Mantidactylus ambony, Scherz, Rasolonjatovo, Köhler, Rancilhac, Rakotoarison, Raselimanana, Ohler, Preick, Hofreiter, Glaw, and Vences, 2020

dos Santos Dias, Pedro Henrique, Vera Candioti, Florencia, Wassersug, Richard, Lukas, Paul, Targino, Mariane, Glos, Julian, Wheeler, Ward C, Hertwig, Stefan, Crottini, Angelica & Haas, Alexander, 2024, Stranger things: on the novel buccopharyngeal anatomy and functional morphology of ‘ sand-eating’ Malagasy tadpoles (Anura: Mantellidae: Mantidactylus), Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 202 (2), pp. 1-13 : 4

Mantidactylus ambony

Oral disc: Oral configuration is described and illustrated in Randrianiaina et al. (2011a; as M. ambreensis ), and reproduced here ( Fig. 1 ). SEM micrographs show the strong serration of the upper jaw sheath ( Fig. 3A ).

Buccal floor (Fig. 3B): Almost identical to M. ambreensis configuration; crests of the buccal floor with slightly smaller ruffled ridges (100–155 µm long, 23–76 µm wide).

Buccal roof ( Fig. 3C ): Features of the prenarial, narial, and dorsal velum regions unfortunately could not be observed. Other features as in M. ambreensis , except less numerous buccal roof arena papillae (about 20 on each side).

Figures

Figure 1. Oral discs of Mantidactylus tadpoles examined. Adapted from Randrianiaina et al.(2011a). Note the extraordinary diversity of oral discs, from configurations similar to pond-type tadpoles in M.argenteus (with keratinized jaw sheaths and labial tooth ridges) to the highly derived morphologies in M. mocquardi and M.majori, with minimum keratinization and extensive papillation. Scale bars: 1 mm. Reprinted with permission of the Journal "Contributions to Zoology".

Figure 3. Oral disc and buccopharyngeal morphology of Mantidactylus ambony (ZSM 762/2004 Stage 25). Unfortunately, only a limited area the oral cavity was well preserved and suitable for illustration. A, detail of the upper jaw sheath. B, detail of the ruffled ridges of the buccal. C, detail of the buccal roof arena papillae.Scale bars: 100 µm (A), 200 µm (B, C).