Hyperolius lupiroensis, Channing, A., Hillers, A., Lötters, S., Rödel, O., Schick, S., Conradie, W., Rödder, D., Wagner, P., Dehling, J. M., Du Preez, L. H., Kielgast, J. & Burger, M., 2013

Channing, A., Hillers, A., Lötters, S., Rödel, O., Schick, S., Conradie, W., Rödder, D., Wagner, P., Dehling, J. M., Du Preez, L. H., Kielgast, J. & Burger, M., 2013, Taxonomy of the super-cryptic Hyperolius nasutus group of long reed frogs of Africa (Anura: Hyperoliidae), with descriptions of six new species, Zootaxa 3620 (3), pp. 301-350 : 330-331

Hyperolius lupiroensis sp. nov. Channing

Lupiro Long Reed Frog

( Fig. 12 )

Holotype. ZMB 77299, a gravid female collected near Lupiro, 8°25'29.3" S, 36°41'33.1" E, Ifakara district, Tanzania, by A. Danby, 9 July 2007.

Paratype. ZMB 77300, a subadult male, with the same collecting details as the holotype.

Genetic material. The holotype and paratype ( Fig. 1 ).

Diagnosis. The advertisement call ( Fig. 11 ) consists of a single unpulsed note, with a duration of 0.06 s. It can be distinguished from the species with calls consisting of a few initial pulses, followed by a number of pulses at a much slower pulse rate, such as H. benguellensis , H. friedemanni , H. howelli , H. igbettensis , H. inyangae , H. rwandae sp. nov., H. viridis , and H. poweri . It is different from the longer calls consisting of a number of pulses at a more or less constant rate, such as H. acuticeps , H. dartevellei , H. jacobseni , and H. nasutus . See Table 3 for a summary of call parameters. The snout is sharply rounded in profile, which distinguishes it from those species with truncated, shark-like, or bluntly rounded snouts: H. benguellensis , H. howelli , H. igbettensis , H. inyangae , H. jacobseni , H. poweri , H. dartevellei and H. viridis . The toes are webbed with one phalanx of the third and fourth toes free, and the fifth toe webbed to the disc. This pattern distinguishes it from those species that do not have the fifth toe webbed to the disc: H. acuticeps , H. benguellensis , H. dartevellei , H. howelli , H. igbettensis , H. inyangae , H. nasutus , H. poweri and H. viridis . It differs from H. friedemanni which has all the toes webbed to the disc, from H. rwandae sp. nov. which has two phalanges of the third toe free, and from H. adspersus which has the fourth toe webbed nearly to the disc.

Description of Holotype. Body long and slender, widest at mid-belly, slightly tapering to groin; head relatively small (HL/SUL 0.32, HW/SUL 0.23), not wider than trunk, appreciably longer than wide (HL/HW 1.38); snout long (SL/HL 0.48), bluntly rounded in dorsal view, rounded in profile ( Fig. 6 ), slightly projecting beyond lower jaw, longer than wide (SL/EE 1.1); canthus rostralis distinct, rounded, almost straight-lined from eye to nostril; loreal region almost vertical, slightly concave; nostril a thin slit directed dorsolaterally; situated much closer to tip of snout than to eye (EN/NS 2.25), separated from each other by distance almost equal to the distance between eye and nostril (NN/EN 0.94); eyes directed

anterolaterally, moderately protruding, relatively small (ED/HL 0.35); eye diameter shorter than snout (ED/SL 0.72); interorbital distance about equal to upper eyelid (IO/EW 0.96), and greater than internarial distance (IO/NN 1.44); tympanum not visible externally; upper jaw with dentition; teeth on premaxilla larger than those on maxilla; choanae small, oval, located far anterolaterally at margins of roof of the mouth; vomer processes and teeth absent; tongue long 4.0, and narrow (2.5 at widest point), free for about three-fourths of length, bifurcated distally for about one-third of its length; median lingual process absent.

Dorsal surfaces of head, trunk and limbs generally smooth; ventral surface of limbs and gular smooth, chin and abdomen slightly more areolate.

Fore limbs slender; hand moderately large (HND/SUL 0.26); tips of fingers enlarged into broad oval disks, each with circummarginal groove; relative length of fingers: I<II<IV<III; subarticular tubercles rounded, well developed, with one on fingers I and II, two on fingers III and IV, with proximal tubercle on finger IV hardly discernible; webbing formula of the hand I 2.5– 3 II 2– 3 III 2.5–2.5 IV; thenar tubercle small, distinct; palmar tubercles absent; metacarpals without supernumerary tubercles.

