Ceratophrys cornuta (Linnaeus, 1758)

Schiesari, Luis, Rossa-Feres, Denise De Cerqueira, Menin, Marcelo & Hödl, Walter, 2022, Tadpoles of Central Amazonia (Amphibia: Anura), Zootaxa 5223 (1), pp. 1-149 : 36-37

Ceratophrys cornuta

External morphology. Description based on one tadpole at Stage 38 (INPA-H 1582). Total length 53.8 mm. Body oval in dorsal view and globular in lateral view ( Fig. 13A, B ). Snout pointed in dorsal view and sloping in lateral view. Eyes small, dorsally positioned and laterally directed. Nostrils small, circular, dorsally positioned, near to eyes, with opening laterally directed, without a projection on the marginal rim. Oral disc ( Fig. 13C ) terminal, anteriorly directed, non-emarginate; marginal papillae great and triangular, uniseriate, continuous. Submarginal papillae absent. LTRF 9(6-9)/9(1-4); rows A1; P8 and P9 shorter than others. Jaw sheaths wide, serrated, both V-shaped; the anterior jaw sheath with a notch, posterior jaw sheath with a pointed projection. Spiracle single, lateroventral, conical, short and wide, posterodorsally directed, opening in the medial third of the body, with the centripetal wall fused to the body wall and longer than the external wall. Vent tube medial, fused to the ventral fin, with a medial opening. Caudal musculature of moderate width; in lateral view gradually tapering to a pointed tip. Dorsal fin of moderate height, convex, originating at the tail-body junction; ventral fin of moderate height, convex. Tail tip rounded.

Colour. In preservative, body and caudal musculature light brown, paler ventrally; fins translucent. Tadpoles after Stage 40 already possess the characteristic dark dorsolateral and interocular bars found in the adults. Tadpoles after Stage 42 start to develop the characteristic palpebral appendages found in the adults. In life, body transparent olive with a silver venter, tail transparent olive (Hero 1990).

Natural history. Eggs were not observed in Central Amazonia. Clutches of C. cornuta from Peru contain 1,640 to 2,270 pigmented eggs ( Aichinger 1992; Duellman 2005). Eggs are deposited in ponds filled with rainwater in terra-firme forests ( Lima et al. 2012).

Comments. These tadpoles were previously characterized by Duellman (1978) from Ecuador, and Duellman (2005) and Duellman & Lizana (1994) from Peru. Tadpoles from Ecuador differ from those herein characterized by presenting LRTF 9(7-9)/9(1-3) ( Duellman 1978), and those from Peru by presenting LTRF 13/8 ( Duellman 2005) and l3(6)/8(2) ( Duellman & Lizana 1994). Tadpoles from Ecuador differ from those herein characterized by presenting vent tube dextral and tail tip pointed ( Duellman 1978), which is rounded in tadpoles from Peru ( Duellman 2005). Tadpoles from Peru differ from those herein characterized by presenting snout bluntly rounded in dorsal view, spiracle posteriorly directed, vent tube dextral, dorsal fin originating at the body-tail junction, marginal papillae elongately conical and tail tip pointed (according to Fig. 5 in Duellman & Lizana 1994). Tadpoles from Central Amazonia illustrated by Hero (1990) differ from those herein characterized by presenting LTRF 6-9(7-9)/6-9(1-3) and rounded tail tip.

DENDROBATIDAE

Genus Ameerega . Two are the species of Ameerega in Central Amazonia. The only species with collected tadpoles is A. hahneli .

Figures

FIGURE 5. Tadpole of Allobates sumtuosus (LCS 552) at Stage 38: (A) lateral view, (B) dorsal view (scale = 10 mm), and (C) oral disc (scale = 1 mm). (D) Dorsolateral view of live tadpole and (E) dorsolateral view of newly metamorphosed froglet.

FIGURE 13. Tadpole of Ceratophrys cornuta (MNRJ s/n) at Stage 38: (A) lateral view, (B) dorsal view (scale = 10 mm), and (C) oral disc (scale = 1 mm).