Hemisus cf. guineensis Cope, 1865

Baptista, Ninda L., António, Telmo & Branch, William R., 2019, The herpetofauna of Bicuar National Park and surroundings, southwestern Angola: a preliminary checklist, Amphibian & Reptile Conservation (e 203) 13 (2), pp. 96-130 : 103

Hemisus cf. guineensis Cope, 1865

Guinea Snout-burrower ( Fig. 7A–C )

Material: NB511 (15); NB550 ( T 2); NB551 ( T 2).

Comment: Tadpoles of this species were collected in BNP during the 2009 survey (A. Channing, pers. comm.). The taxonomy of Hemisus guineensis and H. marmoratus is not fully resolved. Angolan specimens of both species have been treated as a single taxon in the past ( Hemisus guineensis microps Laurent, 1972 ) and records of the genus are scattered throughout the country ( Ruas 1996; Marques et al. 2018). Recent records of Hemisus from Cangandala have been considered as H. guineensis ( Ceríaco et al. 2018c; Vaz Pinto and Baptista, unpub. data). Coloration of adult frogs from BNP ranges from finely spotted forming lines, and mottled forming continuous blotches to almost plain with very small spots (see Fig. 7A–C ). A similar pattern of variation in coloration was reported by W. Conradie (pers. comm.) in southeastern Angola, with all forms genetically confirmed as being H. cf. guineensis . Based on this, and the proximity to a previous record from the Cubango basin ( Monard 1937a), BNP specimens likely belong to the same taxon.

Figures

Fig. 7. Hemisus cf. guineensis, BNP. (A–C) Three variations in coloration.