View distribution map using BerkeleyMapper.

	Conservation Status (definitions)
IUCN (Red List) Status	Least Concern (LC) See threat category on the IUCN web site.
CITES	No CITES Listing
Other International Status	None
National Status	None
Regional Status	None

Description
Diagnosis: Small lime-green frog with yellow spots, protuberant eyes, snout markedly truncate in profile and with an indented tip in dorsal view, and fleshy narial openings lying on distinct raised ridges. Pericardium colorless. Can be distinguished from H. chirripoi by having less finger webbing (vs. extensive finger webbing in H. chirripoi) (Savage 2002).

Description: Adult males are 23-27 mm in SVL, while adult females are 24.5-29 mm in SVL. This frog has a broad head and a truncated snout, with the snout tip indented when viewed from above. The nasal region is distinct and swollen, and nostrils open in raised fleshy protuberances that lie on elevated ridges. Eyes are protuberant as well. Interorbital region is wider than the snout length. The tympanum is indistinct and directed dorsally. Finger I is longer than Finger II. Webbing between Fingers I and II is vestigial and present but reduced between outer fingers. Toes are extensively webbed. Finger and toe discs are truncated. Subarticular tubercles are small and rounded. Supernumerary, accessory palmar, and plantar tubercles are not present. The inner metatarsal tubercle is elongated but the outer metatarsal tubercle is absent. In adult males, a white nuptial pad of separated glands is present on the outer surface of the thumb base. There is no tarsal fold present. Dorsal surfaces are shagreened (Savage 2002).

Coloration is lime-green on the upper surfaces with small yellow spots. The venter is transparent. The undersides of limbs are white. The parietal pericardium is clear, while the liver and digestive tract are white. Iris is gold (Savage 2002).

Larvae are small and are only 9.5 mm at stage 25. The body is elongated. The tail is long with a pointed tip. The spiracle is low, posterior, and sinistral. The vent tube is located in the middle. The mouth is located ventrally with a complete oral disc. Beaks and 2/3 rows of denticles are present. The lower beak is finely serrated. There is a single row of papillae around the oral disc, excluding the upper portion. A2 has a very large gap above the mouth (Savage 2002; Jaramillo et al. 1997).

Larvae are clear chocolate brown dorsally and lighter below. The underside appears pink due to blood circulation. The caudal musculature has dark flecks on the anterior dorsal surface, which mark the myosepta and are also found in the groove between the epimeric and hypomeric musculature. Fins are clear (Savage 2002).

Distribution and Habitat

Country distribution from AmphibiaWeb's database: Colombia, Costa Rica, Honduras, Panama

View distribution map using BerkeleyMapper.

Hyalinobatrachium colymbiphyllum is found on the Atlantic versant near Catamacas, Departamento de Olancho, Honduras (McCranie and Wilson 2002; McCranie 2007; as H. crybetes); in central and southeastern Costa Rica (Kubicki 2007); on the western slope of the Cordillera Occidental in Colombia (Departments of Antioquia, Boyaca, Caldas, Choco, Cordoba, Risaralda, Tolima and Valle del Cauca; Ruiz-Carranza et al. 1996), south to Valle del Cauca; and in Colón Province, Panama (Jaramillo et al. 1998; Ibañez et al. 2000). It occurs at elevations of 6-1,800 m asl (Savage 2002). Its habitat is humid lowland and montane forest, where it is found in vegetation (trees and bushes) along forest streams (Solís et al. 2008).

Life History, Abundance, Activity, and Special Behaviors
Hyalinobatrachium colymbiphyllum is a nocturnal insectivore. It is usually found on the undersides of leaves associated with small streams. Breeding season is from May to November, during rainy season. The advertisement call is a single, sustained trill that lasts 600 to 800 milliseconds and is repeated after a pause. The dominant frequency is 4.4 to 4.6 kHz (Savage 2002).

Males are territorial and call from the same site (or very nearby) during the entire breeding season. Call frequency increases three-to fourfold if a nonresident male enters the territory. If an intruder does not retreat, there is physical contact until one male presses the other's venter to the leaf and the loser then leaves (Savage 2002).

