Hyperolius lamottei Laurent, 1958

Channing, A., Hillers, A., Lötters, S., Rödel, O., Schick, S., Conradie, W., Rödder, D., Wagner, P., Dehling, J. M., Du Preez, L. H., Kielgast, J. & Burger, M., 2013, Taxonomy of the super-cryptic Hyperolius nasutus group of long reed frogs of Africa (Anura: Hyperoliidae), with descriptions of six new species, Zootaxa 3620 (3), pp. 301-350 : 329-330

Hyperolius lamottei Laurent, 1958

Lamotte's Reed Frog

( Fig. 12 )

Synonymy: Hyperolius nasutus Channing et al., 2002 (part)

Genetic material. ZMB 76536–7(Loma Mountains, Sierra Leone); ZMB 76535 (Nimini Forest Reserve, Sierra Leone); ZMB 76525 (Korombadou/ Tourou, Guinea); ZMB 76532 (Mont Béro Forest Reserve, Guinea); ZMB 76526–27 (Nimba Mountains, Guinea); three samples (no vouchers), (Mare d'hivenage, Nimba, Guinea); ZMB 76516 (Savanne de But, Nimba, Guinea); ZMB 76523–24 (Nimba Mountain, Guinea) ( Fig. 1 ).

Diagnosis. It is distinguished on the overall yellow background colour pattern, rounded body shape and advertisement call from the species in the H. nasutus clade. The call ( Fig. 12 ), recorded at Lamto by Arne Schiøtz, is a brief unpulsed whistle that has a duration of 0.08 s, and a dominant frequency of 3.5 kHz. See Table 3 for a summary of call parameters. It is known mostly from high altitude grassland, in Senegal, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Liberia and Ivory Coast (e.g. Rödel & Ernst 2003, Rödel et al. 2004, Adeba et al. 2010). The night-time colour pattern is shown in Figure 12 , and the day-time pattern is illustrated in Schiøtz (1999) and Rödel & Ernst (2003). In our dataset, H. lamottei is outside the H. nasutus group, with a genetic distance for the 16S fragment of 13.2–16.4% to the species inside the group. Tissues were available from near the type locality.

Description of Nimba material. A male ZBM 76526, from the type locality, Mount Nimba, Guinea: Body long and slender, widest at temporal region, almost parallel to groin; head comparatively small (HL/SUL 0.33, HW/SUL 0.28), not wider than trunk, longer than wide (HL/HW 1.14); snout long (SL/HL 0.44), subelliptical in dorsal view, protruding in profile ( Fig. 6 ), considerably projecting beyond lower jaw, almost as wide as long (SL/ EE 0.97); canthus rostralis indistinct, round, very slightly concave from eye to nostril, slightly convex near tip of snout; loreal region almost vertical, slightly concave; nostril directed dorsolaterally; situated much closer to tip of snout than to eye (EN/NS 1.6), separated from each other by distance greater than distance between eye and nostril (NN/EN 1.19); eyes directed anterolaterally, moderately protruding, relatively small (ED/HL 0.38); eye diameter shorter than snout (ED/SL 0.87); interorbital distance almost equalling upper eyelid (IO/EW 0,94), and greater than internarial distance (IO/NN 1.53); tympanum not visible externally; upper jaw with dentition; choanae small, oval, located far anterolaterally at margins of roof of the mouth, completely concealed by upper jaw in ventral view; vomer processes and teeth absent; tongue broad and heart shaped, free for about three-fourths of length, bifurcated distally for about one-fourth of length; median lingual process absent; vocal sac single, median, subgular, mostly unpigmented and translucent when fully inflated; The gular flap is glandular, white in preservative, with folded skin posteriorly. width of gular flap 4.6, gular flap consisting of one round areas of thickened skin, cream-coloured; vocal sac aperture on each side of the mouth, situated lateral from and close to base of tongue, slit-like, long, directed posterolaterally.

The skin of the dorsum and upper limbs is smooth, with a flat granular belly; supratympanic fold absent.

Fore limbs slender; hand short (HND/SUL 0.18); tips of fingers enlarged into broad oval disks, each with circummarginal groove; relative length of fingers: I<II<IV<III; subarticular tubercles rounded, well developed, with one on fingers I and II, two on fingers III and IV; basal webbing only lacking between fingers I and II; thenar tubercle distinct; palmar tubercles absent; metacarpals without supernumerary tubercles; nuptial pads or asperities absent.

