Amazophrynella vote Ávila, Carvalho, Gordo, Kawashita-Ribeiro & Morais, 2012, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Ávila, Robson W.
name: Carvalho, Vinicius T.
name: Gordo, Marcelo
name: Kawashita-Ribeiro, Ricardo A.
name: Morais, Drausio H.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2012
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Amphibia
Anura
Bufonidae
Amazophrynella
Amazophrynella vote

description: Amazophrynella vote sp. nov.
(Figure 1)
Holotype. UFMT-A 11138, adult male, collected on Fazenda São Nicolau (09°50’43.3”S, 58°13’10.6”W), municipality of Cotriguaçu, Mato Grosso state, central Brazil, on 10 December 2009, by Domingos J. Rodrigues. Paratopotypes. UFMT-A 11136, 11145–11150, 11152–11155 (adult females), UFMT-A 6914, 11137, 11139–11144, 11151, 11156–11157 (adult males) collected between 8–15 December 2009 by Ricardo A. Kawashita-Ribeiro.
Paratypes. UFMT-A 4412 (adult male), UFMT-A 4401, 4407–4411 (juveniles not sexed), collected on Fazenda Maracatiá (09°10’45”S, 60°37’50”W), municipality of Aripuanã, Mato Grosso state, Brazil, between 08/ 11/2006 to 08/06/2007 by Robson W. Ávila and Ricardo A. Kawashita-Ribeiro; UFMT-A 7852–7853 (juveniles), collected on Mineração Dardanelos, municipality of Aripuanã, Mato Grosso state, on 01/10/2008 by Joseana Freitas and Drausio H. Morais; INPA-H 12256 and 12331 (juveniles), INPA-H 12255, 12342–12343, 12366 (adult females) and INPA-H 12267 (adult male), collected on Cachoeirinha, Rio Madeira, municipality of Manicoré, Amazonas state, Brazil, between 10 to 22/09/2004 by Camila Ferrara, Rafael Bernhard and Miguel T. U. Rodrigues; INPA-H 12326 (adult female), collected on Lago do Açai, Rio Aripuanã, municipality of Novo Aripuanã, Amazonas state, Brazil, on 10/09/2004 by Camila Ferrara and Rafael Bernhard; INPA-H 21558 (adult male), collected on Parque Estadual do Guariba, municipality of Manicoré, Amazonas state, Brazil, on 8/11/2008 by Davi Pantoja; INPA-H 27412, 27417–27419, 27421–27423, 27425–27426 (juveniles), collected on Parque Nacional Nascentes do Lago Jari, Tapauá municipality, Amazonas state, Brazil, on on 16/08/2010 by Vinícius Tadeu de Carvalho, Henrique Luiz Condrati and Shanna Bittencourt; UFMT-A 13680–13681 (juveniles), collected on Reserva Biológica Jaru, Ji-Paraná municipality, Rondônia state, Brazil, by Christine Strüssmann.
Diagnosis: The new species is unambiguously embedded in the genus Amazophrynella (Fouquet et al., 2012a) given it possesses the following characters: small size, hind limbs well developed, absence of paratoid glands, tympanum, vocal slits and cranial crests, skin finely granulose, and presence of longitudinally elliptical subarticular tubercles on hands. The new species is characterized by: 1) medium size for the genus (15.2–19.3 mm SVL in males, 20.2–25.7 mm SVL in females); 2) snout rounded in dorsal view, acute in lateral view; 3) subrostral crest present, not converging anteriorly; 4) finger I shorter than finger II; 5) dorsum covered with tubercles; 6) color in life light brown; 7) ventral color pattern reddish brown, with presence of small white dots and brown spots and absence of large blotches or ocelli.
Comparisons with other species: Amazophrynella vote sp. nov. is promptly distinguished from the two other Amazophrynella nominal species by the absence of a bright ventral pattern with larger blotches and ocelli. Furthermore, the new species can be differentiated from the two nominal Amazonian species by the following characters (those of the compared species in parenthesis): from A. bokermanni by smaller SVL with males reaching 19.3 mm and females 25.7 mm SVL (maximum SVL of males and females 22 and 28 mm respectively; Izeckson, 1993b), subrostral crest not converging anteriorly (converging anteriorly), head longer than wide (equal size), tibia length/SVL 0.46 ± 0.02, ranging from 0.41–0.5 (0.50 ± 0.01, range 0.48–0.54), and finger I shorter than finger II in males (finger I longer than finger II in males of A. bokermanni) and for the pale ventral coloration with absence of large blotches and ocelli (venter bright colored with presence of blotches and ocelli; Figure 2B); from A. minuta by slightly larger SVL (males 15–18 mm and females 17–24 mm SVL of A. minuta; Rodriguez and Duellman, 1994), eyes larger, representing 40% of head length (eye diameter/head length 30%; Figure 3 a), snout rounded in dorsal view (pointed snout – Melin, 1941; Rodriguez and Duellman, 1994; Figure 3 a), reddish brown coloration with absence of larger blotches in ventral surfaces (venter bright orange with larger blotches; Figure 2C and Figure 3 c), absence of spiny tubercles on dorsum and limbs (prickly warty skin on upper surfaces, especially on the sides and limbs; Melin, 1941; Figure 3 b) and absence of a triangular swelling laterally on neck (laterally on the neck a triangular swelling; Melin, 1941; Figure 3 a).
