Sphaenorhynchus botocudo 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 botocudo

description: Sphaenorhynchus botocudo sp. nov.
(Figures 1–3; Table 1)
Holotype: MNRJ 50625. Male (Figure 1). 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 50626–50640, 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 traits: (1) size intermediate for the genus, SVL 23.9–29.3 mm in males; (2) snout truncate in dorsal view, acute in profile; (3) tympanum concealed; (4) vocal sac developed, single, subgular, extending to the anterior region of chest, but not entering the arms, without longitudinal lateral folds; (5) vomerine teeth present; (6) presence of a black line from the tip of snout to eye, delimiting the canthus rostralis; (7) a distinctive longitudinal white spot under the eye; (8) a white stripe delimited above and below by clear brown lines, from the posterior corner of eye to the groin.
Comparisons with other species: The presence of a distinctive longitudinal white spot under the eye separates S. botocudo sp. nov. from all other species in the genus, consisting in a putative autapomorphy of the new species. The medium size (SVL 23.9–29.3 mm in males) and the geographic distribution distinguish S. botocudo sp. nov. from the large sized S. lacteus (SVL 19.2–41.0 mm in males, 31.8–43.6 mm in females of S. lacteus; distribution associated to the Atlantic Forest in S. botocudo sp. nov., Amazonian distribution in S. lacteus) and from S. platycephalus (SVL 33.0 mm and unknown distribution in S. platycephalus; Harding 1991); additionally, these species are separated by the tympanum concealed in S. botocudo sp. nov. (tympanum evident in S. lacteus) and by the presence of a white stripe delimited above and below by clear brown lines from the posterior corner of eye to the groin in S. botocudo sp. nov. (absent in S. lacteus) and snout truncate in dorsal view and vomerine teeth present (snout round in dorsal view and vomerine teeth absent in S. platycephalus; Harding 1991). On the other hand, the medium size also distinguishes the new species from the small sized species of the genus (S. bromelicola, S. carneus, S. pauloalvini, and S. planicola; combined SVL 14.2–27.6 mm in males, 16.2–29.8 mm in females); moreover, S. botocudo sp. nov. presents a black line from the tip of snout to the eye and a white stripe delimited above and below by clear brown lines from the posterior corner of eye to the groin (absent in S. carneus and S. planicola), presence of vomerine teeth and distribution associated to the Atlantic Forest (vomerine teeth absent and Amazonian distribution in S. carneus), absence of dermal folds and dermal appendages (white dermal folds on forearms and feet, and dermal appendages on anal region and calcars in S. planicola), and snout acute in lateral view and tympanum concealed (snout truncate in profile and tympanum evident in S. pauloalvini). The medium size associates S. botocudo sp. nov. to the species of intermediate size for the genus (S. caramaschii, S. dorisae, S. orophilus, S. palustris, S. prasinus, and S. surdus; combined SVL 21.0– 35.6 mm in males, 26.4–38.0 mm in females); from S. caramaschii and S. surdus, the new species is distinguished by the truncate snout in dorsal view (mucronate in S. caramaschii and S. surdus) and a wide dorsolateral white stripe delimited above and below by clear brown lines from the posterior corner of eye to the groin and only a black line on subcanthal area (narrow white line delimited below by a black line from the tip of snout to the groin in S. caramaschii and S. surdus), besides the widely separated geographic distributions; from S. dorisae, the new species is separated by the presence of a black line on subcanthal area and white and clear brown stripes on dorsolateral region (both absent in S. dorisae) and absence of dermal folds and dermal appendages (white dermal folds on forearms and feet, and developed white triangular appendages on elbow, knee, and anal region in S. dorisae), besides the disjunct geographic distribution (occurrence associated to the Atlantic Forest in S. botocudo sp. nov., Amazonian distribution in S. dorisae); from S. orophilus, S. palustris, and S. prasinus, the new species is distinguished by the wide dorsolateral white stripe delimited above and below by clear brown lines from the posterior corner of eye to the groin (absent in S. prasinus; narrow white line delimited below by a narrow black line in S. orophilus and S. palustris), absence of dermal folds and appendages (white dermal folds and appendages present in S. prasinus and S. palustris), and from S. orophilus by the truncate snout in dorsal view and vocal sac developed, without longitudinal lateral folds (snout mucronate and vocal sac small, with longitudinal lateral folds in S. orophilus).
