Description
Diagnosis and Description:Nyctibatrachus vrijeuni is a medium-sized frog; males have an SVL of 38.7-43.1 mm, and females have an SVL of 37.4-42.5 mm. The head width is almost equal to the head length. Its body is robust. The outline of the snout is oval. The supratympanic fold is distinct, going from the posterior corner of the upper eyelid to near the shoulder. Dorsally, the skin on the snout and between the eyes is shagreened or rough, the skin on its back is wrinkled, with longitudinal folds with glandular projections on the forelimb, thigh, and shank. The ventral side has longitudinal folds on the throat with the chest, belly, and limbs shagreened. The ventral sides of the thighs show a pair of femoral glands. There is a well-developed ridge from the lip that extends over the snout and splits, forming an inverted Y. The forearm is shorter than the hand. Its hindlimbs are moderately long with the shank shorter than the thigh and almost equal to the foot length. Its finger and toe discs are well developed. The third finger disc lacks a groove, and is 1.6 times wider than the finger. The fourth toe disc has a dorso-terminal groove, and is three times wider than the toe. There is medium webbing that barely reaches the third subarticular tubercle on either side of toe IV (Biju, et al 2011).

Coloration:The dorsum has a reddish-brown hue with a black band. A pair of reddish-brown longitudinal dorsolateral bands extends from the back of the eyelids down to almost the middle of the dorsum. Dorsally, the limbs are darker colored than the dorsum. The forelimbs, hind limbs, fingers, and toes have black cross bands. The lower jaw is brown with white spots on the margins. Its feet and webbing are dark grey, and the male femoral glands are reddish.

Coloration in Preservation: In preservation, the dorsum is dark grayish with a black band, and the limbs have light grey cross bands. The ventral side is dark grey. The belly and thigh are a lighter grey than the throat, and the shank and thigh have light brown patches. Females have pigmented eggs (Biju,et al. 2011).

Distribution and Habitat

Country distribution from AmphibiaWeb's database: India

View distribution map in BerkeleyMapper.

Nyctibatrachus vrijeuni is found in the Western Ghats of India, specifically in Wayanad of Kerala State and Mettupalayam of Tamil Nadu State. These sites are at an elevation of 700-2100 m and 326 m, respectively. It can be found in streams in primary and secondary forests, and has been observed both in day and night(Biju, et al. 2011).

Life History, Abundance, Activity, and Special Behaviors
Males have femoral glands present, and females have large eggs of around 2.6 mm in diameter (Biju, et al. 2011).

Trends and Threats
More research is required to fully understand its conservation status.

Comments
Etymology: This species is named after the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Free University of Brussels). Its common name, VUB night frog, is the acronym of the university. It was first described in 2011 by S.D. Biju, Ines Van Bocxlaer, Stephen Mahony, K.P. Dinesh, C. Radhakrishnan, Anil Zachariah, Varad Giri, and Franky Bossuyt.

References

Biju, S.D., Van Bocxlaer, I., Mahony, S., Dinesh, K.P., Radhakrishnan, C., Zachariah, A., Giri, V., and Bossuyt, F. (2011). ''A taxonomic review of the Night Frog genus Nyctibatrachus Boulenger, 1882 in the Western Ghats, India (Anura: Nyctibatrachidae) with description of twelve new species.'' Zootaxa, 3029, 1-96.

Species Account Citation: AmphibiaWeb 2012 Nyctibatrachus vrijeuni: VUB Night Frog <https://amphibiaweb.org/species/7720> 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.

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