SEAVR 2018: 030‐031
ISSN : 2424‐8525
Date of publication: 08 April 2018
Hosted online by ecologyasia.com

Developmental aberration in Leptobrachium lumadorum
from Davao Oriental Province, Philippines
Antonio N. LORENZO II & Arvin C. DIESMOS
antoniolorenzo6792@gmail.com (Lorenzo), arvin.diesmos@gmail.com (Diesmos)

Observer: Antonio N. Lorenzo II.
Photographs by: Antonio N. Lorenzo II.
Subject identified by: Antonio N. Lorenzo II, Arvin C. Diesmos.
Location: Mount Hamiguitan Range Wildlife Sanctuary, Municipality of San Isidro, Davao Oriental Province,
Mindanao Island, Philippines (6.731583ºN, 126.1660833ºE; WGS 84).
Elevation: 1013 metres.
Habitat: Two‐metre wide stream in old secondary growth forest.
Date and time: 07 July 2016, noon.
Identity of subject: Mindanao Litter Frog larvae, Leptobrachium lumadorum (Amphibia: Anura: Megophryidae).
Description of record: We collected tadpoles ofL. lumadorum during a herpetological survey ofMount Hamiguitan Range Wildlife Sanctuary. Of
the total sample of 103 tadpoles that werecollected during the field survey, one individual(NMPH EL–72; Gosner Stage 28) was found tohave a dextral location of the spiracle and asinistral orientation of the vent tube (Figs. 1A and1B).
In contrast, the rest of L. lumadorum tadpoles in
the collection exhibit sinistral spiracle and dextral
vent tube; such spiracle and vent tube position istypical in tadpoles of the genus Leptobrachium(Grosjean, 2001, Inger, 1983).
NMPH EL–72 exhibited no other peculiarity
compared with three other tadpoles in the lotcollected from the same site, and are of the same
Gosner Stage. All, including the aberrant tadpole,
have a labial tooth row formula of 6(2–6)/6(1–5)
and have accessory tooth rows and serrated
massive jaw sheaths with non–emarginate oral
discs. Prior to collection, this tadpole appeared tobehave normally along with its conspecifics inspite of the observed aberration.

Fig. 1.

© Antonio N. Lorenzo II

Remarks: Leptobrachium lumadorum (Brown, Siler, Diesmos & Alcala, 2009) is a megophryid frog endemic to thePhilippines. This species is known to inhabit primary and secondary lowland and montane forests and freshwater
swamps on the islands of Dinagat, Mindanao, and Basilan (Diesmos et al, 2015). This frog is commonly seen on
the forest floor sitting on leaf litter or on top of rocks, roots, and buttresses near mountain streams, puddles orponds (Brown et al. 2009). However, a larval description for this anuran is still lacking as well as with its
congenerics in Palawan and Mindoro Islands.

30References:Brown, R., Siler, C., Diesmos, A. & Alcala, A. (2009). Philippine frogs of the genus Leptobrachium (Anura:Megophryidae): Phylogeny‐based species delimitation, taxonomic review, and descriptions of three new species.
Herpetological Monographs 23: 1‐44.
Diesmos, A., Watters, J., Huron, N., Davis, D., Alcala, A., Crombie, R., Afuang, L., Gee – Das, G., Sison, R., Sanguila,M., Penrod, M., Labonte, M., Davey, C., Leone, E., Diesmos, M., Sy, E., Welton, L., Brown, R. & Siler, C. (2015).
Amphibians of the Philippines, Part I: Checklist of the Species. Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences
62(20): 457–539.
Grosjean, S. (2001). The tadpole of Leptobrachium (Vibrissaphora) echinatum (Amphibia, Anura, Megophryidae).
Zoosystema 23(1):143‐156.
Inger, R. (1983). Larvae of Southeast Asian species of Leptobrachium and Leptobrachella (Anura: Pelobatidae). In
Rhodin & Miyata [eds.], Advances in Herpetology and Evolutionary Biology, pp 13–22. Museum of Comparative
Zoology, Cambridge.

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