Boophis vittatus Glaw, Vences, Andreone & Vallan

Glos, Julian & Vences, Miguel, 2010, Description of ten tadpoles in the genus Boophis from Madagascar, Zootaxa 2694, pp. 1-25 : 16-17

Boophis vittatus Glaw, Vences, Andreone & Vallan

The following description refers to one tadpole in developmental stage 25 (ZSM 0625/2008; field number FGZC 2276, TL 18.6 mm, BL 5.0 mm; Table 1 ), from Marojejy National Park. The 16S rDNA sequence of this specimen was 99.8% identical to a reference sequence of an adult B. vittatus adult specimen (accession FJ559158 ) from the same locality.

In dorsal view, body elliptical, maximal width between the proximal 1/2 and 3/4 of the body (SBW 70% of BL), snout rounded. In lateral view, body depressed (BW 112% of BH), maximal body height between the proximal 1/2 and 3/4 of the body (SBH 74% of BL), snout pointed. Eyes positioned dorsally and oriented dorsolaterally, small sized (ED 8% of BL), not visible from ventral view, situated between the proximal 4/10 and 5/10 of the body, very wide distance between eyes (IOD 81% of BW). Small rounded nares (NS 1.4% of BL), prominent with marginal rim, positioned dorsally and oriented dorsolaterally, situated nearer to eye than to snout (RN 123% of NP), moderately wide distance between nares ( IND 55% of IOD), black spot on the back of the nare present, ornamentation absent. Moderately long sinistral spiracle (SP 14% of BL), oriented posteriorly, visible from dorsal and lateral views, obvious from lateral view, inner wall free from the body and its aperture opens laterally, situated between the proximal 1/2 and 3/4 of the body (SS 75% of BL), located at the level of the point where the axis of the tail myotomes contact the body. Short dextral vent tube (VL 10% of BL), attached to the ventral fin, inner wall absent. Tail height at the beginning of the tail lower than body height (TH 89% of BH). Tail muscle width at the beginning of the tail 57% of body width. Dorsal fin originates on the dorsal body-tail junction and ventral fin originates at the ventral terminus of the body.

Very large oral disk (ODW 83% of BW) positioned and oriented ventrally, not emarginated, maximal width in the middle. Oral disk not visible from dorsal view, upper labium is a continuation of snout. Single row of marginal papillae, dorsal and ventral gap absent. Complete marginal (113) and submarginal (184) papillae. Small rounded papillae, not visible from dorsal view, longest marginal papillae measured 0.06 mm, and 0.05 mm for submarginal papillae. Jaw sheath completely keratinized, moderately wide (JL 40% of ODW), medial convexity absent. Lower jaw sheath U-shaped and ‘‘ribbed’’ (giving the appearance of vertical bars). LTRF 8(5–8)/3. Single row of keratodonts per ridge. Short A1 (32% of ODW). Density of keratodonts on A1 13/mm (total 85). Short, discernible keratodonts (0.07 mm). Labial teeth on A1 and A7 much smaller than on the other rows.

Coloration in preservative. Dorsally, body and tail whitish, with brown and black pigment tasks of different forms distributed irregularly. Dorsolaterally, similar to dorsally, ventrolaterally similar to ventrally. Fins transparent. Ventrally transparent, intestine visible, regular spiral shaped.

Variation. Based on ten additional tadpoles, of which three are voucher specimens ( Table 6 ). TL and BL at stages 25, from the MarojejyNational Park (FGZC 2237, 2251 and 2276), are 8–19 mm and 5–7 mm, respectively. All the specimens are deposited in the UADBA collection. BW 115–128% of BH; ED 11–15% of BL; RN 67–150% of NP; IND 44–57% of IOD; SS 70–85% of BL; TMH 88–100% of MTH; TMW 53– 67% of BW; MTH 69–86% of BH; ODW 30–43% of BL; ODW 67–93% of BW. LTRF 6(4–6)/3, 7(3–7)/3, 7(5–7)/3.