Ranitomeya flavovittata Schulte 1999

Brown, Jason L., Twomey, Evan, Amézquita, Adolfo, Souza, Moisés Barbosa De, Caldwell, Jana- Lee P., Lötters, Stefan, May, Rudolf Von, Melo-Sampaio, Paulo Roberto, Mejía-Vargas, Daniel, Perez-Peña, Pedro, Pepper, Mark, Poelman, Erik H., Sanchez-Rodriguez, Manuel & Summers, Kyle, 2011, A taxonomic revision of the Neotropical poison frog genus Ranitomeya (Amphibia: Dendrobatidae) 3083, Zootaxa 3083 (1), pp. 1-120 : 66-68

Ranitomeya flavovittata Schulte 1999

Account authors: E. Twomey, J.L. Brown, P. Perez-Peña

Figs. 3, 4, 9, 23 (e – i), 29

Tables 1, 4 – 6

Dendrobates flavovittatus Schulte 1999: p.80 [CRS BD 10H (holotype) from “Boca des Río Tahuayo, Nordufer, 120 m NN” = mouth of Río Tahuayo, north shore, 120 m. a.s.l, collected by Rainer Schulte];— Lötters & Vences 2000: p. 252; Brown et al. 2006: p. 46, Fig. 1; Roberts et al. 2006a: p. 378, Table 1, Figs. 2, 4; Santos et al. 2009, by implication

Ranitomeya flavovittata — Grant et al. 2006: p.171; Lötters et al. 2007: p. 47, Figs. 595, 596; Twomey & Brown 2008: p. 129, Table 3, Fig. 6, 2009: p. 50; von May et al. 2008a: p. 395, Appendix 2; Perez-Peña et al. 2010: p. 2, Figs. 7, 8, 13

Background information. This species was described from a single juvenile reared in the laboratory of INIBICO (Instituto de Investigación Biológica de las Cordilleras Orientales, Tarapoto, Peru). Schulte (1999) suggested that this species was closely related to Adelphobates quinquevittatus and A. castaneoticus , primarily on the basis of larval morphology. Schulte (1999) described the call as follows: “a short, harsh trill-call, this call type is unprecedented in Peru and forms a new call group” [translated from German]. Although the description was lacking in some aspects (particularly with regard to intraspecific variation), Lötters & Vences (2000), in a severe critique of Schulte (1999), nevertheless agreed on the validity of R. flavovittata . Roberts et al. (2006a) published the first genetic data for this species, supporting its validity, and found it to be nested within the vanzolinii group as the sister taxon to R. vanzolinii .

Morphologically, R. flavovittata strongly resembles R. yavaricola , although the latter lacks black markings on the legs. Each of the traits appears to be fixed within each species, respectively ( Perez-Peña et al. 2010).

Tadpole. The description is based on a single tadpole in stage 26 from Río Tahuayo, Loreto, Peru. Tadpole in stage 26. Body ovoid in dorsal view, wider near vent. Total length 17 mm; body length 7.3; tail length 9.7, 57% of total length. Body width 6.9; body depth 5.4, 78% of body width. Eye well developed; naris small; distance from naris to anterior edge of eye 1.8. Eye positioned dorsally on head, directed dorsolaterally. Spiracle well developed; vent tube dextral.

Tip of tail bluntly rounded. Tail muscle height at base of tail 2.7; tail muscle width at base of tail 1.7; maximum tail height 3.9. Dorsal fin slightly higher than ventral fin.

Oral disc ventral, emarginate; transverse width 1.9, 28% of body width. Single row of small papillae present laterally and ventrally; dorsal gap where papillae absent. LTRF 2(2)/3(1) with A-1 developed on upper labium, A-2 with wide medial gap (one-third total width of oral disc); P-1 on lower labium with narrow medial gap; P-3 80% width P-1; P-2 equal to width P-1.

Color in life. Head whitish, mouthparts visible from above. Abdomen whitish, mostly transparent, intestinal coils tan, heart visible. Tail musculature uniform tan, dorsal and ventral fins semi-transparent, white.

