Hylarana (Amnirana) albolabris (Hallowell, 1856)

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

Hylarana (Amnirana) albolabris (Hallowell, 1856)

Figures 5E and 7R

Material. ANGOLA – Cabinda Province • Fazenda Mandarim; –5.0553, 12.0610; 14 m a.s.l. ; P4.074, P4.076; GenBank: PQ455636–37. • Tando Zinze; –5.3241, 12.5073; 29 m a.s.l.; P1.140; GenBank: PQ455634. • Mayombe NP, Chimbete; –4.6631, 12.5447; 182 m a.s.l.; P3.133; GenBank: PQ455635. • Mayombe NP, Mbundu; –4.6875, 12.4981; 127 m a.s.l.; P3.212 (Tadpoles), FKH 1267 (Tadpoles), P3.222, P4.082 (Tadpoles); GenBank: PQ455638–41. • Mayombe NP, Sanga Wanda; –4.6253, 12.4583; 221 m a.s.l. ; P3.115, P3.188, P3.195 (Eggs); GenBank: PQ455642–44. • Mayombe NP, Quissoki; –4.6028, 12.8736; 336 m a.s.l.; P3.154; GenBank: PQ455645. • Mayombe NP, Miconge; –4.4860, 12.8780; 377 m a.s.l.; FKH 1024 , FKH 1026−28 , FKH 1057−58 , P2.211, FKH 1254 , P3.187; GenBank: PQ455646–54 .

Identification. A medium to large (SVL = 57–74 mm) white-lipped frog. The species can be distinguished from other Hylarana species present on Cabinda Province ( H. lepus ) by its smaller size, males having large, elongated glands on the forelimbs (versus small and oval in H. lepus ) and the presence of narrow and continuous glandular dorsolateral ridges from the posterior part of the eye to midbody (versus absent in H. lepus ). Jongsma et al. (2018) reported potential cryptic diversification within this taxon, with one distinctive species in West Africa (which represents an undescribed taxon) and two well-defined lineages in the nominotypical lineage from north and south of the Congo River, respectively. Our material clusters (16S p -distance) with sequences from north of the Congo River (e.g., Republic of the Congo [GenBank: KY080037], Gabon [GenBank: KX289626], Cameroon [GenBank: MG 552470] and Nigeria [GenBank: MG 552474]), some collected within 50 km of the type locality ( Jongsma et al. 2018). Therefore, we regard our material to be conspecific with H. albolabris sensu stricto.

Biology and distribution. The nominotypical lineage of H. albolabris is known to occur across the lowlands and mid-elevation forest along the northern rim of the Congo Basin, including Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Republic of the Congo, northwestern DRC and Cabinda Province ( Jongsma et al. 2018). It represents a forest-dwelling species frequently found near streams and ponds. Specimens from Cabinda Province were found at night in gallery, primary and secondary moist forests, which were often degraded and across the study area from the Coastal Drier Belt to Upper Mayombe. Individuals were typically found perched in branches near water ∼ 1 m above the ground or water.

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 7. Species of the families Phrynobatrachidae, Pipidae, Ptychadenidae, Ranidae and Rhacophoridae recorded from from Mayombe National Park and Cabinda Province, Angola. Codes in brackets represent field numbers. A. Phrynobatrachus auritus (P2.057) and B. (P2.033) from Vaku, Upper Mayombe, C. (P3.141) from Chimbete and D. (P3.191) from Sanga Wanda, Lower Mayombe. E. P. aff. parvulus (P2.115) from Caio Cacungo. F. Amplectant pair of P. aff. parvulus from Sanga Wanda, G. (P3.135) from Chimbete, and H. (P3.124) Mbundu, Lower Mayombe. I. Phrynobatrachus sp. (P2.196) from Miconge, Upper Mayombe. J. Xenopus (Xenopus) allofraseri (P3.121) and K. Xenopus (Xenopus) andrei (P3.533) from Sanga Wanda, Lower Mayombe. L. Xenopus (Silurana) mellotropicalis (P3.176), from Quissoki, Upper Mayombe. M. Hymenochirus feae (P3.544) from Mbundo, Lower Mayombe. N. Ptychadena anchietae (P3.107) from Sanga Wanda, Lower Mayombe. O. Ptychadena mascareniensis OUT 6 (P3.168), Lombe River, Vaku, Upper Mayombe. P. Ptychadena perreti (P2.214) from Miconge, Upper Mayombe Q. Ptychadena taenioscelis (P1.141) from Tando Zinze. R. Hylarana (Amnirana) albolabris (P3.154) from Quissoki and S. Hylarana (Amnirana) aff. lepus (P2.187) from Miconge, Upper Mayombe. T. Chiromantis rufescens (P9.072) from South of Dinge. Photographs by PVP (A–E, G–T), JLR (F).