Xenopus pygmaeus Loumont, 1986

Badjedjea, Gabriel, Masudi, Franck M., Akaibe, Benjamin Dudu & Gvoždík, Václav, 2022, Amphibians of Kokolopori: an introduction to the amphibian fauna of the Central Congolian Lowland Forests, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Amphibian & Reptile Conservation (e 301) 16 (1), pp. 35-70 : 59

Xenopus pygmaeus Loumont, 1986

Fig. 11C–D.

Area: Bechuchuu, Yalokole.

Season/survey: Wet (May 2018, Nov 2018), dry (Jul 2020).

Material: CSB:Herp: RNBK 118, 160, 163, 219, 224, 265, 316, 319–321, 325, 340, 341, 351, 352, 358, 371, 372, 379, 401, 422, 821, 828–830, 845–853; IVB-H-CD 18204–18215, 18314–18322, 18407–18409, 18479.

Comments: This species is common in stagnant water, usually in swampy areas in forests. It is harvested as food to a limited extent, mostly by children and young people. We did not find tadpoles in the wild, but this species has been bred in captivity and a tadpole is shown in Fig. 11D. The general morphology corresponds to the typical Xenopus tadpole morphology ( Channing et al. 2012; Vigny 1979). Tadpoles reached a total length of 49 mm (stage 42; Gosner 1960), with the tail (33 mm) approximately twice as long as the body (16 mm), and metamorphosed in 6–8 weeks.