Arthroleptis aff. poecilonotus Peters, 1863

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

Arthroleptis aff. poecilonotus Peters, 1863 complex

Figure 4C

Material. ANGOLA – Cabinda Province • Nganzi; –5.5304, 12.3236; 78 m. a.s.l.; EI 1129; GenBank: PQ455668 • Cacata; –5.3242, 12.4980; 25 m. a.s.l.; P1.294, FKH-0697; GenBank: PQ455669–70 • between Dinge and Chindende ; –5.1208, 12.3667; 15 m a.s.l.; P9.050, FKH 0155–56 ; GenBank: PQ455671–73. • Mayombe NP, Sanga Mongo; –4.6661, 12.4407; 146 m a.s.l.; FKH 0959 , FKH 0969 ; GenBank: PQ455674–75. • Mayombe NP, Mbundu; –4.6875, 12.4981; 127 m a.s.l.; P3.128, P3.217, P4.099−100, P3.539−40; GenBank: PQ455676–81. • Mayombe NP, Sanga Wanda; –4.6253, 12.4583; 221 m a.s.l.; P3.119−20, FKH 1262 ; GenBank: PQ455682–84. • Mayombe NP, Bata Lunhuca; –4.5981, 12.4597; 215 m a.s.l.; P4.087−89; GenBank: PQ455685–87. • Mayombe NP, Miconge; – 4.4860, 12.8780; 377 m a.s.l.; FKH 1040−44 , FKH 1051 , P2.221, P2.230; GenBank: PQ455693–700. • Mayombe NP, Quissoki; –4.6028, 12.8736; 336 m a.s.l.; P3.156; GenBank: PQ455701. • Mayombe NP, Vaku; –4.6323, 12.8937; 319 m a.s.l.; FKH 0921 −24 ; GenBank: PQ455688–91. • Mayombe NP, Lombe River , Vaku; –4.6403, 12.935; 269 m a.s.l.; P3.160; GenBank: PQ455692.

Identification. Arthroleptis poecilonotus represents a species complex. Material from Cabinda Province is identical to material reported from Mount Kupe, Cameroon (GenBank: KX671725 ), Mayongongo, Republic of the Congo (GenBank: KY080058 ) and other material from Angola ( Baptista 2024). However, this material differs by 3.2% (16S p -distance) from topotypic material of the species in Ghana ( Rockney et al. 2015; GenBank: KU166807 ). Therefore, it is better to regard material from Cabinda Province and northern Angola as Arthroleptis aff. poecilonotus .

Biology and distribution. Members of the A. poecilonotus complex are widely distributed from Guinea Bissau eastwards to Uganda and southwards to Angola ( Sánchez-Vialas et al. 2020; Baptista 2024). In Angola, the species is widely distributed in the northwestern forest regions (Ernst et al. 2020; Baptista 2024). In Cabinda Province, the taxon was recorded in all the four main ecological zones, from the Coastal Drier Belt to Upper Mayombe. It proved to be one of the most common amphibians in Mayombe NP, often found moving among the leaf litter or crossing dirt roads mostly at night, but sometimes during the day.

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).