Limnonectes taylori, Matsui, Masafumi, Panha, Somsak, Khonsue, Wichase & Kuraishi, Norihiro, 2010

Matsui, Masafumi, Panha, Somsak, Khonsue, Wichase & Kuraishi, Norihiro, 2010, Two new species of the “ kuhlii ” complex of the genus Limnonectes from Thailand (Anura: Dicroglossidae), Zootaxa 2615, pp. 1-22 : 10-15

Limnonectes taylori sp. nov.

Chresonymy: Rana kuhlii: Smith, 1917 , p. 262; Rana corrugata: Taylor, 1934 , p. 281; Rana kuhlii: Taylor, 1962 , p. 408 (part), Figs. 46, 47; Limnonectes kuhlii: McLeod, 2008 , p. 30.

Holotype: CUMZ (A) 7708 (former KUHE 19040), an adult male from Ban Khun Klang, 1350 m, Doi Inthanon, Chiang Mai Province, Thailand (18o31' N, 98o30' E, 1350 m a.s.l.), collected on 1 August 1994 by Masafumi Matsui.

Paratypes: KUHE 19002, 19004–05, 19026–27, 19041, 19107, 19136 from the type locality; CUMZ (A) 7710 (former KUHE 19101), KUHE 19100, 19102–05 from Mae Klang Waterfall, Doi Inthanon, Chiang Mai Province; KUHE 19106 from Siribhum Waterfall, 1350 m, Doi Inthanon, Chiang Mai Province; KUHE 19135 from 1650 m, Doi Inthanon, Chiang Mai Province; KUHE 29901–03 from Doi Inthanon, Chiang Mai Province; USNM 102967 – 102972 from Doi Angka (= Doi Inthanon), Chiang Mai Province; KUHE 19234 from Montatharn Waterfall, 700 m, Doi Suthep, Chiang Mai Province; TNRC 513- 1386 –88 from Doi Suthep, Muang District, Chiang Mai Province; USNM 101653, 101676 –77, 103397–98, 205671 from Doi Suthep, Chiang Mai Province; KUHE 19849–51, 19853–55, 19060–62 from Pang Tong, 1050 m, Mae Hong Son Province; KUHE 19865–870, 19882 from Tad Mok, 650 m, Tha Ton, Chiang Mai Province; KUHE 19883– 88, 19893–95, 19903 from Tad Mok Waterfall, Tha Ton, Chiang Mai Province; KUHE 19914–16 from 1300 m, Tha Ton, Chiang Mai Province; CUMZ (A) 6030, 6032, 6036 from Huai Hong Khrai Royal Development Study Centre, 444 m, Doi Saket District, Chiang Mai Province.

Referred specimens: KUHE 23704–12 from 1400m, Doi Chiang Dao, Chiang Mai Province; USNM 103399–401 from Doi Chiang Dao, Chiang Mai Province; USNM 84718–21, 84723–24, 84727–32 from Doi Nang Ka (= Doi Lang Ka), Chiang Mai Province; USNM 79491–94 from Doi Khun Tan, Lampang Province; USNM 103015 from Ba Nam O (= Na Mo?), Nan Province; USNM 101308 from Doi Hua Mot, Tak Province.

Etymology: The specific name is dedicated to Edward Taylor who made great contributions to our understanding of the herpetofauna of Thailand.

Diagnosis: A medium-sized species of the L. kuhlii complex, with adult SVL 46–93 mm in males, 40–62 mm in females. Males have relatively longer head than females. It has a usually thick and evident dark temporal stripe, dark markings on dorsal sides of body and limbs, and chin marking. Warts are usually widely present on dorsum. Toe webbing is full, but with fairly deep excision between toes. Second and first fingers are usually subequal in length and nuptial pad is present on the first finger of males.

Description of Holotype (measurements in mm): SVL 52.6; habitus stocky ( Fig. 5 A, B); head greatly enlarged, slightly longer (22.9) than broad (22.3); snout obtusely pointed, obtuse in profile, projecting beyond lower jaw; eye length (7.9) larger than snout length (7.4); canthus rounded; lore sloping, concave; nostril dorsolateral, on canthus, closer to tip of snout than to eye; internarial distance (4.6) wider than interorbital distance (3.4), latter slightly narrower than upper eyelid (3.8); pineal spot visible; tympanic annulus slightly visible through skin; vomerine teeth in oblique groups, between and behind line connecting rear rims of choanae, groups separated from one another by one-half length of one group and from choana by about onehalf length of one group, lower jaw with a pair of toothlike projections near symphysis, more than twice depth of mandible at base of projections; tongue oval, deeply notched posteriorly, without papillae; vocal sac and vocal slits absent.

