Sphaenorhynchus mirim Caramaschi, Almeida & Gasparini, 2009, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Caramaschi, Ulisses
name: Almeida, Antonio De Pádua
name: Gasparini, João Luiz
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2009
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Amphibia
Anura
Hylidae
Sphaenorhynchus
Sphaenorhynchus mirim

description: Sphaenorhynchus mirim sp. nov.
(Figures 4–6; Table 1)
Holotype: MNRJ 50641. Male (Figure 4). Lagoa Nova (17o57’89”S, 40o25’80”W), Fazenda Gemada, Municipality of Mucurici, State of Espírito Santo, Brazil, collected by J.L. Gasparini and A.P. Almeida, in 12–13 October 2002.
Paratopotypes: MNRJ 50642–50655, males, collected with the holotype.
Diagnosis: A member of the genus Sphaenorhynchus in the sense of Faivovich et al. (2005), characterized by the following combination of characters: (1) size small for the genus, SVL 15.7–18.2 mm in males; (2) snout truncate in dorsal view, rounded, slightly acute in profile; (3) tympanum concealed; (4) vocal sac developed, single, subgular, extending to the chest and entering the arms, whithout longitudinal lateral folds; (5) vomerine teeth absent; (6) absence of a black line from the tip of snout to eye; (7) absence of distinctive longitudinal white spot under the eye; (8) absence of white stripe or brown lines on dorsolateral region.
Comparisons with other species: The small size distinguish S. mirim sp. nov. (SVL 15.7–18.2 mm in males) from all other species of the genus (combined SVL 20.5–41.0 mm in males, 21.3–43.6 mm in females), except S. carneus and S. pauloalvini (combined SVL 14.2–20.3 mm in males, 16.2–23.8 mm in females). The absence of canthal and/or dorsolateral dark or light lines in S. mirim sp. nov. separates this species from all other species of the genus, except S. carneus, S. dorisae, and S. planicola. The new species is distinguished from S. carneus by the snout truncate in dorsal view, rounded, slightly acute in profile (snout rounded from above and in profile in S. carneus), less developed webbing on hands and feet, and geographic distribution associated to the Atlantic Forest (geographic distribution associated to the Amazon Forest in S. carneus). Additionally, S. mirim sp. nov. is distinguished from S. dorisae and S. planicola by the absence of developed white dermal folds on posterior surfaces of forearms and hindlimbs and absence of white anal flaps (present in S. dorisae and S. planicola), and by the absence of triangular appendage on heel (present in S. dorisae); from S. pauloalvini, by the snout rounded, slightly acute in profile (truncate in S. pauloalvini) and concealed tympanum (tympanum evident in S. pauloalvini).
Description of the holotype: Body robust, ovoid (Fig. 4). Head small, broader than long, HL 78.2% of HW, HL 24.4% of SVL, HW 31.3% of SVL. Snout truncate in dorsal view, rounded, slightly acute in profile (Fig. 5 A–B). Nostrils large, at the tip of the snout, directed forward; internarial distance wide, shorter than the eye to nostril distance and the eye diameter, and equal to the upper eyelid width. Eyes large, slightly protruding; eye to nostril distance slightly smaller than the eye diameter; interorbital distance large, UEW 46.4% of IOD, END and ED respectively 57.1% and 60.7% of IOD. Canthus rostralis evident, rounded; loreal region slightly oblique, convex. Tympanum concealed. Mouth opening ventral; choanae large, rounded, anterior, widely separated; vomerine teeth absent; tongue large, wide, not notched behind; vocal slits large, opening on lateral sides of tongue. Vocal sac very developed, single, subgular, extending to chest and entering the arms, without longitudinal lateral folds. Arms robust, forearm slightly hypertrophied; dermal fold along the forearm and elbow appendix absent. Hand large (Fig. 5 C), fingers robust, in crescent order of size, I <II <IV <III; webbing formula, I 2 – 2 II 1 – 2 III 2 – 1 IV; free parts of fingers fringed; finger tips with developed, rounded adhesive disks, first finger disk slightly smaller than the others; subarticular tubercles large, rounded; supranumerary tubercles absent; outer metacarpal tubercle large, rounded; inner metacarpal tubercle absent; a whitish brown, finely granulose nuptial pad at the base of the first finger. Legs robust, thigh length slightly larger than tibia length; sum of thigh and tibia lengths 84.7% of SVL. Foot large (Fig. 5 D), foot length larger than thigh and tibia lengths, 61.9% of SVL. Toes robust, in crescent order of size, I <II <III <V <IV; webbing formula, I 1 – 2 – II 1 – 2 III 1 – 2 + IV 2 – 1 V; toe tips with developed, rounded adhesive disks, slightly smaller than the finger disks; subarticular tubercles large, rounded; supranumerary tubercles absent; inner metatarsal tubercle large, ovoid; outer metatarsal tubercle absent; a weak dermal fold along the inferior surface of tarsus; calcar appendix absent. Dorsal surfaces and vocal sac smooth; venter and thigh seat pad granulose; anal flap absent; a small translucent vestige of tail present.
Measurements of the holotype: SVL 17.6; HL 4.3; HW 5.5; IND 1.3; END 1.6; ED 1.7; UEW 1.3; IOD 2.8; THL 7.5; TL 7.4; FL 10.9; 3FD 0.6; 4TD 0.7.
Color: In life, dorsum and limbs uniformly bright green (Fig. 6), with white dots scattered without forming defined pattern; vocal sac and belly whitish green; fingers and toes yellowish green. Iris silvery golden, with few black vermiculations.
Variation: Examined specimens are congruent respecting the morphological characters and color. Although considered adult males by the extensive development of the vocal sacs, all specimens have small remnants of tail. Range, mean, and standard deviation of the measurements of 11 males are in Table 1.
Etymology: The specific name, a noun in apposition derived from the Tupi-Guarani language of Brazilian Indians, is allusive to the small size of the new species.
General remarks. The type locality of both new species is located in the Northern Extreme Microregion of the State of Espírito Santo, with medium altitudes of 250 m above sea level, flat and wavy topography, and tropical climate. Originally the region was covered by Atlantic Rain Forest, which was devastated in the early 20th Century. Nowadays, the region has the smaller rain fall index in the State and is dedicated to coffee, manioc, and papaya cultures, besides extensive cattle farming.
Both new species were obtained in a large pond (Fig. 7), flooded by the rain, where the water is black due to dissolved humic acid. The pond had approximately 20,000 m 2, with maximum depth of about one meter. Large portions of the pond had emergent vegetation (mainly Juncaceae) and others were extensively covered by floating vegetation (mainly Pistia sp., Araceae). The pond is located in an open artificial grassland for cattle raising. Specimens were collected at night when calling perched on the floating vegetation.
In the same habitat of the new species of Sphaenorhynchus were collected Dendropsophus elegans (MNRJ 51134–51136), Dendropsophus minutus (MNRJ 50663–50666), and Scinax alter (MNRJ 51137–51139).
description: Published as part of Caramaschi, Ulisses, Almeida, Antonio De Pádua & Gasparini, João Luiz, 2009, Description of two new species of Sphaenorhynchus (Anura, Hylidae) from the State of Espírito Santo, Southeastern Brazil, pp. 34-46 in Zootaxa 2115 on pages 40-43, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.187954