Boophis bottae

Randrianiaina, Roger-Daniel, Raharivololoniaina, Liliane, Preuss, Claudia, Glaw, Frank, Teschke, Meike, Glos, Julian, Raminosoa, Noromalala & Vences, Miguel, 2009, Descriptions of the tadpoles of seven species of Malagasy treefrogs, genus Boophis, Zootaxa 2021, pp. 23-41 : 30-31

Boophis bottae

( Figures 5 and 8 )

The following description refers to one tadpole in developmental stage 36, ZSM 488/2008 (field number LR 247) (TL 30 mm, BL 11 mm) from Analamazaotra Special Reserve. The 16S rDNA sequence of this specimen differs in 2 substitutions over an alignment of 525 bp from a reference sequence of an adult specimen (accession AJ314817 ) from the same locality.

In dorsal view, body elongated ovoid, snout rounded. In lateral view, body depressed, BW 143% of BH, snout as an almost uniform curve. Eyes moderately large, ED 13% of BL, not visible in ventral view, not bulging, positioned more laterally than dorsolaterally but directed dorsolaterally. Pineal ocellus absent. Nares nearly oval, moderately-sized, rimmed, positioned dorsolaterally, directed dorsally, much closer to the eyes than to the snout. RN 136% of NP, NN 57% of PP. Spiracle sinistral, moderately small, slightly conical, inner wall free from body, spiracular opening oval and directed more posteriorly than posterodorsally, the aperture is situated much closer to vent tube than to tip of snout, SS 70% of BL, situated below the longitudinal axis of tail musculature. Vent tube short, dextral, opening at ventral edge of fin, medial vent tube with lateral displacement. Caudal musculature moderately strong, TMH 55% of BH and 56% of MTH, TMW 45% of BW, height of caudal musculature almost the half of total tail height at mid-length of tail, reaching almost tail tip. Caudal fins regular with straight edges, very shallow, MTH 98% of BH; dorsal fin originating at the dorsal tail body junction and slightly taller than ventral fin at mid-length of tail; ventral fin originating at the level of the ventral terminus of the body, following the caudal muscle; tail tip nearly pointed. Oral disk moderately large, ODW 25% of BL and 45% of BW, positioned anteroventrally and directed ventrally, emarginated. Oral disk surrounded by a single row of 66 (32 on the left side and 34 on the right side) marginal papillae interrupted by a large gap on the upper labium (DG 61% of ODW), and by a small medial gap on the lower labium. Five submarginal papillae positioned in the lateral and posterolateral parts of the lower labium. Papillae of moderate size, round or conical with rounded tips. LTRF 1:4+4/1+1:2 after Dubois (1995) and 5(2–5)/3(1) after Altig & McDiarmid (1999). The number of keratodonts on A1 is about 70/mm (a total of 123). The length of interrupted anterior keratodont rows (A2, A3, A4 and A5) decreases gradually towards the center of the disk, P1 and P2 of about similar size, slightly longer than P3. Both jaw sheaths coarsely serrated; upper jaw completely black with a large medial serration surrounded by a smaller on each side forming a slight convexity; lower jaw partially pigmented, V- shaped.

Coloration in preservative. Dorsally: body and tail musculature brownish, covered by scattered dark patches, almost uniform. Intestinal coils not visible dorsally.

Laterally: intestinal coils obscure but partially visible on the lower part of the body; dorsal fin sparsely pigmented; ventral fin clear. Ventrally: bronchial and cardial region not visible through ventral body wall. Intestinal coils dextral, well visible ventrally with regular spiral shape

Figures

FIGURE 5. Drawings of preserved tadpole specimen of Boophis bottae from Analamazaotra Special Reserve (developmental stage 36). (a) dorsal view; (b) lateral view; (c) oral disk. Not drawn to scale.

FIGURE 8. Photographs of the preserved DNA voucher specimens of six Boophis tadpoles described herein, in dorsal and lateral views.