Hyperolius cf. cinnamomeoventris Bocage, 1866

Lötters, S., Schick, S., Scheelke, K., Teege, P., Kosuch, J., Rotich, D. & Veith, M., 2004, Bio-sketches and partitioning of sympatric reed frogs, genus Hyperolius (Amphibia; Hyperoliidae), in two humid tropical African forest regions, Journal of Natural History 38 (15), pp. 1969-1997 : 1985-1986

Hyperolius cf. cinnamomeoventris Bocage

(figure 7)

The reed frog H. cinnamomeoventris was originally described from Angola. Records referred to this species are known in addition from Gabon to western Kenya ( Perret, 1966; Inger, 1968; Laurent, 1972; Schiøtz, 1999; Frétey and Blanc, 2000). Frogs are found in both savannah and forest. Different authors (e.g. Perret, 1966; Schiøtz, 1975, 1999; Lötters et al., 2001) have pointed out that probably more than one species may be hidden behind this one name. Our unpublished comparisons of specimens from different localities (see Appendix) as well as sequences of mitochondrial DNA of the 16S ribosomal gene of populations from Gabon and Kenya indicate that more than one species is involved. As a result, we here only tentatively refer Kenyan material to H. cinnamomeoventris sensu stricto. Detailed studies of taxonomic relationships of populations and type specimens including those of current synonyms are necessary.

Diagnosis. SVL males 23.7¡ 1.2 mm (22.4–24.6 mm, n ~3) (112 noncollected males had mean SVL 23.3¡ 1.2 mm, range 21.0– 25.7 mm), SVL of preserved females unknown (six non-collected females had mean SVL 28.0¡ 1.16 mm, range 26.3–29.4 mm); (2) TIBL/SVL 0.46¡0.01 (0.46–0.47, n ~3), HW/SVL 0.31¡0.02 (0.3–0.33, n ~3); (3) dorsal surface finely coarse, tuberculate below eye; (4) snout shape dorsally and laterally rounded, nares visible from above; (5) E-N/EYE 0.89¡0.05 (0.84–0.95, n ~3), canthus rostralis convex from tip of snout to nostril and straight or slightly concave from nostril to eye; (6) tympanum distinct or covered by thick skin, TYMP/EYE 0.36–0.42 (n ~2); (7) FOOT/TIBL 0.85¡0.04 (0.84–0.95, n ~3); (8) foot webbing formula: 1(1), 2i(1–2) 2e(K), 3i(1–2) 3e(K), 4i(1K) 4e(1), 5(0–K); (9) PhJ is dorsally tan to brown, with more or less intense, diffuse dark brown spotting, and always a cream to white (rarely yellowish) dorsolateral line from near nostrils (before nostril it is more diffuse, there is no evident U-shape) to the groin which usually is bordered by dark brown ( Schiøtz, 1975: 123 mentioned that this line can be absent), a mid-dorsal line of the same colour may be present, ventral sides are cream; PhF is dorsally uniformly green, delimited from the ventral side by an irregular black lateral line, always with a black canthal and usually a black labial line (lines may continue behind eye and/or on arm); the inner femur always has a reddish area; the gular flap of males is yellow; the iris is bronze to dark brown (information provided is based on collected and numerous noncollected specimens of both sexes); (10) for sequence of 560 bp fragment of mitochondrial DNA of the 16S ribosomal gene see GenBank under AY323925 (~NMK A/3858/2); (11) LTRF 1/3.

There are some species that can look similar to H. cf. cinnamomeoventris , i.e. H. kivuensis Ahl , H. lateralis Laurent and H. schoutendeni Laurent ( Inger, 1968; Schiøtz, 1975, 1999). The former two occur in sympatry with H. cf. cinnamomeoventris at the Kakamega Forest (see below). Hyperolius schoutendeni from the Democratic Republic of Congo is a little-known species which seems almost indistinguishable from sympatric H. cf. cinnamomeoventris PhJ (both phases are equal in H. schoutendeni ) but a distinct species, as figured out by Inger (1968) and Schiøtz (1975, 1999). We observed that probably the extension of foot webbing is a useful character to distinguish cinnamomeoventris -like forms. We examined the female holotype of H. schoutendeni (SVL 26.4 mm) which has more webbing on toes 4 and 5 (foot webbing formula: 1(1), 2i(1) 2e(K), 3i(1K) 3e(1), 4i(2) 4e(1K), 5(1)).

Life history. Hyperolius cf. cinnamomeoventris is a nocturnal arboreal reed frog found in primary forest and sometimes also in semi-cleared areas (e.g. on bushes). In the Kakamega Forest, it could be observed (and males could be heard calling also away from water) from March to October. Breeding is limited to the period from March to June and takes place in swampy areas or at ponds. This species tends to be intermediate between explosive and prolonged breeding strategies. One single clutch is attached to vegetation above the water surface, containing ca 114 half-pigmented eggs, each about 1.55 mm in diameter (without jelly). Tadpoles can be classified as lentic and omnivorous.

As shown in figure 2E and table 1, advertisement calls are short ‘cracks’, each of one pulsed note. They are thus comparable to vocalizations assigned to H. cinnamomeoventris from a nearby site in Uganda ( Schiøtz, 1975). Nevertheless, in the figure by Schiøtz (1975), frequency range and dominant frequency are higher (with overlap). ‘Clicks’ reported by Largen and Dowsett-Lemaire (1991) from the Republic of Congo also seem comparable. However, rattles of four to six elements (notes?) as found by these authors have never been heard by us in Kenyan specimens, providing additional evidence that more than one species is involved.