Hyperolius quinquevittatus Bocage, 1866
Five-striped Reed Frog | family: Hyperoliidae genus: Hyperolius |
© 2011 Martin Pickersgill (1 of 6) |
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Description Phase J: Dorsum with six blackish brown longitudinal stripes, separating five light bands, one middorsal, a dorsolateral pair and a lateral pair. The middorsal and lateral light stripes are grass green, as is the head, while the dorsolateral pair are light golden brown. Throat yellow, ventrum whitish, limbs and toes red. Phase F: The two central black stripes are missing, so that dorsum is uniform light green with two blackish brown stripes delimiting a green lateral stripe. Whether H. quinquevittatus really does belong to the nasutus group is not known. Poynton and Broadley (1987) think it is closer to H. kivuensis. Both subspecies of quinquevittatus are sympatric with H. nasutus. They seem to have the same male calling site and habitat requirements, but H. quinquevittatus generally occurs at higher altitudes. Two subspecies are recognised, H. q. quinquevittatus in the greater part of the range, and H. q. mertensi Poynton 1964 from the Nyika plateau in Malawi. The latter is characteristically greenish with two dark longitudinal lines on flanks. The adults of H. q. mertensi thus seems to be identical to H. q. quinquevittatus phase F in morphology and pattern, while the newly metamorphosed specimens are striped. Poynton and Broadley (1987) further mention differences in the striped juveniles of the two subspecies. According to my material the more eastern samples of H. q. quinquevittatus show a greater frequency of the phase F among males than western material from R. D. Congo, which could indicate a transition to H. q. mertensi, but Poynton and Broadley (1987) consider this doubtful. Distribution and Habitat Country distribution from AmphibiaWeb's database: Angola, Congo, the Democratic Republic of the, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, United Republic of, Zambia
Life History, Abundance, Activity, and Special Behaviors Comments This account was taken from "Treefrogs of Africa" by Arne Schiøtz with kind permission from Edition Chimaira publishers, Frankfurt am Main.
References
Poynton, J. C. and Broadley, D. G. (1987). ''Amphibia Zambesiaca 3. Rhacophoridae and Hyperoliidae.'' Annals of the Natal Museum, 28, 161-229. Schiøtz, A. (1999). Treefrogs of Africa. Edition Chimaira, Frankfurt am Main. Originally submitted by: Arne Schiøtz (first posted 2001-01-09) Edited by: Kellie Whittaker (2008-09-10) Species Account Citation: AmphibiaWeb 2008 Hyperolius quinquevittatus: Five-striped Reed Frog <https://amphibiaweb.org/species/575> University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. Accessed Oct 11, 2024.
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Citation: AmphibiaWeb. 2024. <https://amphibiaweb.org> University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. Accessed 11 Oct 2024. AmphibiaWeb's policy on data use. |