Elachistocleis bumbameuboi Caramaschi, 2010 and Elachistocleis carvalhoi Caramaschi, 2010

as junior subjective synonyms of

Elachistocleis magna Toledo, 2010

Caramaschi (2010) distinguished E. bumbameuboi and E. carvalhoi from E. magna based on subtle differences in the dorsal and ventral colour patterns, as follows: regarding the dorsal pattern, E. magna has ‘dorsum uniform dark greyish with scarce minute brighter dots in the outer boundaries’, whereas E. bumbameuboi and E. carvalhoi have, respectively, ‘dorsum uniformly dark grey or black without marks’ and ‘dorsum uniformly brown or dark grey without marks’; regarding the ventral pattern, E. magna has ‘venter grey with minute scattered white spots, mainly on the belly and ventral surfaces of legs’, whereas E. bumbameuboi and E. carvalhoi have, respectively, ‘venter grey with minute anastomosed whitish spots, producing a salt-and-pepper pattern’ and ‘venter greyish with large anastomosed yellow or whitish yellow blotches, producing a coarse marbled pattern, mainly in the chest area.

Photographs of the holotypes of E. carvalhoi (Caramaschi, 2010: fig. 3) and E. bumbameuboi (Caramaschi, 2010: fig. 4) and a photograph of a paratype of E. bumbameuboi (Nunes et al., 2010: fig. 1) depict specimens with dorsa scattered with minute white dots. Thus, our examination of specimens of E. bumbameuboi, E. carvalhoi and E. magna show a broad overlap among the various shades of dorsal colour and the size and distribution pattern of ventral markings (e.g. see Fig. 5).

Based on our phylogenetic hypothesis, on the broad geographic sampling, which included a paratype of E. bumbameuboi, topotypes of E. carvalhoi and E. magna, and on the examination of several voucher specimens, we consider that E. bumbameuboi Caramaschi, 2010 and E. carvalhoi Caramaschi, 2010 are junior subjective synonyms of E. magna Toledo, 2010 .