identifier	taxonID	type	CVterm	format	language	title	description	additionalInformationURL	UsageTerms	rights	Owner	contributor	creator	bibliographicCitation
03D71C370379FFB74579F9A41D24D4E6.text	03D71C370379FFB74579F9A41D24D4E6.taxon	http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text	http://rs.tdwg.org/ontology/voc/SPMInfoItems#GeneralDescription	text/html	en	Incilius spiculatus (Mendelson 1997)	<div><p>Results</p><p>Tadpole Description</p><p>Average measurements (mm) for Gosner stage 35: body length 13.28, tail length 21.68, tail muscle height 3.41, maximum tail height 6.09, total length 34.96, tail muscle width 3.31, internarial distance 1.66, interorbital distance 4.70; measurements for other Gosner stages are presented in Table 1. The body is ovoid in dorsal view, widest at about the middle point and narrower near the tail; depressed in lateral view. Snout nearly semicircular in dorsal profile, rounded at the tip in lateral profile. Spiracle sinistral with inner wall free from body. External nares ovoid situated nearer to eyes than to snout. Eyes dorsal. Vent tube medial. Tail rounded at the tip. Caudal musculature highest at base, gradually tapering to a pointed tip; dorsal fin reticulated (Fig. 1).</p><p>Oral disk small; labial tooth row formula 2(2)/3, A1 slightly longer than other rows; A2 gap narrow, approximately width of 3–8 teeth, P1 and P2 equal in length, P3 being the longest posterior row; labial papillae restricted to lateral portions of oral disc disposed in two interposed series (Fig. 1A). At stage 24, the larvae show an elongation of the oral apparatus that protrudes from the body (Fig. 2D–E).</p><p>In life, the color of the body is uniformly Cinnamon Brown (color 43 in Köhler 2012), except for the ventral part of the mouth where the color becomes paler. The venter is slightly transparent, with a counter-clockwise coiled intestine visible. Around Gosner stage 35, small Cream Yellow (82) dots appear throughout the body and the iris (Fig. 2G). The tail fins are transparent with large Cinnamon Brown (43) pigment granules forming a reticulate pattern on the dorsal fin. Around Gosner stage 37, the ventral parts of the limbs are pale Cinnamon Brown (43) with Cream Yellow (82) dots and dark brown bars dorsally. In preservative, the tadpole body and the tail musculature are Natal Brown (49), while the ventral part of the body is slightly translucent.</p><p>Tadpole development required approximately 35 days to complete metamorphosis under laboratory conditions (Fig. 2H). Three days after collection (8 February 2019), embryonic development reached Gosner stage 12. Three days later, the embryos had reached stage 18, and four days after that had developed into stage 25 tadpoles.</p><p>Adult Breeding Behavior</p><p>In February 2019, an amplecting pair of Incilius spiculatus was observed at 640 m asl in the shallower margins of a river (Río Coyul), where the water current was slowed by the presence of rocks and aquatic vegetation. The Río Coyul is a permanent river with an average width of 8.19 m at the site where the amplexus was observed (Fig. 2F).</p><p>The toads used vegetation and material on the bottom of the river to maintain their position in the water during the amplexus. Mating was observed during the day and the amplexus was axillary (Fig. 2A–B). At the time of the observations (1250 h GST), the water temperature was 19.6 °C. The species exhibited an ovipositional string mode with a double row of eggs arrangement (Altig and McDiarmid 2007). The estimated clutch size was 4,500 eggs, and the clutch was attached to aquatic vegetation on rocks at the river margins at about 35 cm depth (Fig. 2C). Amplectant behavior was observed from the time of encounter until the toads separated (approximately 2.67 h). The female body temperature was 21.0 °C, SVL 85.5 mm, and the clutch temperature was 21.0 °C. In addition to the amplectant pair, a second male toad was observed in the water at a distance of 1.0 m. A second egg clutch was observed in another pool located 3.70 m away; but the toads that laid this clutch were not observed.</p><p>Adult Diet</p><p>Fecal samples indicated that Hymenoptera were the dominant prey (15 individuals, 48.3%), followed by Coleoptera (7, 22.5%), Scorpiones (6, 19.3%), Orthoptera (2, 6.4%), and Blattodea (1, 3.2%).