Hemisus guineensis Cope, 1865

Conradie, Werner, Keates, Chad, Verburgt, Luke, Baptista, Ninda L. & Harvey, James, 2023, Contributions to the herpetofauna of the Angolan Okavango- Cuando-Zambezi river drainages. Part 3: Amphibians, Amphibian & Reptile Conservation (e 325) 17 (1), pp. 19-56 : 30

Hemisus guineensis Cope, 1865

Guinea Shovel-snouted Frog ( Fig. 11 ; Map 10 ) Material (6 specimens): PEM A14955, Cuando River, CUD2018 AC Camp 27, -16.09006° 21.83947°, 1,038 m asl; PEM A14832–3, INBAC: WC-6948, Lake Hundo, -14.97431° 21.62966°, 1,100 m asl; PEM A13831, Cuando River, camp 18, -14.66105° 20.16858°, 1,124 m asl; PEM A12771, Cuando River Source, trap 3, -13.00334° 19.13564°, 1,360 m asl. Additional material (1 tadpole lot): SAIAB 209095 (7 tadpoles), small wooden bridge across wetland on road between Cuanavale River source camp and Munhango, -12.30714° 18.62333°, 1,397 m asl. Description: Small to medium sized frog; hardened pointed snout; small eyes; tympanum hidden; smooth dorsum (except PEM A12771, in which the yellow spots are slightly elevated); transverse skin ridge between posterior corners of eye, extending behind eye to above the arm; reduced webbing; large inner metatarsal and outer metacarpal tubercles. Grey dorsum with yellow mottling or spots; yellow vertebral stripe present; ventrum granular, with small irregular spots. Males with dark throats. Adult females (n = 3) varied from 40.5–49.2 (43.4) mm (largest female: PEM A12771); adult males (n = 3) varied from 26.7–31.6 (29.8) mm (largest male: PEM A14955). Habitat and natural history notes: No calls were heard. Specimens were either caught in traps or by hand while they were active at night after heavy rains in November, near open grassland and pans. One female ( PEM A13831) collected in November was gravid. Comments: Laurent (1972) assigned all Angolan material he examined to the subspecies H. guineensis microps , and this was followed by Ruas (1996). However, Channing (2001) and Marques et al. (2018) documented two species of Hemisus occuring in Angola, Hemisus guineensis in the north and H. marmoratus in the south-central region. We follow Laurent (1972) and assign all Angolan material to Hemisus guineensis until an in-depth phylogenetic work is conducted to assess the taxonomic status of the available material.

Figures

Map 10. Distribution of Hemisus guineensis in Angola.

Fig. 11. Adult female Hemisus guineensis from Cuando River source. Photo by Werner Conradie.