Description of the holotype: Body robust, ovoid (Fig. 1). Head small, broader than long, HL 76.1% of HW, HL 23.9% of SVL, HW 31.4% of SVL. Snout truncate in dorsal view, acute in profile (Fig. 2 A–B). Nostrils small, lateral, directed forward; internarial distance wide, shorter than the eye to nostril distance and the eye diameter, and slightly smaller than the upper eyelid width. Eyes small, slightly protruding; eye to nostril distance equals the eye diameter; interorbital distance large, UEW 54.3% of IOD, END and ED 77.1% of IOD. Canthus rostralis evident, rounded; loreal region oblique, slightly convex. Tympanum concealed. Mouth opening ventral; choanae large, rounded, anterior, widely separated; vomerine teeth in two small, contiguous groups, between and slightly behind the choanae; tongue large, wide, not notched behind; vocal slits large, opening on lateral sides of tongue. Vocal sac developed, single, subgular, extending to the anterior region of chest, but not entering the arms, without longitudinal lateral folds. Arms robust, forearm slightly hypertrophied; a crenulated fold, formed by white tubercles, along the lateral–inferior border of forearm; elbow appendix absent. Hand large (Fig. 2 C), fingers robust, in crescent order of size, I <II <IV <III; webbing formula, I 2 + – 2 II 1+ – 2+ III 1 + – 1½ IV; free parts of fingers fringed; finger tips with developed, rounded adhesive disks, first finger disk smaller than the others; subarticular tubercles small, rounded; supranumerary tubercles present, approximately aligned at the base of each finger; outer metacarpal tubercle small, divided in two ovoid parts approximately of the same size; inner metacarpal tubercle absent; a whitish, smooth nuptial pad at the base of the first finger. Legs robust, thigh length slightly smaller than tibia length; sum of thigh and tibia lengths 97.1% of SVL. Foot large (Fig. 2 D), foot length larger than thigh and tibia lengths, 67.1% of SVL. Toes robust, in crescent order of size, I <II <V <III <IV; webbing formula, I 1 – 1 ½ II 1 – 1 ½ III 1 – 1 IV 1 ½ – 1 V; toe tips with developed, rounded adhesive disks, slightly smaller than the finger disks; subarticular tubercles small, rounded; supranumerary tubercles developed, approximately aligned at the basis of the toes; inner metatarsal tubercle large, ovoid; outer metatarsal tubercle absent; a weak dermal fold poorly crenulated along the inferior surface of tarsus; calcar appendix absent. Dorsal surfaces and vocal sac smooth; belly and thigh seat pad granulose; anal flap present, poorly developed; a small black vestige of tail present.
Measurements of the holotype: SVL 28.0; HL 6.7; HW 8.8; IND 2.0; END 2.7; ED 2.7; UEW 1.9; IOD 3.5; THL 13.5; TL 13.7; FL 18.8; 3FD 1.1; 4FD 1.0.
Color: In life, dorsum of head yellow and dorsum of body and arms yellowish green (Fig. 3 A); dorsum of thighs greenish with small red dots; a black line from the tip of snout to eye, delimiting the canthus rostralis; a distinctive longitudinal white spot under the eye; a white stripe delimited above and below by clear brown lines, from the posterior corner of eye to the groin. Vocal sac grey. Venter whitish green, with granules on belly and thighs seat pads white. On the other color extreme (Fig. 3 B), general color dark grey, which emphasizes the white spot under eye and the dorsolateral white stripe. Iris golden with black reticulations.
In preservative, general color of dorsal surfaces cream with thin black punctuations; vocal sac grey; belly and thighs seat pads cream with white granules; subcanthal black line, white spot under eye, and dorsolateral white stripe maintained.
Variation: Besides the extensive color variation, examined specimens are congruent respecting the morphological characters. 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 16 males are in Table 1.
Etymology: The specific name, a noun in apposition, is given after the natives that inhabited the region of the type locality at the time of colonization of Brazil, the “botocudos.” The name for this Indians was given by the Portuguese in allusion to the wooden disk or plug, the “botoque”, worn in their lower lip and ears. The disk, made of the especially light and carefully dried wood of the “barriguda” tree (Chorisia ventricosa, Bombacaceae), may attain 12 cm in diameter, given an odd appearance to its user. The “botocudos” were great warriors and were never dominated by the Portuguese invaders. The lineages of the “botocudos” were considered extinct by 1957 (Ribeiro 1982).
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 35-40, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.187954