AmphibiaWeb - Eleutherodactylus etheridgei
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(Translations may not be accurate.)

Eleutherodactylus etheridgei Schwartz, 1958
Oriente Coastal Frog, Etheridge's Robber Frog
Subgenus: Euhyas
family: Eleutherodactylidae
subfamily: Eleutherodactylinae
genus: Eleutherodactylus

© 2007 Ansel Fong (1 of 4)

  hear Fonozoo call

Conservation Status (definitions)
IUCN Red List Status Account Endangered (EN)
CITES No CITES Listing
National Status Vulnerable (Estudio Nacional de Biodiversidad)
Regional Status None
Access Conservation Needs Assessment Report .

   

 

View distribution map in BerkeleyMapper.

Description
Eleutherodactylus etheridgei is a small frog, with males reaching 20 mm and the larger females up to 24 mm in SVL (Lando and Williams 1969). The vomerine teeth, behind the choanae, are in a long, almost straight series (Schwartz 1958; Schwartz and Henderson 1985; Schwartz and Henderson 1991). Digital discs are small and there is no webbing between the toes (Lando and Williams 1969).

These frogs are greenish gray to light tan dorsally, with a suffusion of little white dots and darker blotches from snout to vent. There is a black to dark brown canthal line extending from the snout through the eye, above the tympanum, and ending above the forelimbs. Fused to the end of the canthal line, there is a dusky interocular bar, a black scapular blotch and two lateral blotches. The thighs have anterior and concealed surfaces of dull purplish tan. The venter is white (Lando and Williams 1969; Schwartz 1958; Schwartz and Henderson 1985; Schwartz and Henderson 1991).

Distribution and Habitat

Country distribution from AmphibiaWeb's database: Cuba

 

View distribution map in BerkeleyMapper.
This species is endemic to Cuba and it is known only from scattered localities in the south coast of Santiago de Cuba and Guantánamo provinces. It occurs from sea level to near sea level, up to 150 m in elevation, in xeric areas (Schwartz and Henderson 1991; Fong 2005).

Life History, Abundance, Activity, and Special Behaviors
This is a terrestrial species found under stones, wood pieces, and in holes in limestone soil and cliffs. These are nocturnal frogs. Activity is increased during periods of rainfall. Males vocalize from the ground and sometimes from low shrubs. Calls are a series of soft notes (Schwartz 1958; Lando and Williams 1969; Schwartz and Henderson 1991; Fong unpublished).

Trends and Threats
Habitat modification is considered the principal threat to this species, resulting from infrastructure development for human settlement, including tourist developments, as well as the disturbance of the habitat by tourists (Vales et al. 1998; Hedges and Diaz 2004).

Possible reasons for amphibian decline

General habitat alteration and loss
Urbanization

Comments
Eleutherodactylus etheridgei is a member of the subgenus Euhyas (Heinicke et al. 2007).

Etymology- Named for Richard Etheridge, collector of the type series (Schwartz 1958).

References

Drewes, R. C., and Wilkinson, J. A. (2004). ''The California Academy of Sciences Gulf of Guinea Expedition (2001) I. The taxonomic status of the genus Nesionixalus Perret, 1976 (Anura: Hyperoliidae): treefrogs of São Tomé and Príncipe, with comments on the genus Hyperolius.'' Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences, 55, 395-407.

Fong, A. (2005). ''Amphibians and reptiles.'' Cuba: Siboney-Juticí. Rapid Biological Inventories Report 10. A. Fong, D. Maceira, W.S. Alverson, and J.M Shopland, eds., The Field Museum, Chicago, Illinois, USA.

Hedges, S. B. and Díaz, L. M. (2004). Eleutherodactylus etheridgei. In: IUCN 2007. 2007 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. http://www.iucnredlist.org/. Downloaded on 11 November 2007.

Heinicke, M. P., Duellman, W. E., Hedges, S. B. (2007). ''Major Caribbean and Central American frog faunas originated by ancient oceanic dispersal.'' Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 104(24), 10092-10097.

Lando, R.V., and Williams, E.E. (1969). ''Notes on the herpetology of the U. S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.'' Studies Fauna Curacao Caribbean Islands, 31(116), 159-201.

Schwartz, A. (1958). ''Four new frogs of the genus Eleutherodactylus (Leptodactylidae) from Cuba.'' American Museum Novitates, 1873, 1-20.

Schwartz, A., and Henderson, R. W. (1985). A Guide to the Identification of the Amphibians and Reptiles of the West Indies Exclusive of Hispaniola. Milwaukee Public Museum, Inland Press, Milwaukee.

Schwartz, A., and Henderson, R. W. (1991). Amphibians and Reptiles of the West Indies. Descriptions, Distributions, and Natural History. University of Florida Press, Gainesville, Florida, USA.

Vales, M., Álvarez, A., Montes, L., and Ávila, A. (1998). Estudio Nacional sobre la Diversidad Biológica en la República de Cuba. CESYTA, Madrid.



Originally submitted by: Ansel Fong G. (first posted 2007-11-07)
Edited by: Kellie Whittaker (2007-11-12)

Species Account Citation: AmphibiaWeb 2007 Eleutherodactylus etheridgei: Oriente Coastal Frog <https://amphibiaweb.org/species/2914> University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. Accessed Mar 28, 2024.



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Citation: AmphibiaWeb. 2024. <https://amphibiaweb.org> University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. Accessed 28 Mar 2024.

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