Description

Diagnosis: Can be differentiated from other Litoria by the following combination of characters: (1) moderate size (adult males measure 39.3-41.6 mm SVL); (2) coloration in life: green dorsum with abundant yellow spots; orange thighs, groin area and axillary spots; no blue coloration on thighs or laterally; no black vermiculations on thighs or venter; no canthal stripe between eye-naris (3) large eyes (eye/SVL 0.12-0.15); (4) dermal ridges on posterior edge of forearms and on hindlimb from heel to Toe V; (5) white bilobed dermal ridge below vent; (6) advertisement call: a single soft, pulsed chirp.

Description: Adult males measure 39.3-41.6 mm SVL. Finely granular dorsal skin. Ventral skin is smooth on the throat, but coarsely granular on the abdomen. Head is wider than moderately slender body. Eyes are large and prominent. Pupils are horizontal. Rounded snout in dorsal view, nearly truncate in lateral profile with very slightly protruding upper jaw. Canthus rostralis slightly curved; loreal region somewhat concave. Nares closer to tip of snout than to eyes. Tympanum small with distinct annulus. Supratympanic fold runs from posterior orbit to above the axilla. Flared lips. Choanae small and circular. Vomerine teeth lie in two moderate-sized groups. Fleshy ovoid tongue. Relatively short limbs. Fingers are moderately long (Finger III>IV>II>I) and toes are long (Toe IV>III>V>II>I). Both fingers and toes have fleshy opaque webbing, as well as prominent terminal discs with circum-marginal grooves. Webbing on fingers is a narrow strip between Fingers I and II, but reaches to the penultimate phalanx on the outer edges of Fingers II-III, the third phalanx on the inner edge of Finger III, and to Finger IV's disc. Webbing on toes extends to the penultimate tubercle on Toe I; the penultimate phalanx on the inner edge of Toe II; the disc on the outer edge of Toe II; the penultimate phalanx on the inner edge of Toe III; the disc on the outer edge of Toe III; the penultimate phalanx on both sides of Toe IV, and the disc on the inner edge of Toe V. Dermal flanges are present on Toes III-IV, extending to the disc. A small ovoid metatarsal tubercle is present at the base of Toe I. The proximal third of the femur bears distinct, rounded tubercles on the ventral surface. Males have indistinct, unpigmented nuptial pads and vocal slits (Richards et al. 2009).

In life, the dorsal surfaces are bright green with yellow spots of varying sizes. Hidden surfaces of thighs, groin and axillary areas are bright orange. Lateral surfaces are mottled green and yellow dorsolaterally, shading to mottled green and white ventrolaterally. Small brown blotches in the subocular region. Toes and fingers are mostly white with a few green patches on the dorsal surfaces. White dermal fringes on arm and tarsus. Distinct white dermal ridge below vent. Scattered white tubercles below vent and thighs. Venter is white. Iris is white with brown vermiculations (Richards et al. 2009).

In preservative, the dorsal surfaces of the head, body and legs appear slate blue with numerous lighter blue spots. The dorsal surfaces of fingers, toes and forelimbs are usually unpigmented, but sometimes have a hint of blue pigment. The lateral surfaces are also blue with bluish-white spots. Sides of head are distinctly lighter blue than the dorsal surfaces of the head. Upper lip is white. Eye is bordered by a thin white ring. Ventral surfaces of the body and forelimbs are off-white; hind limbs are a slightly darker shade of off-white. A brown stripe runs along the posterior edge of the hind limbs onto Toe V. The dermal flange below the vent shades from slate blue on the dorsal surface to white on the ventral surface, bordered ventrally by a brown stripe (Richards et al. 2009).

Distribution and Habitat

Country distribution from AmphibiaWeb's database: Indonesia, Papua New Guinea

View distribution map in BerkeleyMapper.

Endemic to Indonesia. This species has been found near Kwerba Village in the southern foothills of the Foja Mountains, Papua Province, Indonesia at an elevation of 200 m ASL. Also found in Marina Valen, southern foothills of the Foja Mountain Range, Papua Province, Indonesia at an elevation of 500 m ASL. Habitat consists of relatively undisturbed hill forest on steep ridges. Occurs along intermittent streams which are formed from a series of shallow seeps and disconnected pools (Richards et al. 2009).

Life History, Abundance, Activity, and Special Behaviors
Males make soft calls from large leaves on low bushes or tree branches that are 1-6 m above the ground, along intermittent streams but not around flowing streams or forest pools. Voice consisted of two distinct call types, mostly short calls (the advertisement call) and a few long calls. Short calls consisted of a single soft, sharp chirp with a dominant frequency of 1520-1890 Hz; although pulses were not distinguishable in the field, lab analysis showed that short calls had 4-6 pulses. Long calls were audibly pulsed, often produced in couplets or triplets, and were usually emitted in response to other males calling in the same area (Richards et al. 2009).

Comments
The species is named after Claude Gascon of Conservation International, in recognition for his support of amphibian research in New Guinea and his focus on global amphibian conservation biology (Richards et al. 2009).

References

Richards, S. J., Oliver, P. M., Krey, K. and Tjaturadi, B. (2009). ''A new species of Litoria (Amphibia: Anura: Hylidae) from the foothills of the Foja Mountains, Papua Province, Indonesia.'' Zootaxa, 2277, 1-13.

Species Account Citation: AmphibiaWeb 2010 Litoria gasconi <https://amphibiaweb.org/species/7386> University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. Accessed Nov 22, 2024.

Citation: AmphibiaWeb. 2024. <https://amphibiaweb.org> University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. Accessed 22 Nov 2024.

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