349.

Goldman's Water Mouse

Rheomys raptor

French: Ichthyomys de Goldman / German: Goldman-Wassermaus / Spanish: Raton de agua de Goldman

Other common names: Goldman's Ichthyomyine

Taxonomy. Rheomys raptor Goldman, 1912, “near head of Rio Limon (altitude 4500 feet [= 1372 m]), Mount Pirri (= Cerro Pirre), eastern Panama.”

Two subspecies are recognized.

Subspecies and Distribution.

R.r.raptorGoldman,1912—EPanama.

R. r. hartmanni Enders, 1938 — Pacific slopes of highlands in Costa Rica and W Panama; a recently collected specimen is from a Caribbean lowland locality.

Descriptive notes. Head—body 92-133 mm, tail 83-119 mm, ear 8-11 mm, hindfoot 24-29 mm. No specific data are available for body weight. Goldman’s Water Mouse is small species of Rheomys, characterized by short and fine fur. Ears are relatively large and hindfoot is relatively small compared with other species of Rheomys . Dorsum is uniformly mixed black and cinnamon,very finely grizzled, and venter is palesilvery gray. Pelage is iridescent in sunlight. Vibrissae are grayish. Tail is unicolored, not thickly haired, and white-tipped.

Habitat. Always associated with clear, rocky bottomed streams bordered by dense highland cloud forest on steep valley slopes.

Food and Feeding. Stomachs of two Goldman’s Water Mice contained caddisfly larvae, beetles, and spiders. Trapped individuals had strong fishy odors, and small fish were abundant in the stream where they were caught.

Breeding. No information.

Activity patterns. Goldman’s Water Mice are active day and night, and are semi-aquatic.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. Goldman’s Water Mice are strong swimmers, capable of moving rapidly against water current. They occupy burrows with tunnels extending c.2 m; entrances are above waterline on banks of streams. A captive Goldman’s Water Mouse was highly vocal and made loud, low-frequency clicking calls by snapping its tongue against roof of its mouth.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List. Goldman's Water Mouse presumably has a large overall population, occurs in protected areas, and is unlikely to be declining at the rate required to qualify for a threatened category.

Bibliography. Durden & Timm (2001), Enders (1938), Goldman (1912b, 1920), Hooper (1968b), Reid (2009), Reid & Langtimm (1993), Reid & Woodman (2008a), Rodriguez-Herrera et al. (2014), Timm & LaVal (2000), Voss (1988).