Hind limbs slender, moderately long (LEG/SUL 1.64); tibio-tarsal articulation passing level of tip of snout when legs are adpressed to body; tibiofibula moderately long (TFL/SUL 0.52), subequal to thigh (TFL/THL 1.03); heels overlapping each other considerably when knees are flexed and thighs are held laterally at right angle to body; foot shorter than tibiofibula (FOT/TFL 0.75; relative length of toes: I<II<III<V<IV; discs of toes subequal to those of fingers; subarticular tubercles: one on toes I and II, two on toes III and V, and three on toe IV; pedal webbing formula ( Fig. 7 ) I 1– 1 II 0.5–2+ III 0.25– 2 IV 1–0 V; inner metatarsal tubercle small, oval, distinct; outer metatarsal tubercle absent.

Colouration in life. Generally weakly pigmented and skin more or less translucent. Dorsum and dorsal surface of head and limbs yellowish green; lateral sides of head and scapular region light green; light, yellowishwhite, moderately broad dorsolateral stripe running along each side of the body from lateral edge of upper eyelid to groin, continued as faint, hardly discernible line from eyelid to tip of snout; very small dark brown to black dots and larger brown to reddish brown specks on dorsum, most densely along both sides of canthus rostralis and upper eyelid and to lesser extent on both sides of dorsolateral stripe; dots roundish, specks shaped like stars or neurons with many dendrites; distal portions of fingers and toes, especially the tips, yellow; ventral side and parts of dorsal side of thigh and upper arm largely unpigmented, appearing bluish-green; peritoneum white, shining through the translucent belly skin; most of internal organs covered with silvery-white tissue (only visible when dissected). Iris reddish-brown during the night, yellowish-brown during the day. Colouration in preservative. All colours have faded to yellow; gular flap whitish-yellow.

Paratype variation. The subadult male is considerably smaller than the type, SUL 14.2, and has bright white lateral stripes originating at the nostrils and running back through the top of the eye to the groin. A dark line runs below the pale band from the nostril to the eye. The pale bands have dark borders between the eye and the groin. The back is uniformly speckled, giving the back a brown colour in preservative.

Eggs and tadpoles. The type contains enlarged ovarian eggs with a diameter of ca. 0.7–0.8. Eggs are darkly pigmented on the animal pole and white on the vegetative pole. Tadpoles are unknown.

Remarks. Although it is common for males to have lateral stripes and the females to be spotted in this group, the gravid holotype shows distinct pale lateral stripes. The species is only known from eastern Tanzania, and should be regarded as Data Deficient in terms of the IUCN criteria.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Map showing the distribution of the sequenced specimens of recognised species in the Hyperolius nasutus group plus H. lamottei. Species numbers represent the following: 1 — H. acuticeps, 2 — H. adspersus, 3 — H. benguellensis, 4 — H. friedemanni sp. nov., 5 — H. howelli sp. nov., 6 — H. igbettensis, 7 — H. inyangae sp. nov., 8 — H. jacobseni sp. nov., 9 — H. lamottei, 10 — H. lupiroensis sp. nov., 11 — H. nasutus, 12 — H. poweri, 13 — H. rwandae sp. nov., 14 — H. dartevellei, 15 — H. viridis, 16 — H. nasicus.

FIGURE 6. Snout profiles of representatives of the species in the Hyperolius nasutus group.

FIGURE 7. Webbing diagrams of representatives of the species in the Hyperolius nasutus group.

FIGURE 11. Advertisement calls of H. jacobseni Gatiko (left), H. lamottei Nimba (center left), H. lupiroensis Lupiro (center right) and H. nasicus Fungurume (right).

FIGURE 12. Hyperolius igbettensis, Lamto, Ivory Coast, photo M. - O. Rödel (A); Hyperolius jacobseni sp. nov. holotype, ZMB 77280, Gatiko, Central African Republic, photo N. Jacobsen (B); Hyperolius inyangae sp. nov. male holotype, ZMB 77276, Rhodes Dam, Nyanga National Park, Zimbabwe, photo A. Channing (C); female paratype H. inyangae, ZMB 77277, same details (D); Hyperolius nasicus, Nyanga Flats, Zimbabwe, photo A. Channing (E); H. lamottei, night pattern, Mt Nimba, Guinea, photo M. - O. Rödel (F); Hyperolius lupiroensis sp. nov., holotype ZMB 77300, Lupiro, Tanzania, photo A. Channing (G).