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| Amolops shihaitaoi Wang, Li, Du, Hou & Yu, 2022 |
Abstract
It was supposed that the current records of Amolops ricketti might be a species complex composed of multiple species. In this study, on the basis of wide sampling, we found that the records of A. ricketti from Yunnan, China, and northern Vietnam actually represent a cryptic species based on morphological and molecular evidence. Amolops shihaitaoi sp. nov. can be distinguished from other members of the A. ricketti species group by its moderate body size (SVL 35.5‒37.3 mm in males and 39.2‒45.7 mm in females); white spines on the temporal region, loreal region, snout, and lips in breeding males but absent in females; overlapping heels; tibiotarsal articulation reaching tip of snout; indistinct longitudinal glandular folds on the skin of the shoulders; presence of supernumerary tubercles below the base of fingers II‒IV, distinct pineal body; presence of vomerine teeth; and absence of vocal sacs. Phylogenetic analysis supports that the new species is sister to Amolops yatseni and the populations from Jingxi, Guangxi and Lào Cai, Vietnam previously reported as A. yatesni also belong to it. Additionally, our results indicate that more cryptic species may exist within the A. ricketti species group, implying that more studies are needed to achieve a complete understanding of the species diversity of this group.
Keywords: Amolops shihaitaoi sp. nov., Amolops yatseni, new species, Northern Vietnam, Yunnan
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| Views of the holotype of Amolops shihaitaoi sp. nov. (GXNU YU000353) in life. |
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| A, B Amolops shihaitaoi sp. nov. A head of female holotype GXNU YU000353 B hand of male paratype GXNU YU000483 C, D A. yatseni (reproduced from Lyu et al. 2019) C head of female paratype SYS a003981 D hand of male holotype SYS a006807. |
Amolops shihaitaoi sp. nov.
Chresonymy: Amolops ricketti in Yang (1991), Inger et al. (1999), Ngo et al. (2006), Yang and Rao (2008), Nguyen et al. (2009), Stuart et al. (2010), Grosjean et al. (2015);
Amolops yatseni in Wu et al. (2020);
Amolops tonkinensis in Poyarkov et al. (2021).
Diagnosis:
The new species is assigned to genus Amolops and further to the A. ricketti group morphologically based on the absence of dorsolateral folds, presence of circummarginal groove on disc of the first finger, disc of first finger distinctly smaller than that of second finger, absence of tarsal fold and tarsal glands, and presence of nuptial pads with conical nuptial spines on the first finger in breeding male.
Amolops shihaitaoi sp. nov. can be distinguished from other members of A. ricketti group by having a combination of the following characters: body size moderate (SVL 35.5‒37.3 mm in males and 39.2‒45.7 mm in females); white spines on temporal region, loreal region, snout, and lips present in breeding males but absent in females (Fig. 5); presence of small, dense, translucent or white spines on the dorsal skin of the body, dorsal and dorsolateral skin of limbs; heels overlapping; tibiotarsal articulation reaching tip of snout; longitudinal glandular folds on the skin of shoulders indistinct; presence of supernumerary tubercles below the base of fingers II‒IV, pineal body distinct; presence of vomerine teeth; and absence of vocal sacs.
Etymology: Specific epithet shihaitaoi is named after Prof. Hai-Tao Shi from Hainan Normal University for his outstanding contribution to the herpetology of China.
We suggest the common English name “Hekou torrent frog”
and Chinese name “Hé Kǒu Tuān Wā (河口湍蛙)”.
Jian Wang, Jing Li, Lingyun Du, Mian Hou and Guohua Yu. 2022. A Cryptic Species of the Amolops ricketti Species Group (Anura, Ranidae) from China–Vietnam Border Regions. ZooKeys. 1112: 139-159. DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.1112.82551
