Irvan Sidik

A new species of bent-toed gecko in the genus Cyrtodactylus Gray is described from Meru Betiri National Park, East Java, Indonesia, that belongs to the C. sadleiri complex within the C. darmandvillei species group. It is a medium-sized (SVL) species with adult males reaching 73.1 mm and females 71.6 mm; tubercles absent on upper arm, present on lower arm and along the ventrolateral fold; dorsal scales of upper arm keeled; 20–22 irregular dorsal tubercle rows at midbody; 30–34 paravertebral tubercles series; 32–40 ventral scale rows across belly; precloacal groove present with the enlarged pore-bearing scales arranged in the shape of an inverse ‘Y’ with the groove broadening posteriorly; males with 37–46 precloacofemoral pores; 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; subequal median subcaudal scales not transversely enlarged. The new species is genetically divergent from the other Javan congeners of the C. darmandvillei group with genetic divergences (p-distances) ranging from 11.6–14.6% for the mitochondrial ND2 gene.

Here, we describe a new species of Cyrtodactylus Gray from East Java (Dampit, Malang), Indonesia that belongs to the C. marmoratus species group. It is a medium-sized (SVL) species with adult males reaching 65.9 mm in males, 64.3 mm in females; characterized by dorsal tubercle absent on brachium, 17–18 dorsal tubercle rows, 38–40 rows of smooth ventrals, precloacal depression present in a deep groove, 15–17 precloacal pores in an inverse Y shape, 7–12 femoral pores, 3–5 poreless femoral scale separated precloacal and femoral pores in males, 2 pairs of post caudal tubercles, second post mentals separated by 5–7 scales, abrupt transition between rows of large and small postfemoral and ventral femoral scales, and no enlarged subcaudals. The new species is genetically divergent from the other Javan congeners of the C. marmoratus complex with genetic divergences (p-distances) ranging from 15.1–24.3% for the mitochondrial ND2 gene. This description brings the number of nominal species of bent-toed gecko in Java to six.

Two new species of dicroglossid frog of the Limnonectes kuhlii complex are described from southeastern Borneo, Indonesia. These new species were previously confused with L. kuhlii, whose type locality is Java, but recognized to represent genetically distinct lineages. Here, we describe them based on molecular and morphological characteristics. The two new species, Limnonectes maanyanorum sp. nov. and Limnonectes nusantara sp. nov., can be distinguished from named species of the Limnonectes kuhlii complex from Borneo, Java, Sumatra, and Peninsular Malaysia by significant genetic distances in partial sequences of the 16S rRNA gene and combinations of morphological characters. These descriptions are an initiation step in taxonomic work to encourage studies of the L. kuhlii complex in Kalimantan, Indonesia.

We describe a new species of Cyrtodactylus Gray from East Java (Maospati and Mojokerto), Indonesia that belongs to the C. sadlieri complex within the C. darmandvillei species group. It is a medium sized (SVL) species with adult males reaching 67.2 mm and females 59.0 mm, dorsal tubercles absent on brachium, present on antebrachium and along 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; 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; subequal median subcaudal scales not transversely enlarged. The new species is genetically divergent from the other Javan congeners of the C. darmandvillei groupwith genetic divergences (p-distances) ranging from 7.7–12.1% for the mitochondrial ND2 gene.

Tetralepis fruhstorferi is a snake currently only known to be endemic to a single active volcano complex of Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park in East Java of Indonesia. Its taxonomic identity and natural history are poorly known, as the most recent collection was in 1978 and limited to only a few collection records. We investigated two recently published surveys that have misidentified this species. This may indicate that T. fruhstorferi is still present in its type locality and our future surveys would focus on finding this species to assess its taxonomy and population status.

To reveal the diversity of Indonesian bent-toed geckos, we pay attention to Kalimantan (Borneo)—an island which has received less attention than other Indonesian islands such as Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, the Moluccas, and the Lesser Sunda archipelagos. About 30 years after Hikida (1990) described three new Cyrtodactylus from Borneo, four more species were described, namely C. limajalur and C. muluensis in 2019, and C. hantu and C. miriensis in 2021, all by Davis et al. Through examination of the collection at MZB and three addition specimens collected from Tawau, we found several undescribed species, one of which we describe here. This new species is easily differentiated from all other congeners by the combination of the following characters: maximum SVL of at least 65.8 mm; no tubercles on dorsal surface of upper arm; tubercles present in the ventrolateral body folds; 28–30 paravertebral tubercles; 17–20 longitudinal dorsal tubercle rows; 39–46 ventral scale rows at midbody; 17–19 subdigital lamellae on fourth toe; precloacal pit with 5–7 pores in males arranged in a wide Λ-shape but absent in females; no enlarged transverse median subcaudals; paired dark brown semilunar-shaped markings on the upper nape. Further study is needed to reveal its molecular phylogenetic position and biogeographical history.

A new species of natricine snake of the genus Rhabdophis is described from Northeast India. Morphologically the new species is similar to Rhabdophis himalayanus but it can be distinguished from it by lacking a nuchal groove and nuchal glands, being relatively smaller, and having a distinct neck, ventral, and subcaudal coloration. In overall coloration it resembles R. chrysargos, from which it is distinguished by several aspects of its morphology and genetic differences. The discovery of Rhabdophis bindi sp. nov. reveals that forested regions in the northeastern part of India needs further biological exploration.