Natural history. Almost nothing has been published on the natural history of this species. Schulte (1999) mentioned that he found two white eggs in a small bromeliad ( Guzmania sp. ) 1.2 m from the ground. Based on our own observations, this species appears to have similar life-history traits as other members of the vanzolinii group. We have witnessed adults (presumably males) carrying single tadpoles in the vicinity of Guzmania bromeliads. We also encountered one courting pair in the axils of a species of palm. Near Rio Yavari-Mirin, we encountered a single tadpole within a bromeliad attached to a liana 1.5 meters above the ground. Males call regularly throughout the day. It is still unknown whether this species displays biparental care like its closest relatives R. vanzolinii and R. imitator ( Caldwell & de Oliveira 1999; Brown et al. 2010). However, anecdotal data from terrarium observations reveal that tadpoles of this species engage in “begging” behavior similar to the behavior displayed by R. imitator and R. vanzolinii when begging for food eggs (Chris Miller, pers. comm.). Therefore, this species may also have biparental care, although further study is required.

Vocalizations. The call of R. flavovittata is a stereotypical vanzolinii species group call: loud trill, notes 0.8- 1.1 sec in length, repeated at roughly 2 notes per minute ( Fig. 28, Table 5). We disagree with Schulte’s assertion that this species has an unusual call which should be considered a new call group. At the time of this species’ description in 1999, the calls of several species of the vanzolinii species group frogs were known and the call of R. flavovittata fits into that call type.

Distribution. The type locality is described as ‘mouth of Río Tahuayo, north shore.’ Although this leaves some ambiguity as to the precise location (Río Tahuayo flows into the Amazon on a north–south axis, therefore the two ‘shores’ are better described as east or west), we can assume that the type locality is south of the Amazon. Since 2004 we have documented several other localities for this species, all of which are in the Tamshiyacu– Tahuayo region, except for two records: one from Río Yavari and another further south from nearby Genaro Herrera ( Fig. 29, Giuseppe Gagliardi, pers. comm). Based on extensive field work within this region (mainly by P. Perez-Peña), it appears that R. flavovittata has a highly restricted range, although areas south of Río Yavari remain under-studied. Several flavovittata -like frogs have been observed in Brazil near Reserva Extrativista do Alto Juruá and Parque Nacional da Serra do Divisor; however, it remains undetermined whether these frogs represent populations of R. flavovittata or R. vanzolinii . Surveys of these populations are central to clarifying the alpha-taxonomic status of this species.

This species occurs within Amazonian rainforests of Peru (Departments: Loreto, possibly in Ucayali) and possibly within Brazil (States: Acre, Amazonas) .

Conservation status. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species considers this species as Data Deficient ( DD) on the basis of the unverified taxonomic status and the ambiguous type locality. This species is now known from 6 localities in the Tamshiyacu–Tahuayo region of northern Peru and its taxonomic status appears to be valid. We recommend listing this species as Least Concern ( LC), applying IUCN Red List categories and criteria ( IUCN 2010) since it is locally abundant and occurs in habitat that is largely unaffected by humans .

Taxonomic remarks. As in previous studies (e.g., Roberts et al. 2006a, Twomey & Brown 2008), our results support the arrangement of R. flavovittata as sister species to R. vanzolinii . However, our expanded dataset (which includes five R. flavovittata as opposed to a single individual in previous studies) raises some uncertainty as to the taxonomic status of this species. In our current phylogeny, R. flavovittata is paraphyletic with respect to R. vanzolinii . Still, R. vanzolinii and R. flavovittata are morphologically distinct and therefore we maintain the current taxonomy here until more data can be collected, particularly from intermediate geographical regions (as mentioned above). Regardless of the aforementioned taxonomic issues, introgressive hybridization appears to have occurred between this species and other members of the vanzolini group; we collected an individual of R. sirensis (Panguana morph from Contamana) whose mtDNA was most closely related to R. flavovittata (suggesting historic hybridization between a female R. flavovittata and a male R. sirensis , Fig. 3b).

If R. flavovittata is determined to be a separate species from R. vanzolinii , the observed phylogenetic topology could be attributed to historic introgression between the ancestors of R. flavovittata and R. vanzolinii . However, until additional populations of R. vanzolinii are surveyed, these questions cannot be addressed. For additional information see the R. vanzolinii account.