AmphibiaWeb - Centrolene lemniscatum
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Centrolene lemniscatum Duellman & Schulte, 1993
Rioja Giant Glass Frog
family: Centrolenidae
subfamily: Centroleninae
genus: Centrolene
Species Description: Duellman, W. E., and R. Schulte. (1993). New species of centrolenid frogs from northern Peru. Occasional Papers of the Museum of Natural History, University of Kansas 155: 12-14.

© 2022 Luis A. García_Ayachi (1 of 4)
Conservation Status (definitions)
IUCN Red List Status Account Data Deficient (DD)
CITES No CITES Listing
National Status None
Regional Status None

   

 

View distribution map in BerkeleyMapper.

Description

Centrolene lemniscatum is a glass frog that was described from one adult male with a snout-vent length of 27.0 mm. The body is robust and the head is almost as wide as it is long (head width is 30.3% of snout-vent length and head length is 30.7% of snout-vent length), appearing round in the ventral view. The snout is round in the profile view and the upper margin is truncated in the dorsal view. The nostrils point anterolateral and are protuberant. The canthus rostralis is straight and hardly visible while the loreal region is somewhat concave. The lips flare anterior to the orbit. The eyes are rather large, being 34.9% of the head length. The supratympanic fold is heavy and covers the upper part of the tympanum, which is indistinct and slightly posteriorly inclined. Spicules cover the skin on the dorsal surfaces, with small spicules below the orbit, except for the limbs and flanks, which are smooth. The ventral surfaces of the flanks, thighs, and belly are granular, while the other ventral surfaces are smooth. The vent is at the upper level of the thighs and points posteroventrally. Below the vent, two pairs of large, round tubercles are present on the ventral surface. A humeral spine is present on the upper arm. The hand is large and has broad digits with narrow, lateral fringes. The palmar tubercle is raised, somewhat large, and ovoid, oriented diagonally. The thenar tubercle is also ovoid and much longer than the palmar tubercle but is only barely raised. A granular nuptial pad is present. The relative finger lengths are I < II < IV < III. Webbing is absent for fingers I - III, while the webbing formula for the other fingers is III 2 – 2 ½ IV. The terminal discs are subtruncate, and the subarticular tubercles are round, raised, and almost as wide as the digits, with the largest being on finger IV. The supernumerary tubercles are distinct on the proximal segments. The hind limbs are long and slender; the tibia length is 56.3% of the snout-vent length and the foot length is 51.9% of snout-vent length. The inner metatarsal tubercle is visible from above, being long, elliptical, and raised. The toes are somewhat slender and have lateral fringes, including on the outer edge of toe V and on the inner edge of toe I. Relative toe lengths are I < II < III < V < IV with a webbing formula of I 1 ½ – 2+ II 1 – 2+ III 1 + – 2 ½ IV 2 ½ – 2 V. Like on the fingers, the terminal discs are subtruncate. The round, elevated subarticular tubercles are as wide as the digits (Duellman and Schulte 1993).

Cochranella croceopodes and Centrolene hesperium occur in the same region as C. lemniscatum and also have white labial stripes. Centrolene lemniscatum can be differentiated from C. croceopodes by the diffuse yellow line on the flanks, first finger being longer than the second, distinct tympanum, increased hand webbing, and absence of male humeral spines in C. croceopodes. Compared to C. hesperium, C. lemniscatum has a rounded snout in profile view (which slopes anteroventrally in C. hesperium), an indistinct tympanum (concealed in C. hesperium), and no dermal folds on the limbs (present in C. hesperium). Additionally, C. hesperium only occurs from elevations 1500 m to 1800 m, while the elevation range of C. lemniscatum is higher (Duellman and Schulte 1993, IUCN 2019).

In life, the dorsum is a medium green with yellow-green patches. A continuous, white labial stripe extends laterally above the arm insertion to the groin. Below the lateral stripe, the flanks are green. There is a narrow white stripe on the outer edges of the forearm and foot, and the digits are pale yellow-green. The parietal peritoneum is white and the visceral peritoneum is clear, while the heart is not visible. The bones are green. The irises are a silver-bronze, having black flecks (Duellman and Schulte 1993).

In preservative, the dorsum appears gray-lavender while the limbs and ventrum are cream. The lateral stripe is white and distinct. The edge of the upper eyelid is pigmented and the edge of the upper lip is white. The flanks, anterior and posterior surfaces of the thighs, fingers, inner three toes, and all ventral surfaces are cream (Duellman and Schulte 1993).

Distribution and Habitat

Country distribution from AmphibiaWeb's database: Peru

 

View distribution map in BerkeleyMapper.
The species inhabits cloud forests on the lower regions of rocky ridges extending eastward from the Cordillera Central of the Andes Mountains in Peru. The type locality is the road between Lake Pomacochas, Bongará Province, and Venceremos, Rioja Province (Duellman and Schulte 1993). The species occurs in elevations ranging from 2000 to 2280 m (IUCN 2019).

Life History, Abundance, Activity, and Special Behaviors
Eggs are deposited on the upper sides of leaf tips above streams (IUCN 2019).

Larva
Larvae develop in streams (IUCN 2019).

Trends and Threats
The major threats to this species are unknown (IUCN 2019).

Relation to Humans
There are no known human uses of this species (IUCN 2019).

Possible reasons for amphibian decline

General habitat alteration and loss

Comments

The genus name, “Centrolene,” comes from the Greek nouns "kéntron" (“string”) and "ōlénē" (“elbow”) (Barrio-Amorós et al. 2019).

The species epithet, "lemniscatum," means “adorned with ribbons” in reference to the pale dorsal stripes (Duellman and Schulte 1993).

References

Barrio-Amorós, C.L.; Rojas-Runjaic, F.J.M. and Señaris, J.C. (2019). "Catalogue of the amphibians of Venezuela: Illustrated and annotated species list, distribution, and conservation." Amphibian and Reptile Conservation, 13(1), 1-198.

Duellman, W.E., Schulte, R. (1993). "New species of centrolenid frogs from northern Peru." Occasional Papers of the Museum of Natural History, The University of Kansas, 155, 1-33.

IUCN SSC Amphibian Specialist Group. 2019. Centrolene lemniscatum. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2019: e.T54922A56579218. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-1.RLTS.T54922A56579218.en. Accessed on 21 February 2023.



Originally submitted by: Madeline Ahn (2023-03-08)
Description by: Madeline Ahn (updated 2023-03-08)
Distribution by: Madeline Ahn (updated 2023-03-08)
Life history by: Madeline Ahn (updated 2023-03-08)
Larva by: Madeline Ahn (updated 2023-03-08)
Trends and threats by: Madeline Ahn (updated 2023-03-08)
Relation to humans by: Madeline Ahn (updated 2023-03-08)
Comments by: Madeline Ahn (updated 2023-03-08)

Edited by: Ann T. Chang (2023-03-08)

Species Account Citation: AmphibiaWeb 2023 Centrolene lemniscatum: Rioja Giant Glass Frog <https://amphibiaweb.org/species/1730> 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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