Hyperolius balfouri (Werner 1908)

Jongsma, Gregory F. M., Tobi, Elie, Dixon-MacCallum, Graham P., Bamba-Kaya, Abraham, Yoga, Jean-Aimé, Mbega, Jean-Daniel, Beh, Jean-Hervé Mve, Emrich, Andrea M., Blackburn Abstract. - We, David C., This, Gabon. & Park, Batéké Plateau National, 2017, Amphibians of Haut-Ogooué Province, southeastern Gabon, Amphibian & Reptile Conservation (e 144) 11 (1), pp. 1-23 : 12

Hyperolius balfouri (Werner 1908)

Material: Four (4) specimens. Doumaye: CAS 258171– 73; GFMJ 1307. Fig. 8E .

Comments: We encountered this species at one site, a pond in savanna habitat near Doumaye ( Fig. 3 ). It was found in open savanna calling from the edge of a pool. Hyperolius adspersus also occurred at this same site. This is a new country record for Gabon. It is distinguishable from other Gabonese species based on its green dorsolateral lines and the presence of a vertebral stripe ( Fig. 8 ). The nearest known population is 715-km north in Cameroon ( Amiet 2012) and represented by the subspecies H. b. viridistriatus. However, based on our 16S sequence data, this is more closely related to populations in East Africa, including ~ 2,180 km east in Mabira, Uganda (CAS 256187). We sequenced the 16S rRNA of CAS 258171–73 and GFMJ 1307 (GenBank accession: MF537676–79), and confirmed their identification using an unpublished dataset (Portik; 100% identical to CAS 256187).

Figures

Fig. 8. Hyperolius olivaceus GFMJ 1381, CAS 258218, GFMJ 1181, CAS 258108 (A–D), H. balfouri GFMJ 1307 (E), H. kuligae CAS 358247 (F, G), H. ocellatus CAS 258177 (H).

Fig. 3. Different habitats sampled in Haut-Ogooué during 2015 field surveys. Lentic habitat in closed forest (A), lotic habitat with closed forest (B, C), lentic habitat at edge of forest (D), lentic habitat in savanna (E), lentic habitat in disturbed open area (F), savanna (G), lentic habitat open forest habitat.