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Herpetological Review 49(1), 2018
NATURAL HISTORY NOTES 95
was being euthanized, when the small larva left the host (Fig. 1B). Although myiasis may be an important natural factor controlling frog populations, this ecological interaction is still barely under-stood, and should be deeper investigated.
We are grateful to IBAMA, COTEC, FAPESP projects and fellowships #01/13341-3, #06/56007-0, #07/52973-1, and CNPq #14530/2009-4. Valdeana Linard from Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia kindly identified the larvae.
FELIPE BITTIOLI R. GOMES, Faculdade de Etnodiversidade, Educaçao do Campo; Programa de Pós-Graduaçao em Biodiversidade e Conservaçao, Universidade Federal do Pará (UFPA), Rua Sen. José Porfírio, 2115, Sao Se-bastiao, 68.372-040, Altamira, Pará, Brazil (e-mail: [email protected]); ÁLVARO F. JUNQUEIRA BATISTA (e-mail: [email protected]) and ITAMAR ALVES MARTINS, Laboratório de Zoologia, Instituto Básico de Biociências, Universidade de Taubaté, Av. Tiradentes, 500, Jardim das Nações, Taubaté, CEP: 12030-180, Sao Paulo, Brazil (e-mail: [email protected]); ITALO MOURTHE, Programa de Pós-graduaçao em Biodiversidade e Conservaçao, UFPA, Rua José Porfírio, 2515, Esplanada do Xingu, 68.372-040, Altamira, Pará, Brazil (e-mail: [email protected]).
GASTROPHRYNE CAROLINENSIS (Eastern Narrow-mouthed Toad). ARBOREAL ACTIVITY. At 2030 h on 14 May 2017, we ob-served an adult Gastrophryne carolinensis on the trunk of a mid-sized buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis) approximately 1.3 m above ground at Joyce Wildlife Management Area (WMA), Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana, USA (30.39734°N, 90.42799°W; WGS 84). We watched the animal for several minutes while taking photographs and considering its odd location. The animal soon retreated into a small hole in the base split of the tree, just big enough to fit in. Subsequent visits yielded no G. carolinensis in the same spot. Weather was clear skies, calm winds, and around 23°C. It had not rained since the day before.
An additional observation of an arboreal G. carolinensis was made at 2045 h on 29 July 2017 at Indian Bayou WMA in the Atchafalaya Basin, St Landry Parish, Louisiana, USA (30.40641°N, 91.70936°W; WGS 84). This individual was crawling on the bark of a large oak (Quercus sp.) 2.5 m above the ground (not pictured); it had rained earlier that day. Interestingly, the animal was approximately 30 cm above a Hyla chrysoscelis (Cope’s Gray Treefrog). On both of these occasions, males were heard calling, but no indication of calling came from the tree-dwelling animals; no efforts were made to determine the sex of the individuals. However, calling has only been reported from near ground surface with standing water present (Etges 1987. Copeia 1987:910–923). Along with evidence that this time period is prime for foraging in this species (Anderson 1954. Tulane Stud. Zool. 2:15–46), we are left to conclude that these animals were foraging in the trees. Whether they returned to a terrestrial/subterranean or arboreal refuge is unknown.
Although we have observed several G. carolinensis up to 20–30 cm above the water/mud at Joyce WMA before on Taxodium distichum (Bald Cypress) trunks, knees, and other retreats, this is the first report of active G. carolinensis being so far above the ground for a species often described as being fossorial. Anderson (1954, op. cit.) mentioned finding one in a dead stump 2.4 m above ground, but this animal was presumably resting. Wright (1932. Life-histories of the Frogs of Okefenokee Swamp, Georgia. North American Salientia (Anura) No. 2. The Macmillan Co., New York. 497 pp.) remarked on the ability of this species to scale vertical surfaces. While arboreality is common in the family Microhylidae, we find it remarkable that this behavior is so poorly documented
Fig. 1. Myiasis in frogs of the Boana polytaenia group. a) Male Boana latistriata and (B) male B. stenocephala infested by Calliphoridae larvae.
