Synapturanus sacratus, Osorno-Muñoz & Gutiérrez-Lamus & Lynch & Keeffe & Caicedo-Portilla & Chan & Tonini & De Sá, 2023

Osorno-Muñoz, Mariela, Gutiérrez-Lamus, Doris L., Lynch, John, Keeffe, Rachel, Caicedo-Portilla, José Rancés, Chan, Kin Nok, Tonini, João F. R. & De Sá, Rafael O., 2023, Three new species of the Synapturanus rabus complex (Microhylidae: Otophryninae) in Colombia with a review of the genus Synapturanus, Zootaxa 5258 (2), pp. 151-196 : 161-163

Synapturanus sacratus sp. nov.

Synapturanus sp. “Jirijirimo”

Synapturanus rabus Fouquet et al. ., 2021a

Holotype ( Fig. 5 ). ICN 56890 (JDL28952), adult female, collected at the Departamento Amazonas, “area no municipalizada” La Victoria, Comunidad Jirijirimo, (00°02′30″S, 70°57′W, 136 m), within Parque Nacional Natural Yaigojé Apaporis , Colombia, collected on march 21, 2009 by John D. Lynch and Jorge Kayuanari.

Paratopotypes. Females: ICN 56893 (JDL 28935), cleared and double-stained specimen, ICN 56889 (JDL 28951) ( Fig. 3 ); males ICN 56892 (JDL 28934) and ICN 56895 (JDL 28973), all adult specimens were collected with the holotype.

Referred specimen. ICN 56891(JDL 28953) and ICN 56894 (JDL 28933) juveniles collected along with the type series.

Diagnosis: A species of Synapturanus diagnosed by the following combination of characters: 1) SVL small size, adult females 16.6, 17.3 mm (χ = 17.0, n = 2); adult males SVL 14.0, 15.0 mm (χ = 14.5, n = 2), 2) stout and ovoid body, 3) head narrower than body, snout pointed in dorsal view, rounded in lateral view, and ventrally distinctly projecting beyond the anterior edge of the upper jaw, 4) symphysis of lower jaw with an unpigmented notch and external nares with a wide and unpigmented rim, 5) tympanum slightly visible, 6) vocal slits absent, 7) rounded choanae, equal in diameter to the unpigmented rim of the external narin, 8) vomerine teeth absent, 9) hand formula III>IV>II>I, hand digits becoming thinner towards their distal ends, rounded or slightly pointed finger-tips, fingers bordered by a thin fringe, interdigital membrane absent, 10) subarticular tubercles absent, thenar tubercle small and elongated, palmar tubercle indistinct, 11) adult males bear a gland on the distal internal surface of the anterior forearm closer to the wrist and visible dorsally, 12) relative length of toes IV>III>V>II>I, toes are thin and subcylindrical, distal tip rounded, except on toe I that is distinctly pointed, fringes not evident, toe webbing absent,13) inner metatarsal tubercle small and elongated, outer metatarsal tubercle absent, subarticular tubercles absent, 14) knee, heel, and wrist with skin folds, 15) cephalic groove distinct, across the head, over the tympanum and reaching the throat barely beyond the jaw articulation, 16) in life dorsal surfaces and flanks uniformly brown or pale brown, occipital groove light brown, 17) canthal stripe distinct and dull cream, extending continuously from the rostral tip, over the nare and eye; stripe distinct over the shoulder and then broken along the flank, 18) ventral surfaces brown to grayish, hands and feet dark brown, articular surfaces and distal tips of digits unpigmented, 19) forearm gland lighter than the background in preserved specimens, scattered along the inner forearm up to the middle.

Synapturanus sacratus sp. nov. can be distinguished from S. rabus (traits in parenthesis) by its smaller size, adult females SVL 16.9 and 17.3 mm (vs. 17.2-19.0 mm) and adult males SVL 14.0 and 15.0 mm (vs. 16.2-16.6 mm). The HL/END ratio in S. sacratus sp. nov. is 2.8 in average for both sexes, it is smaller than HL/END ratio in in S. rabus (3.4 in average for both sexes). Synapturanus sacratus sp. nov. (as recorded in J.D. Lynch’s field notes) have a conspicuous and continuous canthal stripe that becomes discontinuous over the body flanks (vs. a white or pale cream line along the canthus rostralis may extend onto the body). Synapturanus sacratus sp. nov. also lacks spotting on posterior legs (vs. most specimens have irregular spots on one or both legs), and dorsal surfaces are light brown to brown (vs. dark brown).

Synapturanus sacratus sp. nov. is smaller than S. latebrosus sp. nov. (traits in parenthesis), adult females SVL 16.9 and 17.3 mm (vs. 20.0-22.0 mm) and adult males SVL 14.0 and 15.0 (vs. 18.1-19.0 mm). Synapturanus sacratus sp. nov. has a longer tibia, 42% of SVL (vs. 37%), and eyes larger judging by the ED/END ratio, 0.75 (vs. 0.55 in average for both sexes). Synapturanus sacratus sp. nov. has a conspicuous and continuous cream canthal stripe that becomes discontinuous over the body flanks (vs. canthal stripe formed by very small cream spots that does not extend beyond the arm).