Hind limbs slender, comparatively short (LEG/SUL 1.18); tibio-tarsal articulation almost reaching to level of tip of snout when legs are adpressed to body; tibiofibula short (TFL/SUL 0.41), shorter than thigh (TFL/THL 0.96); heels in contact when knees are flexed and thighs are held laterally at right angle to body; foot shorter than tibiofibula (FOT/TFL 0.81); relative length of toes: I<II<III<V<IV; discs of toes smaller than those of fingers; subarticular tubercles indistinct: one on toes I and II, two on toes III and V, and three on toe IV; pedal webbing formula ( Fig. 7 ) I 1.5–2.5 II 1–2 + III 1 +– 2 IV 1–1.25 V; inner and outer metatarsal tubercle indiscernible.

Colouration in life. The back and flanks are dark beige to yellow and densely covered with minute melanophores, bands of more densely arranged melanophores border broad white dorsolateral bands; the back with a narrow black vertebral line, a white longitudinal band on upper surfaces of tibia, slightly bordered darker, not very distinct. The colour pattern may be either fainter or with much more contrasting darker stripes and lines in different individuals. Colouration in preservative. All colours fade, but the pattern remains distinct.

Eggs and tadpoles. The eggs were described by Schiøtz (1967). The tadpole was described by Arnoult & Lamotte (1958). See Rödel (2000).

Habitat. Humid savanna habitats close to forest belt, mostly in mountainous areas. Reaching altitudes of above 100 m asl. Often in areas with low grasses and rocky ground.

Distribution. Recorded from Senegal, though Sierra Leone, Liberia, southern Guinea into western Ivory Cost (Rödel 2000, Rödel & Ernst (2003). A population from Central Ivory Coast, Lamto Reserve, may be extinct (Adeba et al. 2010).

Remarks. Channing et al. (2002) suggested that this species should be regarded as a junior synonym of H. nasutus , based on similarity of colour pattern and advertisement call structure, which view was disputed by Rödel & Agyei (2003) and Schiøtz (2006b). Molecular evidence presented in this paper shows that it is not in the H. nasutus species group. The sequences of 13 specimens of Hyperolius lamottei all group together forming a clade outside the nasutus group, with little variation. The intraspecific differences in the sample range from 0.0–0.63% for 16S. The conservation status of this species is Least Concern (IUCN 2011).

Figures

FIGURE 1. Map showing the distribution of the sequenced specimens of recognised species in the Hyperolius nasutus group plus H. lamottei. Species numbers represent the following: 1 — H. acuticeps, 2 — H. adspersus, 3 — H. benguellensis, 4 — H. friedemanni sp. nov., 5 — H. howelli sp. nov., 6 — H. igbettensis, 7 — H. inyangae sp. nov., 8 — H. jacobseni sp. nov., 9 — H. lamottei, 10 — H. lupiroensis sp. nov., 11 — H. nasutus, 12 — H. poweri, 13 — H. rwandae sp. nov., 14 — H. dartevellei, 15 — H. viridis, 16 — H. nasicus.

FIGURE 6. Snout profiles of representatives of the species in the Hyperolius nasutus group.

FIGURE 7. Webbing diagrams of representatives of the species in the Hyperolius nasutus group.

FIGURE 12. Hyperolius igbettensis, Lamto, Ivory Coast, photo M. - O. Rödel (A); Hyperolius jacobseni sp. nov. holotype, ZMB 77280, Gatiko, Central African Republic, photo N. Jacobsen (B); Hyperolius inyangae sp. nov. male holotype, ZMB 77276, Rhodes Dam, Nyanga National Park, Zimbabwe, photo A. Channing (C); female paratype H. inyangae, ZMB 77277, same details (D); Hyperolius nasicus, Nyanga Flats, Zimbabwe, photo A. Channing (E); H. lamottei, night pattern, Mt Nimba, Guinea, photo M. - O. Rödel (F); Hyperolius lupiroensis sp. nov., holotype ZMB 77300, Lupiro, Tanzania, photo A. Channing (G).