Feihyla vittiger ( Boulenger, 1897 ) Biju & Garg & Gokulakrishnan & Chandrakasan & Thammachoti & Ren & Gopika & Bisht & Hamidy & Shouche, 2020

Biju, S. D., Garg, Sonali, Gokulakrishnan, G., Chandrakasan, Sivaperuman, Thammachoti, Panupong, Ren, Jinlong, Gopika, C., Bisht, Karan, Hamidy, Amir & Shouche, Yogesh, 2020, New insights on the systematics and reproductive behaviour in tree frogs of the genus Feihyla, with description of a new related genus from Asia (Anura, Rhacophoridae), Zootaxa 4878 (1), pp. 1-55 : 27

Feihyla vittiger ( Boulenger, 1897) comb. nov.

Javan Jelly-nest Frog

( Figs. 1–2 , 4 , 6 ; Tables 1–2 )

Original name and description. Ixalus vittiger Boulenger, 1897 . Boulenger G.A. 1897. Descriptions of new Malay frogs. Annals and Magazine of Natural History, 19: 106–108. Type. Holotype, BMNH 1947.2.7.58. Type locality. “Pengalengan”, West Java, Indonesia. Current status of specific name. Valid name as Feihyla vittiger ( Boulenger, 1897) comb. nov.

Taxonomic remarks. This species is morphologically close to Feihyla inexpectata and the same is also confirmed phylogenetically based on the new sequence data included in our study ( Fig. 1 ). Furthermore, its reproductive mode (eggs deposited in jelly nests) ( Fig. 6 ) is possibly also a phenotypic synapomorphy for the genus Feihyla ( Li et al. 2009; Hertwig et al. 2013; present study). Hence, we propose that Chiromantis vittiger ( Boulenger, 1897) be transferred to genus Feihyla .

Diagnosis. Small to medium-sized adults (male SVL 24–27 mm, female SVL 23–26 mm) with a slender body; snout rounded to truncate in dorsal view, and truncate in lateral view; dorsal skin shagreened to sparsely granular, with or without scattered spinules; dorsal colouration variable, ranging from light lemon yellow to light or dark brown, with or without a reddish tinge; dorsum with or without contrasting dark spots and minute speckles, even within the same population; upper arm, loreal, canthal and tympanic regions, lateral surfaces of abdomen, and anterior and posterior parts of thigh, non-pigmented (flesh coloured); a white streak starting from the snout tip and extending along the lateral surfaces up to the groin, separates the dorsal and lateral body colouration; the first two fingers opposed to the others; foot webbing moderate, up to the second tubercle on either side of toe IV.

Genetic divergence. Phylogenetically, F. vittiger is closely related to members of the Feihyla vittiger group ( Fig. 1 ). For the 16S mitochondrial gene, it differs by average uncorrected genetic distances of: 9.5–9.9% from F. inexpectata and 12.6–12.8% from F. kajau . For interspecific genetic distances with other congeners, see Table 2 .

Distribution. Feihyla vittiger is currently known only from the Indonesian island of Java: Bogor, Pengalengan, and Mount Halimun-Salak National Park in West Java, and Banwumas in Central Java.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Maximum Likelihood tree showing phylogenetic relationships among 124 representative taxa from all recognised genera of the subfamily Rhacophorinae. Relationships are inferred based on 1,937 bp of mitochondrial (12SrRNA, tRNAVAL, 16SrRNA) and nuclear (RHO and RAG1) genes. Numbers above and below the branches indicate Bayesian Posterior Probabilities and RAxML bootstrap support values, respectively.

FIGURE 2. A–B. DNA Barcoding based on mitochondrial 16S rRNA sequences: A. genus Feihyla; B. genus Rohanixalus gen. nov.; C. distribution of the new genus Rohanixalus. Images represent the corresponding species and their broad geographical ranges.

FIGURE 4. Distribution of genetically confirmed records of all known Feihyla and Rohanixalus members (indicated by circles) and their respective type localities (indicated by triangles). Numbers corresponding to each species are indicated alongside the distribution spots.

FIGURE 6. Members of the Feihyla vittiger group and their nest structure. A. F. inexpectata in dorsolateral view; B. F. kajau in dorsolateral view; C. eggs of F. kajau; D. early development in F. kajau at approximately stage 19; E. F. vittiger in dorsolateral view; F. an egg clutch of F. vittiger with developing embryos (approximately stage 21); G–M. Feihyla vittiger in life: G–J. dorsolateral view; K. dorsal view; L. posterior view of thighs; M. lateral view.