The Tadpole of Physalaemus albonotatus (Anura: Leptodactylidae)

A. I. KEHR, E. F. SCHAEFER, Y M. I. DURÉ

JOURNAL OF HERPETOLOGY

Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles (SSAR), Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, USA

Lugar: New Haven, Connecticut, USA; Año: 2004 vol. 38 p. 145 - 148

0022-1511

Physalaemus albonotatus is one of seven species in the Physalaemus cuvieri species group known from Argentina. These species are P. cuvieri, Physalaemus gracilis, Physalaemus henselií, Physalaemus fernandezae, Physalaemus riograndensis, Physalaemus cuqui, and P. albonotatus. The larvae of the first six were described by Bokermann (1962), Langone (1989), Barrio (1953, 1964), Prigioni (1988), and Perotti (1997), whereas the larvae of P. albonotatus remains unknown. Physalaemus albonotatus is distributed in Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul (Brazil), Paraguay, and the Chacoan regions of Bolivia and Argentina (Frost, 2002). Specifically, in Argentina, P. albonotatus occurs in eastern Formosa, Chaco, Corrientes, and Santa Fé (Lobo, 1993; Alvarez et aL, 1996). The tadpole of  P. albonotatus has not been formally described and was mentioned briefly in two papers. Yanosky et al (1997) presented two illustrations, one of a lateral view and one of the oral disc of a larva collected in the north of the province of Formosa, Argentina. External features and the labial tooth row formula [2(2)/4(1)] in that figure, however, do not correspond to tadpoles of P. albonotatus as reported herein (they probably belong to a species of Hylidae). Perotti (1997) only mentioned a few features of P. albonotatus larva from Corrientes in comparison with other Physalaemus larva. These features, a labial tooth row formula of [2(2)/3] and oral disc with a row of three papillae on each side of the mental gap, also differ from the larva of P. albonotatus described here.