Leptopelis ocellatus (Mocquard, 1902)

Lobón-Rovira, Javier, Lobón-Rovira, Baptista, Ninda L, Clark, Tyron, Verburgt, Luke, Jongsma, Gregory Fm, Conradie, Werner, and, Luis Veríssimo, Vaz, Pedro & Pinto, 2025, Filling the gaps: herpetological checklist of Mayombe National Park and Cabinda Province (Angola) shed light on one of the most unexplored corners of tropical Central Africa, African Journal of Herpetology 74 (1), pp. 1-59 : 1-59

Leptopelis ocellatus (Mocquard, 1902)

Figure 4M

Material. ANGOLA – Cabinda Province • between Dinge and Chindende; –5.1208, 12.3667; 15 m a.s.l.; FKH 0170 ; GenBank: PQ455863. • Mayombe NP, Sanga Wanda; -4.6253, 12.4583; 221 m a.s.l.; FKH 1229 , P3.204, P3.517; GenBank: PQ455864–65, PQ455862. • Mayombe NP, Bata Lunhuca; –4.5981, 12.4597; 215 m a.s.l.; P4.090; GenBank: PQ455866 .

Identification. A medium-sized Leptopelis (SVL = 46–58 mm) that can be distinguished from other Leptopelis occurring in Cabinda Province by having large dark markings on the flanks, hidden parts of the limbs bright yellow with dark marbling, and coppercoloured eyes. The material from this study is almost identical (0.8% 16S p -distance) to material from Lekoumou, Republic of the Congo (GenBank: KY080253 ), but differs by ∼2.3% (16S p -distance) from material collected from Birougou, Gabon (∼ 215 km from the type locality) (GenBank: KX260264 ).

Biology and distribution. The species is distributed from Cameroon to Cabinda Province and western DRC ( Channing and Rödel 2019). Leptopelis ocellatus can be found in a wide panoply of ecological zones from lowland forest to more disturbed areas. In Cabinda Province, this species has been found in gallery, primary and secondary forests, in the Littoral Peneplain and Lower Mayombe, in sympatry with L. aubryi , L. cf. aubryioides , L. boulengeri and L. cf. calcaratus .

Figures

Figure 4. Species of the families Arthroleptidae, Bufonidae and Dicroglossidae recorded from Mayombe National Park and Cabinda Province, Angola. Codes in brackets represent field tissue numbers. A. Arthroleptis adelphus from Miconge, Upper Mayombe (P3.186). B. A. carquejai (P3.123) and C. A. aff. poecilonotus (P3.119) from Sanga Wanda, Lower Mayombe. D. A. sylvaticus from Miconge, Upper Mayombe (P2.194). E. Cardioglossa leucomystax from Vaku (P2.031) and from F. Miconge (P2.218), Upper Mayombe. G. Leptopelis aubryi from Mbundu, Lower Mayombe (P3.214). H. L. cf. aubryioides (P3.514), I. L. boulengeri (P3.523) and J. L. cf. calcaratus (P3.513) from Sanga Wanda, Lower Mayombe. K. L. cf. jordani (P3.163) from Lombe River, Vaku, Upper Mayombe. L. L. millsoni (P9.070) from South of Dinge. M. L. ocellatus (P3.113) from Sanga Wanda, Lower Mayombe. N. L. rufus (P2.045) from Vaku, Upper Mayombe O. Scotobleps gabonicus (P3.139) from Chimbete, Lower Mayombe. P. Trichobatrachus robustus (P2.181) from Miconge, and Q. Nectophryne afra (P2.063) from Vaku, Upper Mayombe. R. N. aff. batesii (P3.224) from Mbundu, Lower Mayombe. S. Sclerophrys sp. (P2.042) from Vaku, Upper Mayombe. T. S. pusilla (P2.094) from Sanga Mongo, Lower Mayombe. U. S. regularis (P1.142) from Tando Zinze. V. S. tuberosa (P3.509) from Sanga Wanda, Lower Mayombe. W. Hoplobatrachus occipitalis (P9.073) from South of Dinge. Photographs by PVP (A–J, L, N, P–T, V–W), JLR (K, M, O) and TB (U).