Chiromantis simus (Annandale, 1915)

Deuti, Kaushik, Ray, Sukumar, Bag, Probhat & Dey, Swapan Kumar, 2017, Amphibians of the Duars area of Northern West Bengal, Records of the Zoological Survey of India 117 (3), pp. 221-241 : 236

20. Chiromantis simus (Annandale, 1915)

1915. Chirixalus simus Annandale, Rec Indian Mus. , 11:

345.

Common Name: Annandale’s Tree Frog (English).

Specimens examined: 4 ex: A 11953-A 11954 from Mendabari, Chilapata forest, Jalpaiguri district , West Bengal (26°36’687”N, 89°23’996”E) collected on

09.vi.2014; A 12463 from Kodalbasti forest, Jalpaiguri district, West Bengal (26°38’023”N, 89°21’927”E) collected on 14.viii.2015 and A 12464 from CC Line Beat , Chilapata forest , Jalpaiguri district , West Bengal (26°36’847”N, 89°21’086”E) collected on 15.viii.2015. The measurements of the frogs collected are given below in millimeters :

eye. Nostrils are nearer to the tip of the snout than to the eye. Pupil is horizontal. The inter-orbital space is flat and broader than the upper eyelid. The inter-orbital length is almost equal to the eye diameter. The ear-drum is about half the eye diameter. The limbs are long and slender. The first and the second fingers are opposable to the third and fourth. The fingers are with a rudiment of webbing. The sub-articular tubercles of the fingers and toes are well-developed. The discs of the fingers are smaller than the ear-drum. The toes are almost fully webbed. The discs of the toes are smaller than those of the fingers. The skin is smooth on the dorsum but granular on the abdomen and under the thighs. A supra-tympanic fold extends from the eye to the shoulder.

Colour: Dorsum brownish to pale buff with several indistinct longitudinal dark lines and some scattered black spots. Limbs pale brownish. Ventral side white.

Habitat: Found in evergreen and moist deciduous forests near grasslands and small water bodies. Arboreal keeping to lower branches of trees. Call is ventriloquistic and can be heard from a long distance.

Remarks: A very common little tree-frog in the duars area seen on low trees and bushes about 1-3 meters above the ground. Lays eggs in small pendulous foam-nests over hanging small pools of water in which the tadpoles fall and develop. Earlier reported from West Bengal (Deuti et al., 2000).