Mantidactylus zolitschka, Glaw and Vences, 2004

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 : 5-6

Mantidactylus zolitschka

Oral disc: Oral configuration is described and illustrated in Randrianiaina et al. (2011a) and reproduced here ( Fig. 1 ). SEM micrographs show the M-shaped upper jaw sheath, keratinized and finely serrated ( Fig. 7A ). The lower jaw sheath is V-shaped, poorly keratinized, and marginally serrated ( Fig. 7B ). Details of labial teeth could not be observed.

Buccal floor ( Fig. 7B, C ): Four pairs of tall, conical infra-labial papillae overlapping each other. Buccal floor arena delimited by two long, thick crests formed of about 15 transverse ruffled ridges closely spaced (120–250 µm long, 100–340 µm wide). Glottis not visible.

Buccal roof ( Fig. 7D ): Prenarial arena with a wide inverted-V crest with smooth margin. Internal nares with a long, conical, pustulated papilla at the anterolateral edge. Central area of buccal roof arena smooth, with low pustulations scattered.

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 7. Oral disc and buccopharyngeal morphology of Mantidactylus zolitschka (ZSM 1768/2007).A, detail of the upper lip, showing the M-shaped, marginally keratinized upper jaw sheath. B, detail of the anterior region of the buccal floor showing the keratinized and serrated lower jaw sheath, and infra-labial and lingual papillae.C, buccal floor; note the longitudinal crests with ruffled ridges not meeting medially.D, buccal roof; note the large, ornamented narial vacuities and the longitudinal crests with tightly aligned buccal roof arena papillae.Scale bars: 200 µm.