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| Ranitomeya aquamarina Mônico, Koch, Dayrell, Moravec & Lima, 2025 |
Abstract
The genus Ranitomeya has 16 known species, and the last of them was described 13 years ago. The forests of the Juruá River basin are known for their enormous vertebrate diversity, despite being one of the least sampled regions in the entire Amazonia. Our recent expeditions to the region resulted in the discovery of a Ranitomeya species with blue-green dorsal stripes and quite peculiar behavior. Here, it is described as a new species using morphological, morphometric, advertisement call, natural history, and genetic data. This new species is strongly nested within the R. vanzolinii clade, with interspecific p-distances ranging from 2.94 to 3.91%, and it was confirmed in all the delimitation methods used. It differs from its closest relatives mainly by (i) its size (male SVL 15.4–17.7 mm, n = 8; female SVL 17.3–18.5 mm, n = 5), (ii) its unique color pattern that is metallic pale yellowish green to metallic pale turquoise-green dorsal stripes pattern, limbs metallic chrome with dark carmine spotting), (iii) presence of a conspicuous sulfur yellow spot on the dorsal surface of the thighs, (iv) tadpoles with posterior tooth rows P1 > P2 > P3 in all stages, head translucent brownish and lack of emarginate lateral papillae, and (v) its advertisement call (composed of 21–45 notes, call duration of 647–1,424 ms, note rate of 28–36 notes/s and dominant frequency of 4,996–6,288 Hz).
Key words: Advertisement call, Amphibia, biodiversity, integrative taxonomy, morphology, phylogeny
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| Adult individuals of Ranitomeya aquamarina sp. nov. in natural posture A holotype, male INPA-H 47568 B paratype, female INPA-H 47569 C paratype, male MPEG 45223 D paratype, male INPA-H 47570 E Paratype, female MPEG 45222. Photographs A.T. Mônico. |
Ranitomeya aquamarina sp. nov.
Chresonymy. Ranitomeya sp. Envira – Twomey et al. (2023);
Ranitomeya aff. sirensis – Lima et al. (2024).
Vernacular names. Suggested English name: Metallic poison frog.
Suggested Spanish name: Rana venenosa metálica.
Suggested Portuguese name: Rãzinha-venenosa-metalizada.
Etymology. The specific epithet ‘aquamarina’ is a Latin adjective that means “pale blue-green”, referring to the coloration of the dorsal-lateral stripes of the new species. Another aspect that led us to use this epithet was the metallic blue and greenish tones of the stripes, which resemble seawater. Additionally, aquamarine is a gemstone, which philosophically conveys the value of this discovery.
Alexander Tamanini Mônico, Esteban Diego Koch, Jussara Santos Dayrell, Jiří Moravec and Albertina Pimentel Lima. 2025. An Amazonian Hidden Gem: A New Metallic-colored Species of Ranitomeya (Anura, Dendrobatidae) from Juruá River Basin forests, Amazonas State, Brazil. ZooKeys. 1236: 51-83. DOI: doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1236.146533
