Description
Adult males measure 16.6-17.8 mm SVL. Head is relatively narrow and short, with small eyes. Snout is short, rounded and slightly projecting in lateral view, and truncate when viewed from above. Snout has a rounded canthus rostralis that appears slightly convex in dorsal view, and a vertical loreal region, as well as a triangular depression just posterior to the tip. Small distinct tympanum with a clearly visible annulus. No supratympanic fold is present. Hind limbs are long. Fingers and toes are unwebbed; fingers have discs distinctly smaller than the toe discs, with all discs bearing terminal grooves. Finger I is of normal-size. Discs are described as a little shriveled; those of Fingers II-IV are 2x the width of the penultimate phalanges, while Finger I's disc is just over 1x the width of the penultimate phalanx. Toe IV has a disc 3x the width of the penultimate phalanx. Subarticular tubercles are absent on both fingers and toes. Smooth dorsal, lateral and ventral surfaces. The inner metatarsal tubercle is narrow and elongated and the outer metatarsal tubercle is absent. Males have vocal slits (Kraus and Allison 2009).

In life, the dorsum and sides are a mottled light brown and the head is darker brown with a dark subocular blotch on the face just above the tympanum, and another one just behind it. Sometimes a yellowish mid-vertebral stripe is present. The venter is creamy yellowish with fine black reticulation; the abdomen is lighter in color than the chin and the throat. Thighs and groin are bright orange (Kraus and Allison 2009).

In preservative, the dorsum is light brown with a few dark brown markings. The brown face has a dark brown subocular blotch. A small dark brown postocular bar is present on the head, which extends posteriorly nearly to the tympanum. Another small dark brown bar extends from behind the tympanum to just behind the forearms. A vague dark chevron-shaped marking may be present on the suprascapular region. Sides are lighter brown. Ventral surfaces of thighs are straw-colored with brown speckling, while the abdomen is straw-colored but with fewer brown speckles. Anterior of the thigh is a light straw color with brown specks, while the posterior of the thigh is light brown with dark brown dots. The iris is black with dark-bronze flecks (Kraus and Allison 2009).

Distribution and Habitat

Country distribution from AmphibiaWeb's database: Papua New Guinea

View distribution map in BerkeleyMapper.

Endemic to Papua New Guinea. The type series was collected at Oomsis Forestry Camp, which is 20 km west of Lae, Morobe Province, at 400 m asl. All specimens were found in the interior of lowland forest, perched on low vegetation (<1 m high) (Kraus and Allison 2009).

Life History, Abundance, Activity, and Special Behaviors
This frog is nocturnal. The call is a series of slow peeps, consisting of approximately 24 unpulsed notes at a dominant frequency of 4300 Hz (Kraus and Allison 2009).

Comments
The specific epithet interruptus is a Latin word and refers to the broken stripe on the head (Kraus and Allison 2009).

References

Kraus, F., and Allison, A. (2009). ''New species of Cophixalus (Anura: Microhylidae) from Papua New Guinea.'' Zootaxa, 2128, 1-38.

Species Account Citation: AmphibiaWeb 2009 Cophixalus interruptus <https://amphibiaweb.org/species/7343> University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. Accessed Nov 21, 2024.

Citation: AmphibiaWeb. 2024. <https://amphibiaweb.org> University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. Accessed 21 Nov 2024.

AmphibiaWeb's policy on data use.