Mantidactylus (Mantidactylus) grandidieri Mocquard, 1895

Rancilhac, Loïs, Bruy, Teddy, Scherz, Mark D., Pereira, Elvis Almeida, Preick, Michaela, Straube, Nicolas, Lyra, Mariana L., Ohler, Annemarie, Streicher, Jeffrey W., Andreone, Franco, Crottini, Angelica, Hutter, Carl R., Randrianantoandro, J. Christian, Rakotoarison, Andolalao, Glaw, Frank, Hofreiter, Michael & Vences, Miguel, 2020, Target-enriched DNA sequencing from historical type material enables a partial revision of the Madagascar giant stream frogs (genus Mantidactylus), Journal of Natural History (J. Nat. Hist.) 54 (1 - 4), pp. 87-118 : 107

Mantidactylus (Mantidactylus) grandidieri Mocquard, 1895

Syntypes. Two specimens, MNHN 1883.580 and MNHN 1895.255 collected by Humblot and Grandidier, from ‘ Madagascar ... côte Est’.

Referred material. For field numbers of additional specimens referred to M. grandidieri genetically, see Figure 1 . For morphological measurements of types and additional six specimens in the ZSM collection, see Table 1 .

Remarks. Mantidactylus (M.) grandidieri is a large nocturnal stream-dwelling frog, distributed at elevations from near sea level (Nosy Mangabe) to ca. 1500 m a.s.l. (Ambohitantely), but appears to be more common at low elevations <900 m a.s.l. It is found in slow-moving parts of streams in rainforest, often among rocks and boulders, and almost nothing is known about its natural history. Based on genetic data herein, confirmed localities are (from north to south) Marojejy, Sambava, Besariaka, Tsararano, Antalaha, Masoala, Ilampy, Ambodivoangy, Andranofotsy, Nosy Mangabe, Angozongahy (west slope of Makira Reserve), Antsahataloka, Ambatoroma, Ambohitantely, Ambatodisakoana, Fierenana, Vohidrazana, Moramanga and the Mangabe region.

As with M. guttulatus , the definition of this species has changed multiple times in the past. A complete revision of all these uses in the literature is beyond the scope of this paper. Glaw and Vences (2007) partially following Blommers-Schlösser and Blanc (1991) used the name M. grandidieri primarily to refer to highland populations in the Northern Central East and Southern Central East, which, according to the present revision, are to be referred to as M. guttulatus . Instead, populations of M. grandidieri were named Mantidactylus sp. aff. grandidieri ‘North’ by Glaw and Vences (2007), Mantidactylus sp. 57 by Vieites et al. (2009) and Mantidactylus sp. Ca57 by Perl et al. (2014).

Figures

Figure 1. Maximum likelihood phylogenetic tree obtained from 514 bp of the mitochondrial 16S rRNA gene. The values at the nodes are the bootstrap supports (not given for intra-lineage nodes for improved clarity). The type specimens of M. guttulatus and M. grandidieri from the London and Paris museum collections are highlighted in red and brown, respectively.