Atelognathus patagonicus. Aquatic habitat

CUELLO M. E., F. G. JARA AND M. G. PEROTTI

HERPETOLOGICAL REVIEW

Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles

Lugar: New Haven, Connecticut, USA; Año: 2009 vol. 40 p. 198 - 199

0018-084X

&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"Souvenir Lt BT"; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:135 0 0 0 27 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:EN-GB; mso-fareast-language:ES;} a:link, span.MsoHyperlink {color:blue; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed {color:purple; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} @page Section1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:70.85pt 3.0cm 70.85pt 3.0cm; mso-header-margin:36.0pt; mso-footer-margin:36.0pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt; An improved understanding of the aquatic ecology of semi aquatic amphibian is not only important from a conservation perspective, but it may be vital to our understanding of the population dynamics. Atelognathus patagonicus is an endemic frog to an endorrheic wetland system in Laguna Blanca National Park and surroundings, Northwest Patagonia, Argentina (Gallardo 1962. Neotropica 8: 45-68; Cei and Roig 1968. Physis 27: 265-284. ). Two morphological forms have been described for A. patagonicus: an “aquatic form” which has large interdigital membranes, highly developed cutaneous folds on its trunk and thighs, and a “littoral form” with less of these features (Cei and Roig 1968, op. cit.). For this semi-aquatic frog few data is available about its biology (Cuello 2002. Atelognathus patagonicus (Anura, Leptodactylidae): distribución, hábitat, fenología y estado de conservación en el Parque Nacional Laguna Blanca y sus alrededores. Licenciate thesis, Univ. del  Comahue, Bariloche, Argentina 87 pp.; Fox et al. 2005. Copeia 920-928) and no data about use of habitat and activity are available, in particular areas where macrophytes are more abundant. The frog is now extinct in Laguna Blanca  as a result of unauthorized introductions of predatory fishes (two trout species, Oncorhynchus mykiss and Salmo trutta,  and the perca, Perichthys colhuapiensis) and the distribution is restricted at present to 21 neighboring water bodies (between 0.5 ha and 60 ha), smaller than  Laguna Blanca (1780 ha). Because of its extinction from Laguna Blanca, the largest lake of the system, the species was placed in the Endangered category (IUCN, Conservation International, and Nature Serve. 2004. Global Amphibian Assessment. <www.globalamphibians.org>. Downloaded on 13 December 2004). Also, with the introduction of perch in Laguna Blanca some limnological changes were observed: i) a drastic decrease of birds, and ii) a reduction of macro invertebrates and macrophyte cover (largely Myriophyllum quitense). All the changes leaded to an impoverishment of the habitat complexity (Ortubay et al., 2005. Aquatic Conserv. 16: 93-105). The objectives of our study were to determine: 1) A. patagonicus habitat use particularly in areas with abundant macrophytes and 2) the distribution of A. patagonicus at different depths in the pond.