Abstract
Egg clutches of the centrolenid Hyalinobatrachium pulveratum were sampled in four lowland locations of Costa Rica. The ontogenesis of the tadpoles of this species is documented by periodical descriptions of the larval stages. Larvae of H. pulveratum change their shape during development because of the non-equal growth of some body parts. Due to these changes the larvae in early stages of development differ considerably to those from later stages. Young larvae have a nearly circular cross-section, whereas later larval stages change to a typical flat shape. Some further morphological characteristics like width of the interorbital distance and the oral disk width change but not proportional to larvae length. Numerous measurements on different larval sizes help to recognize the larvae of H. pulveratum in all stages. The striking bright red hyobranchial sinus is the conspicuous characteristic feature ventrally of the hyobranchial apparatus. The use of allometric values for taxonomic and ontogenetic studies is discussed.
Highlights
Seven species of the Hyalinobatrachium centrolenid frogs have been reported from Costa Rica (Savage 2002, Kubicki 2004)
Because Savage (2002) accounted that the tadpoles of Hyalinobatrachium pulveratum (Peters, 1873) still remain unknown, a wide range of larvae stages of this species is described in the present study
The objective of the present study is the description of the still undescribed larvae of H. pulveratum – it will give an example for the dynamic of ontogenesis of some external tadpole characters
Summary
Eggs of H. pulveratum were collected from oviposition clutches in seven Costa Rican locations: four of them are situated in the cantón Pococí, two in Guácimo (both are cantons of the northeastern Caribbean lowland, Limón Province), and one clutch was sampled in the southwestern opposite region of Golfito (Puntarenas Province). The embryos were at first bright light-green due to yolk color All hatchlings included those from Guácimo and Golfito were reared in ambient field conditions in the experimental farm Ombú, Pococí (70 m above sea level). To prove that the sampled clutches are really such of H. pulveratum, most of the tadpoles of clutches # 1, 2, and 3 were reared to froglets One frog of these clutches is deposited in the author’s collection. Between August 2000 and April 2001, the tadpoles of the studied populations were sampled for periodical measurements and description. Both were realized on live anesthetic specimens using a dissecting microscope and ocular micrometer at 8 and 25 times augmentation.
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