Nothophryne ribauensis, Conradie & Bittencourt-Silva & Bittencourt-Silva & Farooq & Loader & and & Tolley, 2018

Conradie, Werner, Bittencourt-Silva, Gabriela B., Bittencourt-Silva, Farooq, Harith M., Loader, Simon P., and, Michele Menegon & Tolley, Krystal A., 2018, New species of Mongrel Frogs (Pyxicephalidae: Nothophryne) for northern Mozambique inselbergs, African Journal of Herpetology 67 (1), pp. 61-85 : 77-79

publication ID	https://doi.org/10.1080/21564574.2017.1376714
DOI	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15555713
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03D8B56C-FFA2-FFEB-FF4D-7AFE4E35FF4B
treatment provided by	Felipe
scientific name	Nothophryne ribauensis
status	sp. nov.

Treatment

Nothophryne ribauensis View in CoL sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:5BCE8B9A-96A3-4872-A54F-1C8CBAA76CD1

Ribáuè Mongrel Frog; Ribáuè Mountain Frog ( Figs 8A–D View Figure 8 )

Synonym — Nothophryne broadleyi – Blake 1965, p. 38, Poynton 1966, p. 23, Poynton & Broadley 1985, p. 173 (in part); Poynton & Broadley 1991, p. 262 (in part); Broadley 2001, p. 34 (in part); Channing 2001, p. 301 (in part); Mercurio 2011, p. 286 (in part); Conradie et al. 2016 (part).

Holotype — PEM A11372 View Materials , adult male, collected from the eastern slopes of Mount M’ pàluwé, part of the Ribáuè massif (14.91186° S, 38.31623° E, 632 m asl), Mozambique by W. Conradie and H.M. Engelbrecht on 3 December 2014. GoogleMaps

Paratype male — PEM A11371 View Materials , adult male. Same collection details as holotype .

Paratypes female (2) — PEM A11369-7 View Materials , gravid adult females. Same collection details as holotype .

Additional material (6) — PEM A12174 View Materials , 12176-78 View Materials , NHML NHM UK 2018.02287-8 all juveniles, collected from the exposed granite slopes of Mount Ribáuè (15.15567° S, 37.42836° E, 1 230 m asl) by W. Conradie, S.P. Loader, K.A. Tolley and G.B. Bittencourt-Silva on 12–14 April 2017 GoogleMaps .

Diagnosis — Nothophryne ribauensis sp. nov. can be distinguished from other Nothophryne by the following: presence of an elevated median lingual process (approximately. 0.1 mm) on the dorsal surface of the tongue ( N. broadleyi – up to 1.0 mm long; N. baylissi sp. nov. – up to 0.5 mm long; N. inagoensis sp. nov. – up to 0.2 mm long; N. unilurio sp. nov. –absent) ( Fig. 2D View Figure 2 ), tympanum clearly visible (differs only form N. baylissi sp. nov. which is obscured or barely visible), and very fast paced call with a very complicated call structure (compared to the more evenly spaced or clustered calls of N. broadleyi and N. ribauensis sp. nov.). The sequences of Nothophryne ribauensis sp. nov. differ from the other species of Nothophryne by 4–6% (16S p-distance) and 2–5% (RAG1 p-distance). Nothophryne ribauensis sp. nov. is allopatric with all other Nothophryne species.

Etymology —The new species is named after Mount Ribáuè, from which it is currently only known from both Mount Ribáuè and Mount M’ pàluwé section of the massif.

Description of holotype —Small to medium size frog, SUL 18.1 mm. Body is slender, dorsolateral flattened, widest at armpits. Head broad (HW/SUL 0.39), rounded from above in profile, head length is moderate to short (HL/SUL 0.33). Canthus rostralis rounded, straight from eye to nostril, loreal region slightly sloped outwards towards nostrils. Nostrils small, rounded, directed laterally, teardrop shaped angled downwards and backwards to eye, positioned slightly closer to the snout than the eye (EN/SL 0.54). Internarinal distance is larger than distance between eye and nostril (IND/EN 1.36). Eyes directed anterolaterally, the eyes protrude, and visible from below, moderate to large in size (ED/HW 0.38; ED/HL 0.46), nearly twice the interorbital distance (ED/IOD 1.92). Distance between anterior corners of eyes is smaller than the internostril distance (IOD/IND 0.73). The angle of the jaw slopes slightly upwards posteriorly from snout to just behind eye level. Tympanum clearly visible, with a light glandular ridge above tympanum from eye to base of forearm. Jaws without maxillary and premaxillary teeth, lower jaw with small anterior vomerine odontophore with central projection; choanae small, round, located at anterior margins of the roof of the mouth; tongue very long (4.3 mm), same width proximally to distally (∼ 2.2 mm), bifurcated distally, first 25% attached to lower jaw, no narrow median lingual process present on the dorsal surface of the tongue.

