Rohanixalus senapatiensis ( Mathew and Sen, 2009 ) Biju & Garg & Gokulakrishnan & Chandrakasan & Thammachoti & Ren & Gopika & Bisht & Hamidy & Shouche, 2020

Biju, S. D., Garg, Sonali, Gokulakrishnan, G., Chandrakasan, Sivaperuman, Thammachoti, Panupong, Ren, Jinlong, Gopika, C., Bisht, Karan, Hamidy, Amir & Shouche, Yogesh, 2020, New insights on the systematics and reproductive behaviour in tree frogs of the genus Feihyla, with description of a new related genus from Asia (Anura, Rhacophoridae), Zootaxa 4878 (1), pp. 1-55 : 44-45

Rohanixalus senapatiensis ( Mathew and Sen, 2009) comb. nov.

Senapati’s Bubble-nest Frog

( Figs. 1–2 , 4 , 7 , 17 ; Tables 1 , 3 , 4 )

Original name and description. Chirixalus senapatiensis Mathew and Sen, 2009 . Mathew R. and Sen N. 2009. Studies on little known amphibians of Northeast India. Records of the Zoological Survey of India, Occasional Papers, 293: 1–64. Type. Holotype, VA/ERS/ZSII/804 (ZSIE 804), by original designation. Type locality. “Mabing river bed, Kangpokpi, Senapati district”, Manipur, India. Current status of specific name. Valid name as Rohanixalus senapatiensis ( Mathew and Sen, 2009) comb. nov.

Taxonomic remarks. In the original description, Mathew and Sen (2009) distinguished this species from the closely related Rohanixalus vittatus and R. shyamrupus mainly by its “Toes almost fully webbed” (vs. “Toes 3/4th webbed” in R. vittatus ), and certain dorsal colour differences such as “dorsum uniform light brown” (vs. “speckled all over with purple” in R. vittatus ) that are found to be variable among various species of Rohanixalus . These characters mentioned by the authors are also not found in the type of R. senapatiensis , especially fully webbed toes.

Our examination of the holotype of Chirixalus senapatiensis also shows that it represents a member of the genus Rohanixalus , mainly due to the presence of characters such as dorsolateral stripes and dorsal spots. We have further confirmed the identity and generic placement of Rohanixalus senapatiensis ( Mathew and Sen, 2009) comb. nov., both morphologically and phylogenetically, based on new topotypic and additional collections from Northeast India ( Figs. 1 , 2 ; Table 1 ).

Diagnosis. Small-sized adults (male SVL 18–21 mm, female SVL 24–25 mm) with a slender body; snout nearly pointed in dorsal view; dorsal colouration light to dark brown with a reddish tinge; the entire dorsum, lateral surfaces, and dorsal surface of limbs covered with fine dark brown speckles, some speckles clumping together to form dark and irregular blotches on the dorsum; a dark continuous dorsolateral stripe starts from the tip of the snout, extends through the eye, and reaches close to the vent on either side; lateral surfaces of the head, including tympanic region, darker than dorsal colouration; foot webbing moderate, extending just above the second subarticular tubercle on either side of toe IV; eggs light green in colour and laid in bubble nests.

Genetic divergence. For the mitochondrial 16S gene, Rohanixalus senapatiensis differs from other genetically known congeners ( Fig. 1 ) by average uncorrected genetic distance of: 8.7–9.6% from R. baladika , 8.6–10.7% from R. hansenae , 3.0–3.4% from R. shyamrupus , and 9.0–10.1% from R. vittatus . Some previously sampled populations from the geographically close Putao district in Kachin state of Myanmar (‘ Feihyla vittata ’ Group I of Aowphol et al. 2013; R. cf. shyamrupus in the present study, Fig. 2 ) are related to R. senapatiensis by 2.8–3.2% divergence. Further studies are required to ascertain the identity of Putao populations, as well as two additional unidentified lineages ( Rohanixalus sp. 1 and Rohanixalus sp. 2). For detailed intra-generic comparisons see Table 3 .

Distribution. Rohanixalus senapatiensis was originally described based on a single specimen from Kangpokpi in Senapati district of Manipur state, India. Based on subsequent surveys in Northeast India, this species is known from Tamenglong and Churachandpur districts of Manipur; Phek district of Nagaland; Mizoram; and Tripura. The previous report of R. vittatus from Mizoram by Deuti & Dutta (2002) is likely to represent R. senapatiensis , based on the available specimen (ZSI A 9209, from Ngengpuri Wildlife Sanctuary) at ZSI Kolkata.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Maximum Likelihood tree showing phylogenetic relationships among 124 representative taxa from all recognised genera of the subfamily Rhacophorinae. Relationships are inferred based on 1,937 bp of mitochondrial (12SrRNA, tRNAVAL, 16SrRNA) and nuclear (RHO and RAG1) genes. Numbers above and below the branches indicate Bayesian Posterior Probabilities and RAxML bootstrap support values, respectively.

FIGURE 2. A–B. DNA Barcoding based on mitochondrial 16S rRNA sequences: A. genus Feihyla; B. genus Rohanixalus gen. nov.; C. distribution of the new genus Rohanixalus. Images represent the corresponding species and their broad geographical ranges.

FIGURE 4. Distribution of genetically confirmed records of all known Feihyla and Rohanixalus members (indicated by circles) and their respective type localities (indicated by triangles). Numbers corresponding to each species are indicated alongside the distribution spots.

FIGURE 7. Members of the genus Rohanixalus. A. Dorsolateral view of R. hansenae from the type locality, Nong Khor, Thailand; B. dorsolateral view of R. marginis (holotype) from Perlis State Park chalets, Perlis, Peninsular Malaysia; C. dorsal view of R. cf. nauli, from Batang Gadis National Park, North Sumatra, Indonesia with a jelly-nest; D. dorsolateral view of R. cf. nauli, from Batang Gadis National Park, North Sumatra, Indonesia; E. dorsolateral view of R. cf. nauli, from Bukit Barisan Forest Park, North Sumatra, Indonesia; F. dorsolateral view of R. punctatus (Paratype, JBS 9274) from Gwa, Rakhine State, Myanmar (CC Public domain 3.0; AmphibiaWeb); G. dorsolateral view of R. vittatus from Rangat, Middle Andaman Islands, India; H. dorsolateral view of R. senapatiensis from Manipur, India; I. dorsolateral view of R. shyamrupus from Namdapha, Arunachal Pradesh.

FIGURE 17. Feihyla senapatiensis in preservation and life. A–F. Holotype, VA/ERS/ZSII/804 (ZSIE 804), in preservation: A. dorsal view; B. ventral view; C. lateral view; D. ventral view of hand; E. ventral view of foot; F. schematic illustration of webbing on foot; G–I. dorsolateral view, in life.