Conraua goliath ( Boulenger, 1906 ) Photo

Sánchez-Vialas, Alberto, Calvo-Revuelta, Marta, Castroviejo-Fisher, Santiago & De, Ignacio, 2020, Synopsis of the Amphibians of Equatorial Guinea based upon the Authors’ Field Work and Spanish Natural History Collections, Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences 66 (8), pp. 137-230 : 158-159

Conraua goliath ( Boulenger, 1906) Photo figure 13B

TYPE LOCALITY.— “Efulen”, South Cameroon .

DISTRIBUTION.— Conraua goliath is distributed over south-western Cameroon (Nkongsamba region) and mainland Equatorial Guinea. In Equatorial Guinea, it has been recorded in several localities in Río Muni ( Sabater Pi 1985; De la Riva 1994) ( Map 14A ).

COMMENTS.— This is the largest living frog in the world. The holotype measured 25 cm of snout-vent length ( Boulenger 1906b), and the largest specimen recorded weighted 3.3 kg ( Sabater Pi 1985). Adults live in the fast-flowing rivers in lowland rainforest, below 1000 m a.s.l., where they rest over the rocks, emerging from rapids during the day, while they move along the river margins during the night ( Sabater Pi 1985). Some aspects of their reproductive behaviour, such as nest construction for spawing, have been recently described ( Schäfer et al. 2019).

SPECIMENS EXAMINED.— Twenty specimens. [ Río Muni] ( MNCN 4050 ) . Niefang, Sense ( 1º33´N, 09º48´W) June / July 1964 ( EBD 2699–2701 , EBD 2754–2756 , EBD 20842–20854 ); San Joaquín de Ndyiacom ( EBD 31507 ) .

Figures

MAPS 14A–C. Distribution maps for Equatorial Guinean records of (A) Conraua goliath; (B) Acanthixalus spinosus; (C) Afrixalus dorsalis.