Publication Date

December 2015

Comments

ZooKeys is published by Pensoft, http://zookeys.pensoft.net/. Reprinted here with permission.

Abstract

Tadpoles of Hyperolius castaneus and H. jackie were found in the Nyungwe National Park in Rwanda and adjacent areas. Tadpoles of both species were identified by DNA-barcoding. At the shore of a bog pool three clutches of H. castaneus of apparently different age, all laid on moss pads (Polytrichum commune, Isotachis aubertii) or grass tussocks (Andropogon shirensis) 2–5 cm above the water level, were found. One clutch of H. castaneus was infested by larval dipterid flies. The most recently laid clutch contained about 20 eggs within a broad egg-jelly envelope. The eggs were attached to single blades of a tussock and distrib­uted over a vertical distance of 8 cm. A pair of H. castaneus found in axillary amplexus was transported in a plastic container to the lab for observation. The pair deposited a total of 57 eggs (15 eggs attached to the upper wall of the transport container, 42 eggs floated in the water). Embryogenesis of the clutch was monitored in the plastic container at 20 ± 2 °C (air temperature) and documented by photos until Gosner Stage 25. The description of the tadpole of H. castaneus is based on a Gosner Stage 29 individual from a series of 57 tadpoles (Gosner stages 25–41). The description of the tadpole of H. jackie is based on a Gosner Stage 32 individual from a series of 43 tadpoles (Gosner stages 25–41). Egg laying behavior and embryogenesis are unknown for H. jackie. The labial tooth row formula for both species is 1/3(1) with a narrow median gap of the tooth row. Variation in external morphology was observed in size and labial tooth row formula within the species. With the tadpole descriptions of H. castaneus and H. jackie, 36 tadpoles of the 135 known Hyperolius species have been described, including five of the eleven Hyperolius species known from Rwanda.

Disciplines

Biology

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