 1B & C ). All were found no more than 40 cm above the ground. Given these observations, we consider this species as a habitat generalist (sensu Grismer et al. 2021).

Figures

FIGURE 1. A. Map of Java illustrating the distribution of the members of Cyrtodactylus darmanvillei group and the C. marmoratus group. B. Type locality of C. pecelmadiun sp. nov. at Maospati, East Java. C. Paratype recorded at Mojokerto, East Java. Photographs by A. Riyanto.

FIGURE 5. Living specimens of the Javanese Cyrtodactylus, (A) adult male of Cyrtodactylus pecelmadiun sp. nov. from Maospati district, Magetan regency, East Java (holotype, MZB.Lace.15689), (B) adult male from Mojokerto, East Java (paratype, MZB.Lace.15690). Photos by A. Riyanto.

FIGURE 6. Precloacal depression and enlarged precloacofemoral scales of Cyrtodactylus pecelmadiun sp. nov. Illustration by A. Riyanto. Scale = 5 mm.