Forelimb heavy, relatively short (27.7); fingers moderately slender, first finger subequal to second, length of first (6.2, measured from distal edge of inner palmar tubercle) shorter than length of eye; fourth finger much longer than second; tips of fingers bluntly rounded, forming small pads without circummarginal grooves; no webs between fingers; inner palmar tubercle moderate (2.8), oval, not elevated; middle palmar tubercle oval, smaller than inner palmar tubercle, not contacting outer or inner palmar tubercles; outer palmar tubercle slightly smaller than middle tubercle; proximal subarticular tubercles round and elevated; distal subarticular tubercles low, flat and indistinct; no supernumerary metacarpal tubercles; narrow, but distinct flaps of skin along both edges of second and third fingers.

Hindlimb heavy, relatively short (74.8) about 2.7 times length of forelimb; tibia short (23.0), heels not overlapping when limbs are held at right angles to body; tibiotarsal articulation of adpressed limb reaching to point posterior to eye; foot (24.6) slightly longer than tibia; third toe longer than fifth; tips of toes expanded into round, elevated pads lacking grooves (disk diameter of fourth toe 1.0); all toes webbed to base of disks ( Fig. 6 A); webbing formula: I 0 – 0 II 0 – 0 III 0 – 0 IV 0 – 0 V; excision of membrane between two outer toes reaching level between middle subarticular tubercle of fourth and distal subarticular tubercle of fifth when toes are in contact; a distinct, movable flap of skin on outer edge of fifth toe and on inner edge of first toe; subarticular tubercles oval and distinct; an elongate inner metatarsal, length (2.9), about half length of first toe (6.7); no outer metatarsal tubercle.

Dorsum anteriorly weakly rugose, with very low ridges radiating from low, rounded warts, posteriorly scattered with round warts; eyelid and top of snout without tubercles; a weak transverse fold between posterior margins of eyes; a strong, supratympanic fold from eye to above axilla; side of trunk with scattered with larger tubercles; dorsal surface of hindlimb scattered with small, low warts tipped with translucent spinules ( Fig. 6 D); tarsus with a thick dermal ridge extending proximally from metatarsal tubercle; throat, chest, and abdomen smooth; skin of gular region not modified.

A distinct brownish tinge, but without asperities, forming a nuptial pad covering medial surface of first finger from its base to level of subarticular tubercle.

Color: In life, dorsum brown mottled with darker spots ( Fig. 5 A); head with a narrow light band posterior to dark interorbital bar; an oblique blackish brown temporal stripe on and along supratympanic fold beginning behind eye reaching inguinal area; side of head from posterior half of lore to inguinal area pale brown; upper lip light brown with darker bar; lower lip barred with dark brown; a dark brown stripe on anterior side of upper arm; limbs marked dorsally with dark-brown crossbars; rear of thigh with irregular marking; throat weakly mottled with gray; chest and throat cream spotted with dark brown; abdomen immaculate cream ( Fig. 5 B); ventral surfaces of hand and foot dark brown. In preservative, the dorsal coloration has slightly faded, but otherwise no obvious change in color or pattern has occurred.

Variation: Individual variation in size and body proportions is given in Table 2. In adults, males are significantly larger than females in SVL (mean = 66.0 mm vs. 51.9 mm; Tukey-Kramer test, P <0.05), RHL, and RHW (see above). The postorbital light-colored bar was sometimes absent (13% of 16 adults examined) or only vaguely traced (6%), but half (50%) had a thin, and one-third (31%) had a wide bar. At least narrow temporal stripe was present (6%), and many (75%) had a wide, and some (19%) had a wide and very distinct stripe. Dorsal spots were usually (75%) found and were absent in one-fourths (25%). More than half individuals (56%) had strong spots widely on dorsum, but some (6%) had strong spots only part of dorsum, or spots were few and weak in others (13%). Nearly half (44%) had dusty chin marking, and some had very clear (25%) or weak spots or dots (25%). Only a few (6%) lacked chin spots. Dark stripe on upper arm was always present, and in two thirds (63%), it was clear and continuous, and in the remaining (37%), it was weak or disjunct. Warts were always present dorsally, and half (50%) had them allover the dorsum, but in one-third (37%), warts were found only posterolaterally, and the remaining (13%) had very few warts. Two-thirds (69%) had warts all over the tibia, of which warts were weakly developed in nearly half (44%) and moderately developed in one-fourth (25%). The remaining individuals had warts on about two-thirds (13%) or half (19%) in area of tibia. Finger length was subequal between the second and the first in many individuals (69%), but in some, the second was longer than the first (12%) or the first was longer than the second (19%).

