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.

Figures

Fig. 11. Pipids (Hymenochirus, Xenopus), ranids (Amnirana), and a rhacophorid (Chiromantis). (A) Hymenochirus cf. boettgeri (male). (B) H. cf. boulengeri (male). (C) Xenopus pygmaeus (female). (D) X. pygmaeus, tadpole. (E) Amnirana cf. albolabris (male). (F) Amnirana cf. albolabris, dark morph with contrasting color pattern (male). (G) A. lepus (male). (H) Chiromantis cf. rufescens (male).