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| Allobates albiventris Souza, Ferrão, Kaefer, Cunha-Machado, Melo-Sampaio, Hanken & Lima. 2023 |
Abstract
We use integrative taxonomy to formally describe a candidate species of nurse frog of the genus Allobates from southwestern Brazilian Amazonia. The new species nests within a clade that has been defined historically as A. gasconi, but it has an 8.8–11.0% genetic distance for 16S to samples from the type locality of A. gasconi. The new species differs from congeners mainly by males having a translucent white throat and vocal sac; advertisement calls with a duration of 42–60 ms, two notes separated by an inter-note interval of 8–23 ms, and a dominant frequency of 4,953–6,331 Hz; and exotrophic tadpoles with 2 pyramidal papillae on each end of the upper lip and 10–13 pyramidal and cylindrical papillae surrounding the lower lip. Phylogenetic analyses based on mitochondrial DNA suggest that A. gasconi sensu lato as defined previously represents a complex of as many as seven species, corroborating studies that have shown high levels of cryptic diversity within Allobates.
Keywords: Advertisement call, biodiversity, integrative taxonomy, morphology, phylogeny, reproductive behavior, State of Acre, tadpole
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| Coloration of the vocal sac and throat of Allobates albiventris sp. nov. (A, B) and A. gasconi sensu stricto (C, D). Photographs by J.R.D. Souza (A, B) and A.P. Lima (C, D). |
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| Coloration in life of Allobates albiventris sp. nov. from Manoel Urbano and Rio Branco, State of Acre, Brazil. A–C Male holotype, SVL 14.6 mm; D–F Female, INPAH45051, SVL 16.8 mm; G–I Male, MNRJ 91679, SVL 16.0 mm; J–L Female, MPEG44613, SVL 16.0 mm; M Male, uncollected; N Male, INPAH45044, SVL 15.3 mm; O Male, uncollected. Photographs by J.R.D. Souza (A–F, J–O) and P.R. Melo-Sampaio (G–I). |
Allobates albiventris sp. nov.
Diagnosis: Allobates albiventris sp. nov. differs from other Allobates by the following combination of characters: males in life with a throat and vocal sac translucent white with melanophores uniformly distributed and a white belly; females in life with throat white centrally and posteriorly, translucent laterally and anteriorly, chest and belly white; small adult size, SVL 14.3–16.4 mm (n = 22) in males and 15.6–17.8 mm (n = 16) in females; one subarticular tubercle on finger IV; finger III of adult males weakly swollen; disc of finger II approximately the same width as the distal phalanx; interdigital membranes present between toes II, III and IV; paired digital scutes white; advertisement call with a duration of 42–60 ms and comprising two notes (the first note is smaller than the second), with an inter-note interval of 8–23 ms and dominant frequency of 4,953–6,331 Hz; exotrophic tadpoles with 2 pyramidal papillae on each end of the anterior labium, 10–13 pyramidal and cylindrical papillae on the posterior labium, LTRF = 2(2)/3(1), gap in row A-2 ≈ 40% of A-1, relative length P-1 > P-2 > P-3, and P-3 ≈ 65% of P-1.
Etymology: The specific epithet albiventris is a combination of two Latin words, albus (white) and ventris (venter), in reference to the pale ventral coloration of the new species. Vernacular names: pale-ventered nurse frog (English), rana cuidadora de vientre blanco (Spanish), and rãzinha cuidadora de ventre branco (Portuguese).
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| Habitat and natural history of Allobates albiventris sp. nov. A Typical understory of open ombrophilous forest at the type locality in Manoel Urbano, State of Acre, Brazil. B Beginning of courtship behavior, in which a male is leading a female to an oviposition site. C Female (unvouchered) positioning herself to jump to the adaxial surface of the leaf, where the male is vocalizing. D Mating pair (unvouchered) in cephalic amplexus. E Mating pair (unvouchered) on the leaf, with the female in oviposition and the male silent. F Recently deposited clutch, with the smallest clutch recorded (17 eggs). G The largest clutch recorded (31 eggs). H Mating pair on a leaf, where a male vocalizes while a female deposits a second clutch on the same leaf. I Male INPAH45045 carrying 10 tadpoles on his back. Photographs by J.R.D. Souza. |
Jesus R. D. Souza, Miquéias Ferrão, Igor Luis Kaefer, Antonio Saulo Cunha-Machado, Paulo Roberto Melo-Sampaio, James Hanken and Albertina Pimentel Lima. 2023. A New Pale-ventered Nurse Frog (Aromobatidae: Allobates) from southwestern Brazilian Amazonia. Vertebrate Zoology. 73: 647-675. DOI: 10.3897/vz.73.e103534
