Boophis andreonei

Randrianiaina, Roger-Daniel, Raharivololoniaina, Liliane, Preuss, Claudia, Glaw, Frank, Teschke, Meike, Glos, Julian, Raminosoa, Noromalala & Vences, Miguel, 2009, Descriptions of the tadpoles of seven species of Malagasy treefrogs, genus Boophis, Zootaxa 2021, pp. 23-41 : 27-28

Boophis andreonei

( Figures 2 and 8 )

The following description refers to one tadpole in developmental stage 25 (field number FG/MV 2002.1903 – ZSM 675/2004, TL 22 mm, BL 8 mm), from the site Maromalo in the Special Reserve of Manongarivo. The 16S rDNA sequence of this specimen is 100% identical to a reference sequence of an adult specimen (accession AY848449 ) from the same locality.

In dorsal view, body elliptical, snout large. In lateral view, body depressed, BW 114% of BH, snout pointed. Eyes of moderate size, ED 16% of BL, not visible in ventral view, positioned dorsally and directed dorsolaterally, situated at about 2/5 of the body length. Nares elliptical, moderately sized, prominent with a marginal rim and dark black spots, positioned dorsally, oriented anterodorsally and nearer to snout than to eye. RN 72% of NP, NN 55% of PP. Spiracle sinistral, inner wall free and formed such that the aperture opens posteriorly, not visible in dorsal view, spiracular opening oval, positioned laterally, directed dorsally, situated under the height of the longitudinal axis of caudal musculature and the aperture is much closer to the end of the body than to the snout, SS 61% of BL. Medial vent tube with lateral displacement, tubular, short. Caudal musculature well developed, TMH 56% of BH and 80% of MTH, TMW 39% of BW; its height 1/2 of total height at midlength of tail. Height of dorsal fin two times that of ventral fin at maximum teil height. Dorsal fin origins at the tail body junction, increases gradually to attain its maximum height, then declines slightly towards the tail tip. Ventral fin originates at the ventral terminus of the body, remains more or less constant towards the tail tip. Tail tip rounded, MTH 71% of BH, lateral line visible on the proximal half of the tail. Oral disk relatively large, ODW 34% of BL and 56% of BW, positioned ventrally, directed ventrally, not emarginated, round. A single row of marginal papillae interrupted by a large gap on the upper labium (DG 67% of ODW), no medial gap on the lower labium; total number of marginal papillae 65. 14 submarginal papillae positioned in the lateral parts of the anterior and posterior labium. Papillae small, round or conical with rounded tip. No denticulate papillae. LTRF 1:4+4/1+1:2 after Dubois (1995) and 5(2–5)/3(1) after Altig & McDiarmid (1999). The density of keratodonts on A1 is about 58 per millimeter (a total of ca. 108). The length of interrupted anterior keratodont rows (A2, A3, A4 and A5) decreases gradually towards the center of the OD, P2 and P3 with same size. Keratodonts have the same size except on A4 that has smaller keratodonts. Keratodonts are more or less connected. Both jaw sheaths coarsely serrated and completely black; upper jaw sheath with a large medial serration surrounded by a smaller serration on each side, more opened reversed Ushaped, medial convex; lower jaw sheath broadly U-shaped. Coloration in preservative. Dorsally: body whitish, with black round spots which are irregularly distributed, spots condensed between eyes to form a dark patch, tail musculature whitish speckled, density and size of the spots diminish towards the tail tip. Laterally: body blackish, intestinal coils and spiracle visible; transparent, dorsal fin with speckled pattern that is condensed around midtail. Ventrally: transparent, intestine visible and regularly spiral-shaped.

Variation: TL and BL of 10 tadpoles at stages 25–27, all from the site Maromalo (FG/MV 2002.1903 – ZSM 676/2004, 677/2004, 1020/2004 and FG/MV 2002.1914 – ZSM 696/2004, 697/2004) are 17–26 mm and 5–10 mm, respectively. BW 102–117% of BH; ED 11–18% of BL; RN 58–97% of NP; NN 54–71% of PP; SS 47–67% of BL; TMH 47–83% of MTH; TMW 33–47% of BW; MTH 67–109% of BH; ODW 21–38% of BL; ODW 42–68% of BW. LTRF: 1:3+3/1+1:2, 1:4+4/1+1:2 after Dubois (1995) and 4(2–4)/3(1), 5(2–5)/3(1) after Altig & McDiarmid (1999).

Figures

FIGURE 2. Drawings of preserved tadpole specimen of Boophis andreonei (ZSM 675 / 2004) from Manongarivo Special Reserve (developmental stage 25). (a) dorsal view; (b) lateral view; (c) oral disk.

FIGURE 8. Photographs of the preserved DNA voucher specimens of six Boophis tadpoles described herein, in dorsal and lateral views.