Xenopus petersii Bocage, 1895

Conradie, Werner, Keates, Chad, Verburgt, Luke, Baptista, Ninda L. & Harvey, James, 2023, Contributions to the herpetofauna of the Angolan Okavango- Cuando-Zambezi river drainages. Part 3: Amphibians, Amphibian & Reptile Conservation (e 325) 17 (1), pp. 19-56 : 41

Xenopus petersii Bocage, 1895

Peters’ Clawed Frog ( Fig. 28 ; Map 24 )

Material (40 specimens): PEM A11617–9, PEM A12576–84, INBAC (no number x 4), Cuito River source lake, -12.68935° 18.36012°, 1,431 m asl; PEM A12430–3, pans south of Tempue, -13.55719° 18.85519°, 1,315 m asl; PEM A12519, river crossing before Samboano village, -12.30700° 18.62350°, 1,397 m asl; PEM A12613–5, Calua River source, 6 km SE of Cuito River source, -12.73675° 18.39310°, 1,446 m asl; PEM A12634–5, roadside ditch 10 km SW of Cuito town, -12.44815° 16.88118°, 1,742 m asl; PEM A12682, Camp 3, Malova Village, Mipanha River, -14.09140° 16.41476°, 1,553 m asl; PEM A12691–2, INBAC: WC-5175, Cubango River launch site, -12.61700° 16.22133°, 1,727 m asl; PEM A12694, Cubango River source site, -12.66256° 16.09324°, 1,771 m asl; PEM A12695, INBAC: WC-5173, New dam, Katchingo, -12.60587° 16.22003°, 1,373 m asl; PEM A12697, Chicala Choloanga roadside quarry, -12.63611° 16.04282°, 1,858 m asl; PEM A12779–80, Quembo River, trap 4, -13.13586° 19.04709°, 1,373 m asl; PEM A12909, Quembo River source lake, -13.13624° 19.04591°, 1,411 m asl; PEM A13756, Lungwebungu River old campsite, -12.58319° 18.66573°, 1,284 m asl; PEM A13817, river crossing before Samboano village, -12.20672° 18.06236°, 1,387 m asl; PEM A14776, Quembo River right side tributary (Micongo River) past village, -13.51877° 19.28487°, 1,248 m asl. Additional material (9 specimens, 1 tadpole lot): SAIAB 204517 (1 specimen), Lungwebungu River Bridge, -12.58397° 18.66536°, 1,295 m asl; SAIAB 204468 (1 tadpole), main road bridge over upper Kwanza east of cuito, -11.98433° 17.72197°, 1,267 m asl; SAIAB 204500 (1 specimen), small wooden bridge across wetland on road between Cuanavale source camp and Munhango, -12.30714° 18.62333°, 1,399 m asl; SAIAB 204502 (6 specimens), pool in wetland on road edge west of Munhango, -12.17806° 18.24306°, 1,370 m asl; SAIAB 209086 (1 specimen), Cuvango mission rapids camp, -13.32782° 16.41106°, 1,538 m asl. Description: Medium to large sized pipid; dorsum smooth; eyes on top of head; three clawed toes, no claw on prehallux; extensive webbing. Dorsum varies from light to dark brown; posterior half of ventrum and thighs with orange pigmentation. Adult females (n = 24) varied from 34.2– 74.2 (52.4) mm (largest female: PEM A12682); adult males (n = 16) varied from 37.9–51.2 (45.5) mm (largest male: PEM A11619). Habitat and natural history notes: Aquatic species found in all major waterbodies surveyed. Comments: Furman et al. (2015) split X. petersii and X. poweri , restricting the former mostly to western Angola northward to Gabon. In Angola, this species seems to be absent from the south and east, where it is replaced by X. muelleri and/or X. poweri .

Figures

Map 24. Distribution of Xenopus petersii in Angola.

Fig. 28.Adult female Xenopus petersii from Cuito town. Photo by Werner Conradie.