Fig. 1. Arboreal activity of Gastrophryne carolinensis in southeast Louisiana, USA.
Herpetological Review 49(1), 2018
96 NATURAL HISTORY NOTES
within the scientific literature for North American species, despite its potential prevalence.
CODY D. GODWIN, Tennessee Tech University, Department of Biology, Cookeville, Tennessee 38501, USA (e-mail: [email protected]); OLIVER LJUSTINA (e-mail: [email protected]) and JAMES A. ERDMANN, Southeastern Louisiana University, Department of Biological Sciences, SLU Box 10736, Hammond, Louisiana 70402, USA (e-mail: [email protected]).
KALOPHRYNUS BALUENSIS (Kinabalu Sticky Frog). REPRO-DUCTION AND VOCAL DESCRIPTION. The microhylid frog genus Kalophrynus currently consists of 25 species (Frost 2017. Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference. Version 6.0 [accessed 14 Jun 2017], available at: http://research.amnh.org/herpetology/amphibia/index.html. American Museum of Natural History, New York) with 11 of them reported from the island of Borneo. Kalophrynus baluensis has a very restricted range, and is endemic to Mount Kinabalu in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo, ranging from 1000–1800 m elev. Kalophrynus baluensis is often found in leaf litter and we have observed them climbing as high as 1.2 m on trunks and shrubs. Currently, detailed de-scriptions of K. baluensis reproductive ecology and behavior are lacking (Inger and Stuebing 2005. A Field Guide to the Frogs of Borneo. Natural History Publications. Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia. 204 pp.). Furthermore, the current known range of vocalizations is limited to a single-noted nocturnal call (Malkmus and Riede 1996. Herpetozoa 9:151–155; Malkmus et al. 2002. Amphibians and Reptiles of Mount Kinabalu. A. R. G Gantner Verlag. König-stein, Germany. 424 pp.). Here, we present the first description of the breeding habits of K. baluensis, as well as a novel diurnal vocalization.
Kalophrynus baluensis was found in a tree buttress hole near the ground during a survey of Kinabalu Park (6.00745°N, 116.54215°E; WGS 84) on 22 June 2010. The buttress hole was approx. 40 x 20 cm wide, and was filled with ~150 eggs. In April 2016, several individuals (at one point as many as five) of K. baluensis were observed in a tree hole (hollow stump) created from a felled tree fern (Cyathea sp.) at approx. 1450 m elev. The ambient air temperature at this altitude averages 20°C (Kitayama 1992. Vegetatio 102:149–171). The tree fern was located near the upper loop road in the park, next to the Padahaan shelter. The top of the tree fern stump ranged between 115–120 cm from the ground. In April of 2016 the water column was 42 cm deep, and 51.5 cm deep including the leaf litter at the bottom. The temperature of the water was 20°C and it had a pH of 6. The internal diameter of the tree hole was 9 cm. Eggs were observed (Fig. 1A) but disappeared during embryonic development, likely due to predation, preventing measurements of these critical periods.
At 1356 h on 6 June 2017, the species was observed in amplexus in the same tree hole. The pair was filmed using a Nikon AW130 camera that was left unattended to reduce disturbance to the frogs. They were filmed for 0.5 h, from 1415 until 1445 h, as well as one hour under red light between 1900 and 2100 h. The male periodically came up to the surface of the water to emit short calls (see spectrogram, Fig. 1B, C) that differed from the typical advertisement call reported in the literature (Malkmus et al. 2002, op. cit.). We analyzed 25 of these contact calls (emitted by the same individual) and they averaged 57 ms in length (range: 43–70 ms) and consisted of a single note with an average mean dominant carrier frequency of 1.4 kHz (range: 1.3–1.6 kHz; Fig 1B, C). In comparison, the previously recognized advertisement
Fig. 1. a) Kalophrynus baluensis egg mass; B) spectrogram with oscil-logram underneath of K. baluensis contact call; and C) long spectro-gram of K. baluensis contact call. Call is identified between dashed lines.
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