The tadpole of Leptodactylus pentadactylus (Anura: Leptodactylidae) from Central Amazonia

Abstract

The Leptodactylus pentadactylus species group is composed of 19 species of medium to large-sized frogs with distributions in tropical forest, cerrado, and caatinga habitats of Central and South America (Frost 2010). Nine of them are associated with Amazonian Biome (Frost 2010). The larvae of five species have been formally described for species occurring in this region: L. knudseni, L. lithonaetes, L. rhodomystax, L. rhodonotus, and L. rugosus (Heyer 1979, 1995; Heyer & Thompson 2000; Heyer & Heyer 2006; Rodrigues et al. 2007). The majority of the species in the L. pentadactylus group deposits foam nests in excavated basins close to water bodies and the tadpoles complete their development in the water (see Silva & Giaretta 2009). But other species (L. pentadactylus and L. stenodema) deposit foam nests in burrows or cavities in the forest floor isolated from forest pools or swamps and the tadpoles complete their development in the nests (Hero & Galatti 1990). The tadpole of L. pentadactylus has been mentioned briefly in two papers, but has not yet been formally described. Hero & Galatti (1990) presented a brief description of specimens from Manaus, Brazil; and Hero (1990) described a few external features (e.g. LTRF and body coloration) for an identification key of tadpoles of the Brazilian central Amazon. In this paper we describe the tadpole of L. pentadactylus based on individuals from several stages of development and also provide comments on the spawning sites.