The dorsal surfaces of the head, trunk and limbs are smooth, with slightly raised glands and skin folds present; the rictal gland is smooth slightly elevated from angle of jaw to form a continues posteriorly ridge just before arm insertion, with some white tipped asperities. Supratympanic fold conspicuous; throat with no enlarge anterior scattered asperities. No gular pouch or flap present, a small slit on the inside of the mouth at the angle of the jaw gives access to the vocal sac. Ventrally smooth, upper jaw protruding over lower jaw, with very light mottled appearance, vocal sac dark with no mottled appearance anteriorly, getting mottled to about arm insertion ( Fig. 8D View Figure 8 ).

The forelimbs are stubby, hands small (HAL/SUL 0.25), fingertips bluntly rounded and slightly swollen. Relative finger lengths I <II <IV <III; subarticular tubercles distinct, rounded, with one on each finger, no proximal subarticular present. No webbing between fingers. Thenar tubercle small, rounded, partially obscured by nuptial pad that reaches the distal phalanx of the first finger; inner metacarpal tubercle absent, outer metacarpal tubercle inconspicuous, central metacarpal tubercle present. One very small palmar tubercle present on the palm at the base of Finger III.

Hind limbs moderately long (TL/SUL 0.56; FL/SUL 0.54), feet nearly equal in length of tibia (TL/FL 1.0); thighs are moderately developed, with rough elevated glands on the inner posterior faces; relative toe lengths are I <II <III <V <IV. The toe tips are slightly expanded; subarticular tubercles: one on Toes I to III, two on Toes IV and V. No webbing between toes. Inner metatarsal tubercle conical and prominent, outer metatarsal tubercle absent.

Colour in life ( Fig. 8A View Figure 8 ) —The dorsum brown with darker raised glands covered with small white tipped asperities, no lighter vertebral line present, a light yellow to white triangle on snout, lighter mid-dorsal chevron patch present. Venter is clear with slight black mottling and blotches. Nuptial pads prominent, but lighter than rest of fingers. Arms and legs are strongly cross-banded.

Colour in preservative —The dorsum dark brown with small white tipped asperities on the darker raised glands, dorsal lighter vertebral line absent, mid-dorsal light patch present. Venter immaculate white with no bold black pigmentation, throat finely and evenly black pigmentation up to anterior chest region above line with forearms. The inner thighs and anterior abdomen free of pigmented, forearms slightly pigmented. Palm and sole of feet darkened.

Variation —Additional paratype male conform to the holotype description in all regards and showed similar body proportions described above ( Table 2 View Table 2 ; Supplementary Table 4). All specimens examined, except for paratype female ( PEM A11370 View Materials ), showed no light vertebral line with mid-dorsum lighter patch. Paratype females conform to holotype, except: dorsum smoother with no elevated glands or skin folds, throat slightly mottled, longer thinner fingers, tips more swollen. Thenar tubercle much larger, rounded, palmar tubercles obvious, rounded, with on the palm, one at base of each finger, except Finger III with two, more prominent than in the males. Central metacarpal tubercle much larger than outer metacarpal tubercle, which is elevated.

Advertisement call —The following call description is based on a single male recorded on the eastern slopes of the Ribáuè massif, specifically Mount M’ pàluwé (part of the massif) on 3 December 2014 at approximately 20:00 ( Fig. 4C View Figure 4 ). Adult males were calling exposed from a seepage area over exposed rock surface. The call consist out of long “chuckle”, which is repeated up to up to five times in less than 10 s or at a rate of 128 calls per minute with the dominant frequency at 2 842 Hz and the fundamental frequency at 1 335 Hz. The call duration is 0.56 ± 0.40 s and is separated from the next call by 2.45 ± 2.02 s (n = 11). The call structure is very complicated with up to 15 pulsed groups of notes.

Natural History —Males call exposed from seepages over rock face ( Fig. 8B View Figure 8 ). Distribution —Currently only known from Mount Ribáuè in central Mozambique.