Synapturanus sacratus sp. nov. with SVL 14.0-15.0 mm in males, is considerably smaller than S. mirandariberoi (SVL 27.0- 31.7 mm in males), S. salseri , (SVL 23.7-26.4 mm in males), S. zombie (SVL 37.0- 40.6 mm in males), S. mesomorphus (SVL 22.9-26.0 mm in males), and S. ajuricaba (SVL 29.3-33.2 mm in males) and smaller than S. danta (SVL 17.6-17.9 mm in males). Synapturanus sacratus sp. nov. lacks any pattern of speckles, spots or blotches on the back present to a greater or lesser extent in those species. In S. sacratus sp. nov., the forearm gland is scattered and reaches up to the middle vs. protruding and concentrated towards the wrist in S. salseri .

Description of Holotype. An adult female with unpigmented eggs in the oviduct (the largest ca. 1.5 mm), body smooth, triangular in dorsal view and small (SVL = 16.6 mm); head triangular, but almost as wide as long (HW = 4.3 mm, HL = 4.5 mm), snout tip acuminate, snout projects beyond the anterior edge of upper jaw (SL/SW= 0.6); nostrils with a distinct and light colored rim, directed laterally; the eye–nostril distance slightly greater than the eye diameter (END = 1.6 mm, ED = 1.1 mm), canthus rostralis poorly defined dorsally, loreal region concave marked bellow by a distinct groove that reaches from the antero–ventral edge of eye to the posteroventral edge of nostril, inter–orbital area concave, IOD = 1.9 mm; lacking occipital fold, a distinct shallow groove is visible behind the eyes running over the tympanic area and barely exceeds the lower jaw; tympanum small, poorly distinguishable in life but distinct in the preserved specimen, tympanum diameter = 0.7 mm; tongue thin on free edges and as wide as the oral cavity; vomerine teeth absent; oval choanae widely separated and slightly medially slanted anteriorly. Anterior and posterior limbs short and robust, hands without interdigital membranes, finger relative length III>IV>II>I, distally pointed and with thin fringes, subarticular tubercles absent, subarticular area light colored, thenar tubercle elongated to oval, located at the base of finger I, palmar tubercles not distinct; distinct folds on knee and heel, less distinct on wrist and metatarsal area; toes cylindrical, thin, narrowly fringed, and expanded distally, distal tip rounded, toe I distally pointed; subarticular tubercles absent, inner metatarsal tubercles elongated, small, at the base of finger I; toe relative lengths IV>III>V>II>I; tibia length TBL = 6.9 mm, about 41% of snout–vent length.

Live coloration ( Fig. 5 ). Dorsal surfaces brown, dull cream canthal stripe continuing, but interrupted, along flank, dark brown iris, cephalic groove light brown, fingers and toes dark brown with light colored articular surfaces, venter brown to grayish.

Coloration of Preserved Specimens. Specimens have lost their coloration; overall all specimens are white to light cream. However, we note that in specimen ICN 56890 ( Fig. 5 A, B , and C) there is a light brown coloration at the site where the label was removed and which was not discolored by light.

Measurements of Holotype (mm). SLV 16.6; HL 4.5; HW 4.3; HL/ESD 1.8; SL/SW 0.6, TD 0.7, ESD 2.6, END 1.6, ED 1.1, ED/END 0.7, TBL 6.9, IOD 1.9, TBL/SVL 0.4.

Variation in the type series. Measurement data of the type series are given in ( Table 1 , Appendix 2). According to the field notes (JDL), the dorsal coloration varies in shade of brown, from almost black to pale brown. Ventral coloration is not detailed, in three specimens, one of them the holotype, is described as brown to grayish, in other two specimens as mostly gray, which probably means that the depigmented area is extensive. In two adult males (ICN 56892, 56895) glandular tissues are noticeable as white dots, although specimens are decolored.

Etymology. Latin, a noun in apposition, meaning sacred, alludes to the sacred sense that animals have for indigenous Amazonian peoples, particularly in the Yaigoje territory, currently designated as the Yaigojé-Apaporis National Natural Park.

Distribution ( Fig. 4 ). Synapturanus sacratus sp. nov. is known only from the type locality

Tadpole and Advertisement Call. Unknown

Natural History. The specimens were detected by their movements and collected among leaf litter in the afternoon, in a terra firme forest, that means a forest that does not flood.

Figures

FIGURE 3. Synapturanus latebrosus sp. nov. Preserved holotype female SINCHI-A 839 (SVL=21.5 mm), (A) dorsal, (B) ventral, and (C) lateral views; specimens in life paratype female SINCHI-A 2678, (D) ventral, and (E) lateral view paratype female SINCHI-A 258.

FIGURE 4. Current known distribution of new species of Synapturanus; symbols with black edges and a black dot identify type localities; the pentagon corresponds to S. sp. “Colombia” (Fouquet et al.. 2021a) which was homogenized as S. latebrosus in this study.

FIGURE 5. Synapturanus sacratus sp. nov. Preserved holotype female ICN 56890 (SVL=16.6 mm), (A) dorsal, (B) ventral, and (C) lateral views. Specimen in life, paratopotype female ICN 56893, (D) lateral, and (E) dorsal views.