Kassina kuvangensis ( Monard, 1937 )

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 : 37

Kassina kuvangensis ( Monard, 1937)

Kuvangu Kassina ( Fig. 22 ; Map 19 )

Material (9 specimens, 5 tadpole lots): PEM A12496– 7, unnamed side-triburaty source of Cuanavale River, -13.07518° 18.88481°, 1,374 m asl; PEM A12775–6, Quembo River, trap 4, -13.13586° 19.04709°, 1,369 m asl; PEM A12781, Quembo River trap 1, -13.13592° 19.04417°, 1,369 m asl; PEM A12825, Quembo River, trap 3, -13.13073° 19.03725°, 1,445 m asl; PEM A14116 (tadpoles), river crossing before Sombanana village, -12.30710° 18.62350°, 1,407 m asl; PEM A12828, PEM A14119 (tadpoles), Calua River source 6 km SE of Cuito River source, -12.73675° 18.39310°, 1,446 m asl; PEM A14089 (tadpoles), 4 km upstream from Cuanavale River source, -13.05084° 18.89726°, 1,394 m asl; PEM A14096, Dala River, near Samanga village, -12.93169° 18.81458°, 1,363 m asl; PEM A14101 (tadpoles), 4 km downstream from Cuanavale River source camp, -13.11585° 18.90246°, 1,354 m asl; PEM A14104 (tadpoles), confluence of Cuito and Calua rivers, -13.12458° 18.89989°, 1,345 m asl; PEM A14804, Luio River camp floodplains, -13.19711° 20.22194°, 1,181 m asl. Additional material (4 tadpole lots): SAIAB 209127 (1 tadpole), SAIAB 209107 (2 tadpoles), swamp near Cuanavale River lake camp, -13.10750° 18.86089°, 1,386 m asl; SAIAB 209108 (22 tadpoles), pool in wetland on road edge west of Munhango, -12.17806° 18.24306°, 1,381 m asl; SAIAB 209089 (4 tadpoles), Calua lagoon, -12.73599° 18.39394°, 1,448 m asl. Description: Large sized Kassina ; tympanum visible; elliptical vertical pupils; large inner metatarsal tubercle; subarticular tubercle well-developed. Dorsum very dark olive-brown, with scattered large darker brown yellow-edged irregular shaped spots; ventrum yellow, but in some individuals has black-edged white/yellow spots. In females, the cloaca sides are swollen. In males, the gular flap is dark and the glands behind eye/head are enlarged. Adult females (n = 2) varied from 51.9–53.3 (52.6) mm (largest female: PEM A14096); adult males (n = 7) varied from 38.4–52.9 (43.7) mm (largest male: PEM A12781). Tadpoles can get very large (up to 135 mm total length); LTRF 1/2(1), with strong jaw sheaths. Habitat and natural history notes: In the evenings, males call from the margins of source lakes and flooded areas while clinging to vegetation, and quickly submerge themselves when disturbed. Comments: These new records and other records from Uíge Province, which are the northwesternmost records (Ernst et al. 2020), represent the first adult K. kuvangensis for Angola since the original species description ( Monard 1937). The new localities recorded here lie between the species type locality in Angola (Kuvango, Monard 1937) and western Zambia ( Poynton and Broadley 1987, 1991; Channing 2001).

Figures

Map 19. Distribution of Kassina kuvangensis in Angola.

Fig. 22. Adult female Kassina kuvangensis from Cuanavale River source. Photo by Werner Conradie.