DNA barcode reveals candidate species of Scinax and Ololygon (Anura: Hylidae) in Atlantic Forest.

Lídia Nogueira,Sergio Siqueira,Luís Fernando Da Silva Rodrigues Filho,Mirco Solé,Iracilda Sampaio,Paulo Roberto Antunes De Mello Affonso

doi:10.1590/1678-4685-gmb-2021-0177

Abstract

Molecular species delimitation methods are efficient tools to identify species, including the discovery of new taxa and cryptic organisms, thus being useful to biodiversity studies. In the present work, 16S mitochondrial sequences and cytochrome oxidase I (COI) were used to evaluate the richness of species in the genus Scinax and Ololygon from a biodiversity hotspot in Atlantic Forest. A total of 109 specimens formally belonging to eight species of Scinax and three species of Ololygon were collected in 13 localities along the state of Bahia (northeastern Brazil) and one site in Espírito Santo (southeastern Brazil). Of the Scinax species collected in this study, three were morphologically differentiated from other described species and identified as putative new species (Scinax sp.1, Scinax sp.2 and Scinax sp.3). The species delimitations were inferred using three different methods: ABGD, PTP and mPTP which allowed recognizing 11 Scinax species and five Ololygon species. Scinax sp. 1, Scinax sp. 2 and Scinax sp. 3, have been confirmed as new putative species and Ololygon argyreornata possibly contains cryptic species. We suggest additional studies, including morphological and bioacoustic data to validate these new putative species.

Highlights

Recent taxonomic revisions divided the species of the genus Scinax into three genera: Ololygon (50 spp.), including the taxa formerly recognized within the Scinax catharinae clade, Scinax (72 spp.) composed of species from Scinax ruber clade, and Julianus, placed as a sister group of Scinax in which J. uruguayanus and J. pinima would be synonyms of S. uruguayanus and S. pinima, respectively (Duellman et al, 2016; Frost, 2021).The genus Ololygon is widespread along the Atlantic forest from eastern Brazil southwards to northeastern Argentina and westwards into open forests of the Brazilian Cerrado (Duellman et al, 2016; Nogueira et al, 2016)
A total of 109 specimens formally belonging to eight species of Scinax and three species of Ololygon were collected in Atlantic forest from 13 localities in the state of Bahia and one site in Espírito Santo (Figure 1)
Monophyletic groups were recovered in phylogenetic inferences with strong statistical support ( > 0.98/94), most of them equivalent to the morphologically identified species (O. agilis, O. strigilata, Scinax alter, Scinax auratus, Scinax camposseabrai, Scinax eurydice, Scinax fuscomarginatus, Scinax juncae, Scinax pachycrus, Scinax sp.1, Scinax sp.2, Scinax sp.3, and Scinax x-signatus) (Figure 2)

Summary

Introduction

The genus Ololygon is widespread along the Atlantic forest from eastern Brazil southwards to northeastern Argentina and westwards into open forests of the Brazilian Cerrado (Duellman et al, 2016; Nogueira et al, 2016). The species in this genus are characterized by the lack of anterior process in suprascapula, m. Extensor digitorum comunis longus, and insertion of this muscle at the medial side on the tendon of the m. Extensor brevis medius digiti IV (Faivovich, 2002). The genus Scinax comprises small to medium-sized frogs with slightly truncate discs on fingers and toes (Duellman et al, 2016), widespread from eastern and southern Mexico to Argentina and Uruguay, Trinidad and Tobago, and St. Lucia (Frost, 2021). From a cytotaxonomic point of view, most Scinax species are characterized by the presence of two large metacentric pairs, and NORs on the 11th pair (Cardozo et al, 2011; Nogueira et al, 2015)

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Conclusion