Proceratophrys strussmannae, Ávila, Robson W., Kawashita-Ribeiro, Ricardo A. & Morais, Drausio H., 2011

Ávila, Robson W., Kawashita-Ribeiro, Ricardo A. & Morais, Drausio H., 2011, A new species of Proceratophrys (Anura: Cycloramphidae) from western Brazil, Zootaxa 2890, pp. 20-28 : 21-27

Proceratophrys strussmannae sp. nov.

( Figure 1 )

Holotype. UFMT 7874, an adult male, collected during the faunal rescue of the PCH Ombreiras on the left margin of Jauru River(15°05’24” S 58°44’25” W), at ca. 200 altitude, Municipality of Araputanga, southwestern of Mato Grosso state, western Brazil, on 25 July 2005 by Ricardo A. Kawashita-Ribeiro.

Paratypes. UFMT 1223 (juvenile) collected on 23 November 1994 by Christine Strüssmann from municipality of Jauru, State of Mato Grosso, Brazil; UFMT 6659, 7869, 7885, 7886, 8378-8380 (adult males), 8320, 8319, 8377, 7872, 7882 (adult females), 1832, 1833, 1834, 1835, 1836, 7870, 7871, 7873, 7883, 7884, 7887, 8045, 8046 (juveniles) collected between 11 March to 27 June 2002 by Christine Strüssmann and collaborators from the faunal rescue of the hydroelectric power plant UHE Guaporé, municipality of Vale de São Domingos, State of Mato Grosso, Brazil; UFMT 7880, 7876 (adult males), 7878, 5859 (adult females), 5871, 5983, 6659, 6663, 7875, 7877, 7878, 7881, 8386, 8387 (juveniles) collected between 22 June 2005 to 24 September 2007 by Ricardo A. Kawashita-Ribeiro and Drausio H. Morais from the same locality of the holotype.

Diagnosis. The monophyly of the genus Proceratophrys based on synapomorphies are still pending ( Prado & Pombal, 2008). Thus, the new species is allocated in the genus Proceratophrys by its overall morphological similarity. The new species is tentatively assigned to the Proceratophrys cristiceps species group (sensu Giaretta et al., 2000) by the absence of prominent palpebral appendages and postocular swellings, and is characterized by: medium-sized (SVL of adult males 41.1–47.3 mm (n=10), SVL of adult females 52.6–59.8 mm (n=7)), snout rounded in dorsal view, obtuse in lateral view, dorsal skin uniformly rugose, without elevated warts, and tympanum defined as a depression in the skin.

Comparison with the other species. From the other species of P. cristiceps species group ( Figure 2 , Table 1), P. strussmannae sp. nov. can be distinguished by the following characters (those of the compared species in parenthesis): from P. concavitympanum by the slightly narrow head in males (22.8–22.9 mm, that represents 47.8 % of SVL in average vs. 46.6% SVL in average in P. strussmannae sp. nov.), smaller thighs (15.1–20.7 mm in males and 20.1–24.4 mm in females, that represents 39% and 38% of SVL vs. 33% and 27.5% of SVL in males and females of P. strussmannae sp. nov., respectively; Santana et al., 2010), absence of flaring lips (with flaring lip), less elevated warts on dorsum (high elevated warts; Figure 3 ), dorsal crests less defined, inner metatarsal tubercle dark brown keratinized, at least in the edge (not colored; Figure 3 ). Multivariate analysis of morphometric data indicate that P. concavitympanum does not overlap with the new species along PCI (explain 24.3% of variation), which has high loadings of HL and END, and PCII (explain 21.2 % of variation), which has high loadings of F and H ( Figure 4 , Table 2 ). From P. cristiceps , the new species can be distinguished by its the dorsal crests less defined beyond the sacral region, tympanum as a depression in the skin (hidden), snout obtuse (vertical), and head length at about 25% of SVL (head length about 30% of SVL). From P. cururu by larger SVL (36.5–43.1 mm in males, 47–53.9 mm in females), narrow head (head width 41% larger than length), tympanum as a depression in the skin (hidden), finger IV longer than II (finger II longer than IV), ( Eterovick & Sazima 1998). From P. goyana by the tympanum defined as a depression in the skin (hidden), snout obtuse in lateral view (vertical), rows of parallel warts in the outer margin of the forearm 5–8 (2–5 warts), dorsal crests less defined beyond the sacral region (more defined until the coccyx), canthal crests better defined (not evident).

Description of the holotype. Body robust, stout, head 13% wider than longer, snout rounded in dorsal and obtuse in profile view ( Figure 1 ), tympanum perceptive only as a depression on the skin; eye diameter 23% larger than the distance between eye to nostril; nostril elliptical and directed posteriorly; canthal crests present on the canthus rostralis; no interocular crest; Nine warts of equal size bordering the upper eyelid; a cutaneous dorsal crest from middle upper eyelid to sacral region; one enlarged wart on the corner of the mouth. Forearm about 50% longer than hand length; Suprascapular region with three enlarged warts; two rows of parallel warts running from the end of hand to two-thirds of the forearms, formed by six and seven warts, respectively; fingers free, relative length 4<2<1<3; inner carpal tubercle oval; outer carpal tubercle obliquely and divided; subarticular and supernumerary finger tubercles enlarged, rounded. Tarsus-foot twice longer than thigh; toes relative length 1<5=2<3<4; inner metatarsal tubercle black keratinized; outer metatarsal tubercle rounded, very small; a ridge of four warts from beyond to the outer metatarsal tubercle running to two-third of tarsus; toes basally webbed I 1 + - 2- II 1 ½ — 3 III 2 - - 4+ IV 4 + - 2 V. Skin on dorsum warty and granular, consisting of scattered distributed warts. Throat and venter covered with granulated skin. Discs unexpanded, odontophores oblique and barely separated, between choanae, vocal slit present, lateral to tongue. Tongue ovoid, covering the entire floor of mouth, notched behind.

