Tadpoles of three western African frog genera: Astylosternus Werner, 1898, Nyctibates Boulenger, 1904, and Scotobleps Boulenger, 1900 (Amphibia, Anura, Arthroleptidae)

By

Griesbaum , Frederic
Petersen, Mareike
Barej, Michael F
Schmitz, Andreas
Rohrmoser, Mariam
Dahmen, Matthias
Mühlberger, Fabian
Liedtke, H. Christoph
Gonwouo, Nono Legrand
Doumbia, Joseph
Rödel, Mark-Oliver

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2019

Original Publication

Zoosystematics and evolution

Volume

95

Series / Issue

Issue: 1

Pages

133--160

Subjects

Barcoding , Larval stages , Lower Guinea forest , rainforest , Upper Guinea forest , western Africa

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia Pensoft

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zse.95.32793

 

Abstract

Herein, we describe the tadpoles of six Astylosternus species, A.fallax, A.cf.fallax, A.laurenti, A.montanus, A.perreti, A.ranoides, and Scotoblepsgabonicus, and redescribe the tadpoles of A.batesi, A.diadematus, A.laticephalus, A.occidentalis, A.rheophilus, and Nyctibatescorrugatus. All Astylosternus tadpoles are adapted to torrent currents and share a long, oval body, slightly flattened in lateral view, with very long muscular tails with narrow fins. The jaws are massive, serrated, and often show a tooth-like medial projection (fang) in the upper jaw. Body proportions of Astylosternus tadpoles are extremely similar. The best characters to distinguish species might be life coloration and potentially the shape of labial papillae. The tadpole of Scotoblepsgabonicus is similar to Astylosternus and differs only slightly by a narrower body with a shorter and rounder head. The upper jaw of Scotobleps carries two or three lateral fangs instead of one medial one. The tadpole of Nyctibatescorrugatus is easily distinguishable from the other two genera on the basis of their very long, eel-shaped body and tail and the bluish-black color.