Andinobates geminisae, Batista, Jaramillo, Ponce & Crawford, 2014

Higgins, Kathleen & Ibáñez, Roberto, 2022, Description of two dendrobatid tadpoles (Anura: Dendrobatidae: Andinobates and Oophaga) with comments on egg clutches, Zootaxa 5175 (3), pp. 395-400 : 396

Andinobates geminisae

Body and tail length measurements of A. geminisae tadpoles are summarized in Table 1 . The body is oval-shaped and depressed ( Fig. 1A ). Eyes and nares are positioned dorsally, oriented dorsolaterally. Nares are round without projection in the inner margin of the nasal rim. The spiracle is sinistral and vent tube is dextral. The oral disc is round with a very slight lateral indentation. The posterior labium is lined with a single row of oral papillae that extend the bottom lateral corners of the anterior labium. LTRF is 2(2)/3[1] in older tadpoles, but all Stage 25 specimens had only two posterior labial tooth rows. The jaw sheath is massive and serrate, and the mouth is oriented anteroventrally. The upper jaw sheath is U-shaped. In 10% formalin, A. geminisae tadpoles are greyish brown dorsally and light grey to transparent ventrally ( Fig. 2A ). A differentiated short gut in the abdominal area can be noticed. The tail fin is light grey or translucent and nearly reaches the body. Live tadpoles were dark grey to black dorsally, with a lighter grey ventral side. The tail tip is rounded and translucent.

Viable clutches of A. geminisae with eggs at Stage ≤ 3 were examined (n = 16). In our sample, the number of eggs per clutch was one (n = 14) or two (n = 2). While eggs from the same clutch were always in close contact, the translucent jelly capsules surrounding each egg (n = 18) were discrete in A. geminisae . The embryos were solid medium-dark grey in the animal pole with varying amounts of light grey at the vegetal pole ( Fig. 2C ). Average egg diameter was 6.2 mm (n = 18, SD = 0.85), with a mean embryo diameter of 2.4 mm (n = 18, SD = 0.23).

Figures

FIGURE 1. (a) Tadpole of Andinobates geminisae at Stage 28, oral apparatus and left lateral view; (b) Tadpole of Oophaga vicentei, combining the body shape at Stage 33 and the oral disc of a Stage 41 specimen to show the highest LTRF 1/1. Scale bars = 1 mm.

FIGURE 2. Stage 41 tadpoles of (a) preserved Andinobates geminisae and (b) live Oophaga vicentei and ≤ 3 Stage eggs of (c) A. geminisae and (d) O. vicentei. Scale bars = 10 mm (a,b) and 5 mm (c,d).