Eggs are laid on the underside of the leaf from which the male calls (Savage 2002). Clutches usually contain about 50 eggs (maximum 75), each with a diameter of about 1.5 mm excluding the gelatinous envelope (Savage 2002). Egg masses are not guarded during the day, but at night males call and visit their clutches (Savage 2002). Occasionally, the male climbs on an egg mass and touches the eggs with ventral, pelvic, and thigh areas (Hayes 1991). Presumably he is engaging in hydric brooding (voiding liquid onto the eggs to keep them moist) since eggs and jelly are noticeably swollen after the male's contact (Hayes 1991). When tadpoles hatch, they fall into the stream below where they complete development (Solís et al. 2008).

Diurnal wasps are predators of Hyalinobatrachium colymbiphyllum egg masses. Wasps remove a single egg from the mass and fly off. Entire egg masses can be consumed in this manner over repeated visits, since clutches are not guarded during the day (McDiarmid 1978).

Trends and Threats
There are currently no major threats to Hyalinobatrachium colymbiphyllum, although certain populations may be under pressure from habitat loss due to deforestation. This species is generally common and occurs in a number of protected areas. The Monteverde, Costa Rica population experienced a significant decline in the 1990s, but this population has partially recovered (Solís et al. 2008).

Possible reasons for amphibian decline

General habitat alteration and loss
Habitat modification from deforestation, or logging related activities

Comments

Hyalinobatrachium colymbiphyllum was first described by Taylor (1949). Hyalinobatrachium crybetes was synonymized with this species by Cisneros-Heredia and McDiarmid (2007).

A Spanish-language species account can be found at the website of Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad (INBio).

References
 

Cisneros-Heredia, D. F., and McDiarmid, R. W. (2007). ''Revision of the characters of Centrolenidae (Amphibia: Anura: Athesphatanura), with comments on its taxonomy and the description of new taxa of glassfrogs.'' Zootaxa, 1572, 1-82.  

Hayes, M. P. (1991). A study of clutch attendance in the Neotropical frog Centrolenella fleischmanni. Ph. D. dissertation. University of Miami.  

Jaramillo, C. A., Jaramillo, F. E., and Ibáñez, R. (1998). ''Geographic variation: Centrolenella colymbiphyllum (Glass Frog).'' Herpetological Review, 19, 59.  

Jaramillo, F. E., Jaramillo, C. A. and Ibanez, R. (1997). ''Renacuajo de la rana de cristal Hyalinobatrachium colymbiphyllum (Anura: Centrolenidae). .'' Revista de Biologia Tropical, 45(867-870).  

McCranie, J. R. (2007). ''Distribution of the amphibians of Honduras by departments.'' Herpetological Review, 38(1), 35-39.  

McCranie, J. R., and Wilson, L. D. (2002). ''The Amphibians of Honduras.'' Contributions to Herpetology, Vol 19. K. Adler and T. D. Perry, eds., Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles, Ithaca, New York.  

McDiarmid, R. W. (1978). ''Evolution of parental care in frogs.'' The Development of Behavior: Comparative and Evolutionary Aspects. G. M. Burghardt and M. Bekoff, eds., Garland STPM Press, New York, USA.  

Ruiz-Carranza, P.M., Ardila-Robayo, M.C., and Lynch, J.D (1996). ''Lista actualizada de la fauna de Amphibia de Colombia.'' Revista de la Academia Colombiana de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales, 20(77), 365-415.  

Savage, J. M. (2002). The Amphibians and Reptiles of Costa Rica. University of Chicago Press, Chicago and London.  

Solís, F., Ibáñez, R., Chaves, G., Savage, J., Jaramillo, C., Fuenmayor, Q., Castro, F., Grant, T., Wild, E., Acosta-Galvis, A. and Kubicki, B. (2004). Hyalinobatrachium colymbiphyllum. In: IUCN 2009. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2009.1. www.iucnredlist.org. Downloaded on 05 October 2009.  

Taylor, E. H. (1949). ''Costa Rican frogs of the genera Centrolene and Centrolenella.'' University of Kansas Science Bulletin, 33, 257-270.

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