Measurement of the holotype (in millimeters): SVL 45.7, HL 19.7, HW 22.2, ED 5.4, END 4.4, TD 2.3, TH 16.4, TF 25.0, F 19.5, H 12.6, ID 3.7, TL 17.0, FL 18.8, IML 4.5, UEW 5.5.

Color in life. In life the dorsum is predominantly pale brown, with two dark interocular areas and three to five lozenge dark brown along the dorsal crest ( Figure 2 a). There are two to three transverse brown bars in the forearms, tibia and tarsus. On each side of head, three to four brown bars from eye to mouth, each one separated by fine pale brown bars. Ventral surfaces are predominantly light brown, except for dark brown reticulations on belly, and dark brown coloration in throat and soles of foot and toes. Iris bronze with dark vermiculations. In preservative there are few alterations, unless by the dark brown areas that becomes grayer.

Variation. There is a sexual dimorphism, with females attaining greater SVL (Table 1). Adult males have black pigmented vocal sac (figure 1d). Dorsal coloration is variable and inner metatarsal tubercle coloration is unpigmented in 33% of the juvenile specimens. Tubercles on forearm vary from 6–8 in the first row and from 3–7 in the inner row. Likewise, number of tarsal tubercles varies from 4–9 in males and 4–11 in females.

Natural history. The distributional records of the new species comprise a transitional zone between Amazon and Cerrado biomes (sensu Ab’Saber, 1977), from the southwestern State of the Mato Grosso, along the Guaporé river drainage. Because many specimens were collected during faunal rescues of water dam constructions, no biological data were collected.

Three juveniles (> 24 mm) were collected in pitfall traps in October 2007 (early rainy season) in a fragment of riparian forest in the Jauru River, municipality of Araputanga (UFMT 6663, 8386, 8387).

Distribution. Proceratophrys strussmannae is known from three localities from Guaporé river drainage State of Mato Grosso, western Brazil ( Figure 5 ). The municipality of Vale de São Domingos is more influenced by Amazon biome, while Araputanga municipality has a strong Cerrado influence, being located at the Upper Paraguay River Basin.

Etymology. The specific epithet honors Dr. Christine Strüssmann of Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso. She has worked for the last 20 years with the herpetofauna in the three major biomes of the Mato Grosso State (Cerrado, Amazon and Pantanal), teaching several researchers, including the authors of this article.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Holotype of Proceratophrys strussmannae sp. nov. (UFMT 7874): A. Dorsal view; B. Ventral view; C. Dorsal view of head; D. Lateral view of the head E. Ventral view of right hand; F. Ventral view of right foot. Scale = 10 mm.

FIGURE 2. Living specimens from Proceratophrys cristiceps species group: A. Proceratophrys strussmannae sp. nov.; B. P. concavitympanum; C. P. goyana; D. P. cristiceps. (A – C) photos by Robson W. Ávila, (D) by Samuel C. Ribeiro.

FIGURE 3. Preserved specimens of Proceratophrys strussmannae sp. nov. (left) and P. concavitympanum (right). A) males (UFMT 7886 and 6996, respectively); B) females (UFMT 8320 and 7906, respectively). Scale = 10 mm.

FIGURE 4. Multivariate variation in morphology within and among Proceratophrys strussmannae sp. nov. and P. concavitympanum along the first two principal component axes. Analyses of morphological data include all the specimens examined and were based on the fifteen variables described in materials and methods section. Prior to analysis, all variables were regressed with SVL, and the residuals of these regressions were used in the principal component analysis. To maximize the samples, males and females were grouped together.

FIGURE 5. Geographic distribution of Proceratophrys strussmannae sp. nov. (Circles). The star represents the type locality.

Tables

TABLE 2. Loadings for the first four principal components from the multivariate analysis of residuals of the morphometric variables.

	Axis 1	Axis 2	Axis 3	Axis 4
SVL	0.001	0.001	0	-0.016
HL	0.421	0.024	0.196	0.306
HW	-0.197	0.32	0.038	0.55
ED	0.221	0.205	0.175	0.309
END	-0.399	0.151	-0.123	-0.068
TD	-0.159	0.126	0.505	-0.36
TH	-0.337	0.234	-0.156	-0.011
TF	-0.03	0.376	-0.164	0.12
F	0.172	0.455	0.076	-0.311
H	0.021	0.424	-0.026	-0.212
ID	0.167	0.26	0.335	-0.142
TL	-0.151	0.281	-0.424	0.058
FL	-0.384	-0.068	0.258	-0.187
IML	0.371	0.258	-0.128	-0.156
UEW	-0.264	0.122	0.477	0.367
Eigenvalues	3.645	3.184	1.786	1.106
Percentage	24.301	21.227	11.908	7.375
Cum. Percentage	24.301	45.528	57.436	64.811