</p><p>Extension of Elevational Range</p><p>Previously, the elevational range reported for I. spiculatus was from 800–1,689 m asl (Mendelson 1997). <a href="https://tb.plazi.org/GgServer/search?materialsCitation.longitude=-96.55911&amp;materialsCitation.latitude=17.71862" title="Search Plazi for locations around (long -96.55911/lat 17.71862)">During</a> this survey, two juvenile individuals were observed at Santa Cruz Tepetotutla, Oaxaca, Mexico, in a patch of primary cloud forest vegetation at an elevation of 1,758 m asl (17.71862°N, - 96.55911°W) datum WGS84, in addition to three individuals in <a href="https://tb.plazi.org/GgServer/search?materialsCitation.longitude=-96.42735&amp;materialsCitation.latitude=17.63622" title="Search Plazi for locations around (long -96.42735/lat 17.63622)">San Pedro Yolox</a> at 682 m asl (17.63622°N, - 96.42735°W), 643 m asl (17.64001 °N, - 96.43061°W), and 642 m asl (17.64013°N, - 96.43056°W). With these records, the altitudinal range of this species is now extended as including from 642 to 1,758 m asl.</p><p>Key to the tadpoles of the forest toads of Mexico and Central America</p><p>1a. A2 Gap present.........................................................……………….………………………………………...........4</p><p>1b. A2 Gap absent………………...………………………………….................……...................................................2</p><p>2a. Tail fin coloration variable; known from Mexico ...………......………..............................................................3</p><p>2b. Tail fins light brown with widely dispersed dark brown dots; known from western Costa Rica and Panama ………… ……………………………………….….....................................................................……............................ I. aucoinae</p><p>3a. Known from Sierra Madre Oriental of Veracruz and Puebla, Mexico ………………… I. cristatus</p><p>3b. Known only from Sierra de los Tuxtlas Veracruz, Mexico ………….…………............... I. cavifrons</p><p>4a. Tail fins transparent.............................................................................…….........................................................5</p><p>4b. Tail fins uniformly dark brown..............................................…………........................................ I. tutelarius</p><p>5a. Tail musculature black..........................................................……......................................................................6</p><p>5b. Tail musculature brown......................................................…….........................................................................7</p><p>6a. Tail musculature partially black with scattered pale areas. Known from southern Mexico to western Guatemala .........................................………………………………………………........... I. macrocristatus; I. aurarius</p><p>6b. Tail musculature black. Tail fins reticulated and flecked with black. A-2 gap width about 2 labial teeth. Known only from north-eastern Honduras.…………………………………………………………………………...... I. leucomyos</p><p>7a. Dorsal fin has large Cinnamon Brown (43) granules forming a reticulation. A-2 gap width equal to</p><p>3–8 labial teeth. Known only from Sierra Madre de Oaxaca .........……………..................... I. spiculatus</p><p>7b. Dorsal and ventral fins with yellow reticulation. A-2 gap wide, width equal to 10–15 labial teeth. Widely distributed across southern Mexico and Central America........…………...................... I. valliceps</p></div>	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03D71C370379FFB74579F9A41D24D4E6	Public Domain	No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.		Plazi	Arreortúa, Medardo;Flores, Carlos A.;Simón-Salvador, Pablo Rogelio;Santiago-Dionicio, Hermes;González-Bernal, Edna	Arreortúa, Medardo, Flores, Carlos A., Simón-Salvador, Pablo Rogelio, Santiago-Dionicio, Hermes, González-Bernal, Edna (2021): Description of the tadpole and natural history notes of Incilius spiculatus (Mendelson, 1997), an Endangered toad endemic to the Sierra Madre de Oaxaca, Mexico. Amphibian & Reptile Conservation (e 281) 15 (2): 31-39, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.13259065
