Hyperolius ocellatus purpurescens Günther, 1858

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

Hyperolius ocellatus purpurescens Günther, 1858

Figures 5B and 6H–I

Material. ANGOLA – Cabinda Province • between Dinge and Chindende; –5.1208, 12.3667; 15 m a.s.l.; FKH 0166 ; GenBank: PQ455735. • Caio Cacongo; –5.0618, 12.2588; 43 m a.s.l.; P2.108; GenBank: PQ455736. • Mayombe NP, Sanga Mongo; -4.6661, 12.4407; 146 m a.s.l.; FKH 0953 , FKH 0957−58 , FKH 0971−73 ; GenBank: PQ455737–42. • Mayombe NP, Mbundu; –4.6875, 12.4981; 127 m a.s.l.; FKH 1234 , FKH 1266 (Tadpoles), FKH 1268−69 , P3.225, P4.081 (Tadpoles); GenBank: PQ455743–48. • Mayombe NP, Sanga Wanda; –4.6253, 12.4583; 221 m a.s.l.; P3.192; GenBank: PQ455749. • Mayombe NP, Entrance Sanga Wanda; –4.6304, 12.4714; 219 m a.s.l.; P3.534−5; GenBank: PQ455750−51. • Mayombe NP, Chimbete; -4.6631, 12.5447; 182 m a.s.l.; FKH 1240 , FKH 1242 ; GenBank: PQ455752–53. • Mayombe NP, Quissoki; –4.6028, 12.8736; 336 m a.s.l.; P3.153; GenBank: PQ455754. • Mayombe NP, Vaku; –4.6323, 12.8937; 319 m a.s.l.; FKH 0947 ; GenBank: PQ455755 .

Identification. Hyperolius ocellatus is a medium-sized reed frog (SVL = 27−34 mm) with pronounced sexual dimorphism in size and colour pattern, displaying several documented female morphotypes, and with two subspecies currently recognised ( Bell et al. 2017). Males are usually green with a white triangular mask between the top of the eyes and the snout, and two white dorsolateral bands from the eyes to the anterior insertion of the hind limb ( Figure 6I ). Our female specimens correspond to the morphotype in which the females have a bright yellow ventrum, and the dorsal and limb colouration is greyish to white with characteristic black “ocelli” ( Figure 6H ). The species was described from Bioko Island, Equatorial Guinea, and Angola (Laurent, 1943). However, Perret (1975) restricted the type locality to Bioko Island, Equatorial Guinea, to bring taxonomic stability to the species. Material from Cabinda Province differs from topotypic material of H. ocellatus (GenBank: MK509614 ) by 3.2% (16S p -distance). It clusters with a clade ascribed to Hyperolius ocellatus purpurescens from Ivindo, Gabon and Cuvette, Republic of the Congo ( Bell et al. 2017), from which it differs by ∼2.5% and ∼1.5% (16S p -distance), respectively (GenBank: MF376543 , MF376630 ). Consequently, we regard the material from Cabinda Province to be conspecific with H. o. purpurescens.

Biology and distribution. This species complex is widely distributed in the Gulf of Guinea and the Congo Basin, including Bioko Island. In Cabinda Province, the species appears to be relatively common and widely distributed in forested habitats, and only absent from the Coastal Drier Belt. It was typically found calling from vegetation near water in primary and secondary forest, and often in sympatry with other Hyperolius species reported in this work.

Figures

Figure 5. Tadpoles found in Mayombe National Park and Cabinda Province, Angola. Codes in brackets represent field numbers. A. Leptopelis aubryi (P3.545); B. Hyperolius ocellatus purpurescens (FKH 1266); C. Chiromantis rufescens (P3.200); D. Ptychadena anchietae (P3.524) from Sanga Wanda, Lower Mayombe; and E. Hylarana (Amnirana) albolabris (P3.212) from Mbundo, Lower Mayombe. Photographs by PVP.

Figure 6. Species of the family Hyperoliidae recorded from Mayombe National Park and Cabinda Province, Angola. Codes in brackets represent field numbers. A. Afrixalus aff. dorsalis (P2.068) from Sanga Mongo, B. Mbundu (P3.127), Lower Mayombe and C. Tando Zinze (P1.150). D. Afrixalus osorioi (P3.175) from Miconge, Upper Mayombe. E. Afrixalus paradorsalis (P3.520) from Sanga Wanda, Lower Mayombe and F. Vaku (P2.060), Upper Mayombe. G. Hyperolius adspersus (P1.147) from Tando Zinze. H. Female Hyperolius ocellatus (P9.062) from South of Dinge and I. male H. ocellatus from Sanga Mongo, Lower Mayombe (P2.078) J. Hyperolius olivaceus (P3.173), K. (P2.222) and L. (P2.227) from Miconge, Upper Mayombe, and M. (P3.205) from Lower Mayombe. N. Hyperolius parallelus (P1.298) from Tando Zinze. O. Male Hyperolius pardalis (P3.143) from Chimbete, Lower Mayombe, and P. females of H. pardalis from Sanga Mongo, Lower Mayombe (P2.083) and Q. from South of Dinge (P9.058). R. Hyperolius platyceps (P2.067) and S. (P2.102) from Sanga Mongo, Lower Mayombe. T. Hylambates leonardi (P2.095) in amplexus, from Sanga Mongo, Lower Mayombe. Photographs by PVP (A–I, K–M, O–T), JLR (J) and TB (G, N).