Tadpole Description of <i>Leptobrachella petrops</i> (Rowley, Dau, Hoang, Le, Cutajar et Nguyen, 2017) (Anura: Megophryidae), an Endemic Species of Vietnam

Abstract

Leptobrachella petrops (Rowley, Dau, Hoang, Le, Cutajar et Nguyen, 2017) was recently described from northern Vietnam. The tadpoles of this endemic species were collected for the first time from its type locality in Cham Chu Nature Reserve, Tuyen Quang Province. Taxonomic identification was based on a fragment of 16S rRNA gene of the newly collected tadpole and sequences of the type series obtained from GenBank. Morphological characters of the tadpoles (Gosner stages 25, 28, 35, 36, 43, 44, and 45) are as follows: Size medium, body elliptical, elongated, eyes are dorsolateral, narial apertures with characteristic gently rounded rims, slightly lifted above body surface, breathing hole on the left, vent tube dextral, separated from body and attached to lower fin, tail length exceeding two times body length, both upper and lower tail fins reach maximum height in posterior third, tip of tail pointed; dorsal surface olive-brown with distinct whitish-golden specklings, the tail has large black spots, ventral surface opaque-white, internal gills distinctly reddish. LTRF: 4(2 – 4)/3(1 – 2). In addition, we compare the tadpoles of Leptobrachella petrops with those of other species in the genus Leptobrachella.