Leptodactylus longirostris, Boulenger, 1882

Schiesari, Luis, Rossa-Feres, Denise De Cerqueira, Menin, Marcelo & Hödl, Walter, 2022, Tadpoles of Central Amazonia (Amphibia: Anura), Zootaxa 5223 (1), pp. 1-149 : 87-88

Leptodactylus longirostris

External morphology. Description based on five tadpoles between Stages 35 and 38 (LCS 401, 547). Total length 33.8 ± 2.7 mm (N = 5). Body oval in dorsal view and globular/depressed in lateral view ( Fig. 55A, B ). Snout rounded in dorsal view and sloping in lateral view. Eyes small, dorsally positioned and dorsolaterally directed. Nostrils small, oval, dorsally positioned near to snout, with opening anterolaterally directed, without a projection on the marginal rim. Oral disc ( Fig. 55C ) anteroventral, non-emarginate; marginal papillae conical, uniseriate and alternate, with a dorsal gap. Submarginal papillae present lateroventrally. LTRF 2(2)/3 or 2(2)/3(1); A1 and A2 of the same length; P1, P2 and P3 of the same length. Anterior jaw sheath wide and posterior jaw sheath moderately wide, finely serrated; anterior jaw sheath arch-shaped, posterior jaw sheath V-shaped. Spiracle single, sinistral, conical, short and wide, posterodorsally directed, opening in the medial third of the body, with the centripetal wall fused to the body wall and longer than the external wall. Vent tube medial, fused to the ventral fin, with a medial opening. Caudal musculature of moderate width; in lateral view gradually tapering to a pointed tip. Dorsal fin shallow, originating at the tail-body junction, convex; ventral fin shallow with margin parallel to the ventral margin of caudal musculature. Tail tip pointed.

Colour. In preservative dorsum brown with irregular spots, venter transparent; caudal musculature and fins with white and brown chromatophores; fins translucent; in some individuals tail become distinctly covered by many large brown spots. In life body grey; venter transparent; caudal musculature grey; fins transparent with bluish white flecks (Hero 1990); background color grayish beige and grayish pink to brown with black, brown and white spots in dorsum and especially in tail musculature; in some tadpoles tail almost entirely black.

Variation. LTRF 2(2)/2 at Stage 27.

Metamorphs. Dorsum uniformly grayish brown with a faint dorsolateral line; canthus rostralis whitish; venter whitish cream; limbs light brown with discrete dark spots ( Fig. 55D ).

Natural history. Foam nests in underground chambers excavated by males by very shallow temporary ponds ( Lima et al. 2012) in open areas and forest edge. Tadpoles are benthic. Tadpoles are found during the rainy season.

Comments. Tadpoles of L longirostris were described by Crombie & Heyer (1983) from eastern Amazonia in Pará, Brazil, and no morphological variation was observed in comparison to the tadpoles herein characterized. Tadpoles from Central Amazonia illustrated by Hero (1990) as Leptodactylus fuscus / longirostris differ from those herein characterized by presenting tail tip rounded.

Figures

FIGURE 55. Tadpole of Leptodactylus longirostris (LCS 547) at Stage 36: (A) lateral view, (B) dorsal view (scale = 10 mm), and (C) oral disc (scale = 1 mm). (D) Dorsolateral view of newly metamorphosed froglet.