Dendropsophus marmoratus

Schiesari, Luis, Rossa-Feres, Denise De Cerqueira, Menin, Marcelo & Hödl, Walter, 2022, Tadpoles of Central Amazonia (Amphibia: Anura), Zootaxa 5223 (1), pp. 1-149 : 54-55

Dendropsophus marmoratus

External morphology. Description based on three tadpoles at Stages 34 and 35 (LCS 617). Total length 30.8 ± 1.2 mm (N = 3). Body elliptical in dorsal view and triangular in lateral view ( Fig. 27A, B ). Snout truncate in dorsal view and rounded in lateral view. Eyes medium-sized, positioned and directed laterally. Nostrils small, oval, laterally positioned near to snout, anterolaterally directed, without a projection on the marginal rim. Oral disc ( Fig. 27C ) anteroventral, non-emarginate; marginal papillae blunt, uniseriate, with a dorsal gap. Submarginal papillae absent. LTRF 0/0, with posterior dermal ridges. Anterior jaw sheath narrower than posterior jaw sheath, both finely serrated; anterior jaw sheath arch-shaped, posterior jaw sheath U-shaped. Spiracle single, sinistral, lateroventral, conical, short and wide, posterodorsally directed, opening in the medial third of the body, with the centripetal wall fused to the body wall and longer than the external wall. Vent tube dextral, fused to the ventral fin, with a dextral opening. Caudal musculature of moderate width; in lateral view gradually tapering to a pointed tip. Dorsal fin high, convex, originating on the posterior third of the body; ventral fin high, convex. Tail tip pointed. Lateral lines visible.

Colour. In preservative dorsum and caudal musculature whitish with small gray dots, which concentrate along the margins of the fins, forming a thin stripe; venter opaque white; fins transparent to translucent. Tadpoles of D. marmoratus from Ecuador have olive-tan body with brown transverse marks; throat gray with black flecks; belly white ( Duellman 1978).

Metamorphs. Metamorphs marbled in shades of grey ( Fig. 27D ).

Natural history. Eggs were not observed in Central Amazonia. Clutches from Ecuador contain from 740 to 1580 eggs ( Crump 1974). Eggs masses are laid in the water surface; tadpoles are found in streamside ponds in terrafirme forests or in the root zone of floating meadows in várzea floodplain lakes. Tadpoles are nektonic.

Comments. Tadpoles of D. marmoratus from Ecuador ( Duellman 1978) and from Peru ( Duellman 2005) differ from those herein characterized by presenting a protruding ridge formed by short, fused papillae. Moreover, tadpoles from Peru present a massive and shallowly V-shaped posterior jaw sheath ( Duellman 2005). The only morphological difference to tadpoles from Colombia is the dorsal fin originating at the body-tail junction and not on the posterior third of the body as in tadpoles herein characterized.

Figures

FIGURE 27. Tadpole of Dendropsophus marmoratus (LCS 617) at Stage 35: (A) lateral view, (B) dorsal view (scale = 10 mm), and (C) oral disc (scale = 1 mm). (D) Dorsolateral view of newly metamorphosed froglet.