Eggs and tadpoles: The diameter of 12 ovarian eggs from a female ranged from 1.89–2.44 (mean±1SD = 2.06±0.16) mm. The animal hemisphere of egg is dark brown and the vegetal hemisphere is pale yellow in color.

Head-body (length 16 mm) flattened above and below, length 150% of width; snout rounded; eyes dorsolateral, not visible from below; nostrils midway between eye and tip of snout; internarial distance about 67% of interorbital distance. Oral disk ventrally directed; a row of short oral papillae from corners of anterior labium to margin of entire posterior labium; labial tooth formula 2(2)/3 or 2(2)/3(1), outer posterior row about half in length of other rows; jaw sheaths broadly edged black. Spiracle sinistral, nearer to eye than vent; vent dextral. Tail tip bluntly pointed, depth (7 mm) 24% of length (29 mm); fins not deep; dorsal fin originating at end of head-body, slightly deeper than ventral fin. Color in life olive on dorsum speckled with black marking, venter and belly nearly translucent. ( Smith 1917)

Comparisons: This new species is differentiated from L. namiyei by the lack of vocal openings, and from L. fragilis by smaller subarticular tubercles and possession of nuptial pads in males. From L. kuhlii , it differs in usually subequal first and second fingers (always first longer in L. kuhlii ) and possession of nuptial pads in males. The new species, with the back usually without distinct ridges, and nuptial pad only on first finger, differs from L. fujianensis , which has the back with many ridges and nuptial pads on two inner fingers. From L. bannaensis , it differs in less developed toe webbing and absence of nuptial pad on second finger.

characters to SVL, followed by ranges in parenthesis. See text for character abbreviations. For L. mgastomias , data from

Mcleod (2008: Table 2, exclusive of Loei sample) and of each one sex of our own measurements of THNHM sample are

combined.

Male Female

L. taylori sp. nov. L. jarujini sp. nov. L. megastomias L. taylori sp. nov. L. jarujini sp. nov. L. megastomias Limnonectes taylori differs from L. jarujini , another new species described below, in having relatively longer foot in females. In addition, it has a thicker and more evident temporal stripe than L. jarujini , and has dorsal spots more frequently than L. jarujini . Further, in L. taylori , chin marking is more frequently clear, and dorsal warts are more widely present than in L. jarujini . From L. megastomias , L. taylori differs in smaller body size, relatively shorter head, lack of nuptial pad on the second finger, not heavily pigmented venter, and more deeply excised toe webbing. In addition, second finger is not constantly longer than first in the new species unlike L. megastomias ( McLeod, 2008) .

Range: Northern part of the western region of Thailand. Besides the type locality, Doi Inthanon, Chiang Mai Province, the species was recorded from the following localities. Chiang Mai Province: Tha Ton, Doi Suthep, Doi Chiang Dao, Doi Saket, Doi Angka, Doi Nang Ka (= Doi Lang Ka); Mae Hong Son Province: Pang Tong; Lampang Province: Doi Khun Tan; Nan Province: Ba Nam O (= Na Mo?); Tak Province: Doi Hua Mot. Known localities range in altitude from 650–1650 m a.s.l.

Natural history: The holotype of L. taylori was found along a small stream (width <2 m) in a secondary forest, where teak and pine are dominant. At the type locality, early August seems to be within the breeding season, as evidenced by calls of presumed males of this species heard at night in a large pool of a small stream in early August. A female collected in a small pool in a pine forest released eggs upon collection. In other females, no ova were left inside oviducts, but many fully developed ova and some very small ova with a diameter of about 0.3 mm were seen in ovaries. Therefore, multiple breeding with short intervals is expected. Associated species at the type locality were Megophrys minor , Odorrana cf. livida , Fejervarya limnocharis , Microhyla heymonsi , and Philautus parvulus , and those at Montatharn Waterfall, Doi Suthep, 700 m a.s.l. were Leptolalax pelodytoides and Amolops marmoratus . Microhabitat and behavior of this species are as noted in Taylor (1962: as Rana kuhlii ).

Figures

FIGURE 5. Male holotypes of (A, B) Limnonectes taylori (CUMZ (A) 7708 [former KUHE 19040]), and (C, D) L. jarujini (CUMZ (A) 7709 [= KUHE 20105]); dorsal (A, C) and ventral views (B, D). Scale bar = 10 mm.

FIGURE 6. Toe web (A – C, ventral views) and tibia (D – F, dorsal views) of holotypes of (A, D) Limnonectes taylori and (B, E) L. jarujini, and (C, F) L. megastomias (THNHM 0 0 644 from Pang Sida National Park, Sa Kaeo Province). Not to scale.