Description of the holotype. Body robust, head triangular, longer than wide, representing 35.2% of the SVL; snout rounded in dorsal view, acute in lateral view; nostrils lateral, situated near the tip of the snout; internarial distance about the same size of eye diameter and upper eyelid width, smaller than eye-to-nostril distance; tympanum absent; tongue lanceolate. Forearms robust; hand with slender and not fringed fingers, fingers free; finger tips slightly enlarged; nuptial pad not observed; relative length of fingers I<II<IV<III; subarticular tubercles single, rounded; inner metacarpal tubercle small, about the same size of subarticular tubercles; outer metacarpal tubercle rounded, large; supernumerary tubercles present, small; Thigh length about the same size of tibia length, representing 43% of SVL each one; tarsal length about 27% of SVL. Foot with slender toes, basally webbed with toe tips slightly enlarged; web vestigial between toes; relative length of toes I<II<V<III<IV; subarticular tubercles rounded, larger than that of fingers; inner metatarsal tubercle elliptical, large; outer metatarsal tubercle small, rounded. Dorsal surfaces, including arms and legs covered by rough tubercular skin; ventral surfaces covered by granular tubercles.
Measurement of the holotype (in millimeters): SVL 17.5, HL 6.2, HW 5.4, IND 1.6, ESD 2.8, END 2.1, ED 1.6, IOD 5.3, UEW 1.5, THL 7.5, TL 7.7, TAL 4.8, FL 5.9.
Coloration. In life, the dorsal color pattern is light brown, sometimes with a distinct thin vertebral line. Color of the flanks light brown, with many small whitish punctuations that extend in lips, arms and legs (Figure 2A). Dorsal coloration of arms and legs with black bands with transversal dark brown bars. Iris golden. The venter is reddish brown, with dark spots irregularly distributed. The throat and chest are dark brown. Limbs predominantly reddish brown, except from the palms and soles that are dark brown (Figure 2A). In preservative, dark colors are almost the same as described in life. The reddish ventral coloration became pale brown (Figure 1).
Variation. There is a sexual dimorphism, with females attaining greater SVL (Table 1). Adult males have a pigmented throat. Some specimens from Aripuanã municipality and Parque Nacional Nascentes do Lago Jari have the dorsal coloration light gray instead of light brown as noted in the specimens from Cotriguaçu municipality and from Manicoré municipality (Figure 4). The vertebral line is present in about 50% of the specimens beginning at the level of eyes and extending until the cloaca.
Natural history. Active individuals were collected by day in leaf liter near water bodies inside sazonal flooding forests in Aripuanã and Cotriguaçu municipalities. Individuals from Colniza municipality were collected in marsh areas near small streams in primary forests. The specimens were found in November 2006, June 2007 and October 2008 in Aripuanã municipality, November 2007 in Colniza and December 2009 in Cotriguaçu municipality. Amplexus (axilar) and oviposition were observed in captive specimens in December 2009 (rainy season) at Fazenda São Nicolau at Cotriguaçu municipality. The pigmented eggs were laid in gelatinous strands (Figure 5), is similar to that observed in the A. minuta group of Izeckson (1993a, b) and in populations of A. cf. minuta from Ecuador (Duellman and Lynch, 1969), which includes A. minuta, A. bokermanni and Dendrophryniscus leucomystax.
Conservation. The populations of Amazophrynella vote sp. nov at Mato Grosso state are under a strong pressure from Hydroelectric Power Plants, selective logging and mineral exploration in localities like Aripuanã municipality. However, recent conservation initiatives, such as the creation of reserves like the "Igarapés do Juruena" State Park on the Colniza municipality and Fazenda São Nicolau at Cotriguaçu municipality could help in the maintenance of populations. Specimens from Rondônia and Amazonas state were collected in conservation units, such as the Reserva Biológica de Jaru at Ji-Paraná municipality, and Parque Estadual do Guariba at Manicoré municipality, Parque Nacional Nascentes do Lago Jari at Tapauá and Beruri municipalities.
FIGURE 2. Dorsal (left) and ventral (right) view of a live male specimens of: A. Amazophrynella vote sp. nov. from Cotriguaçu municipality, Mato Grosso state, Brazil; B. Amazophrynella bokermanni from Juruti municipality, Pará state, Brazil; C. Amazophrynella minuta from Rio Yaquerana, Peru (Peru-Brazil border; 0 6o 19’03”S 73o 09’28”W); D. Amazophrynella aff. minuta from Manaus, Amazonas state, Brazil.
Distribution. Amazophrynella vote sp. nov. is known from three localities at northern Mato Grosso: Aripuanã municipality, Parque Estadual Igarapés do Juruena at Colniza municipality and Fazenda São Nicolau at Cotriguaçu municipality. At the Amazonas state, the new species can be found at four municipalities: Tapauá, Beruri, Manicoré and Novo Aripuanã Canutama. The species is also known at eastern Rondônia state, at the municipality of Ji- Paraná (Figure 6).
Etymology. The specific epithet “ vote ” is a regional expression in Mato Grosso state indicating astonishment or disgust. The meaning depends on the intonation of voice, and was used several times by the local people when we said that the specimens were adults, rather than juveniles. The species epithet is used as invariable name in apposition to the genus name.
description: Published as part of Ávila, Robson W., Carvalho, Vinicius T., Gordo, Marcelo, Kawashita-Ribeiro, Ricardo A. & Morais, Drausio H., 2012, A new species of Amazophrynella (Anura: Bufonidae) from southern Amazonia, pp. 65-74 in Zootaxa 3484 on pages 66-70, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.209500