Description
Diagnosis: Hyloxalus azureiventris can be distinguished from other related species, such as Cryptophyllobates chlorocraspedus by several characters, such as the presence and yellow or orange color of the dorsolateral stripes, the black legs with blue, green or yellow reticulated patterns, and the lack of webbing between the toes (Caldwell 2005).

Description: This medium-sized frog attains a SVL of 27 mm. The dorsal surface of the body is slightly granular, and the ventral surface is smooth. Maxillary teeth are present, and medial lingual process is absent. The snout is pointed in the lateral view. It is truncate when viewed dorsally. The canthus rostralis is rounded. The supratympanic fold is not visible behind the tympanum. The toes and fingers are not broadened, with slightly broadened tips, dorsally with paired raised scutes. The first finger is slightly longer than the second finger. Toes are not webbed (Kneller and Henle 1985).

Tadpole Morphology: Tadpole total length is approximately 11.5 mm (Kneller and Henle 1985). Body is relatively low, and tail is approximately same depth as body. Tadpole possesses a rounded tail fin and a dextral vent tube, with tail accounting for more than 70% of total length. Labial tooth row formula is two rows of denticles above, and 3 below (Lötters et al. 2000).

Coloration: The base color is black with a dorsal aposematic pattern. Bright yellow starts above the base of the thigh and continues along the upper eyelid over the canthus rostralis to the nose tip. Yellow dorsolateral lines start from the nose to the base of the arm and run continuously along the dorsum. The forerms, dorsum, and the legs are coated with a fine blue-green marbling. The ventral sides are black except for the hands and feet which have bright blue marbling (Kneller and Henle 1985).

Tadpole Coloration: Larval coloration is uniformly dark gray with a somewhat translucent tail (Lötters et al. 2000).

Distribution and Habitat

Country distribution from AmphibiaWeb's database: Peru

	View distribution map in BerkeleyMapper.
	View Bd and Bsal data (1 records).

This species is located in the San Martin Department, Peru just east of the Andes Mountains. More specifically, it is only known from the vicinity of Tarapoto-Yurimaguas Road (Icochea et al. 2011).

Its habitat consists of lowland primary tropical rainforest, and it utilizes both terrestrial and freshwater systems. This species is presumed to be restricted to around 700 m above sea level (Icochea et al. 2011).

Life History, Abundance, Activity, and Special Behaviors
H. azureiventris is terrestrial and normally found under the cover of rocks and in leaf litter. The males make calls from the cover of rocks. These calls are characterized by a “vee-vee-vit” sound. The entire call has been described to be about 40 seconds long with 3 to 5 second pauses between each call. Their throats will swell up for 3 seconds during their call (Kneller and Henle 1985).

During breeding, the male will grab the female around the head. This species is oviparous, and the female tends to lay the eggs in coconut halves, leaf litter or bromeliads (Kneller and Henle 1985; Icochea et al. 2011). There are typically 12-16 eggs, and they are dark grey in color. The parental care is uniparental, and is done by the male (Kneller and Henle 1985). He will guard the clutch for two weeks, at which point they hatch as free-living larvae and are transported to pools with running water (Lötters et al. 2000; Icochea et al. 2011).

Trends and Threats
This species is in decline. Habitat loss from human activities is the major threat on these frogs. Urbanization, recreational activities, and agricultural developments are the main human factors resulting in habitat loss. Illegal collection by tourists for use in the pet trade industry may have also affected the population (Icochea et al. 2011).

This frog is not present in any protected areas (Icochea et al. 2011).

Relation to Humans
These frogs have been collected for and found in the pet trade (Icochea et al. 2011).

Possible reasons for amphibian decline

General habitat alteration and loss
Habitat modification from deforestation, or logging related activities
Intensified agriculture or grazing
Urbanization
Intentional mortality (over-harvesting, pet trade or collecting)

Comments
H. azureiventris was first described by Kneller and Henle (1985).

The phylogenetic relationships of H. azureiventris is relatively unknown. It is thought that Colostethus bocagei, Dendrobates sylvaticus, Crypotophyllobates chlorocraspedus, and Colostethus nexipus are the closest related species (Grant et al. 2006).

H. azureiventris has gone through several taxonomic changes from Phyllobates, Ameerega to Hyloxalus (Frost 2011).

References

Caldwell, J.P. (2005). ''A new Amazonian species of Cryptophyllobates (Anura: Dendrobatidae).'' Herpetologica, 61(4), 449-461.

Frost, D. (2011). Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference. Version 5.5.

Grant, T., Frost, D. R., Caldwell, J. P., Gagliardo, R., Haddad, C. F. B., Kok, P. J. R., Means, D. B., Noonan, B. P., Schargel, W. E., and Wheeler, W. C. (2006). ''Phylogenetic systematics of dart-poison frogs and their relatives (Amphibia: Athesphatanura: Dendrobatidae).'' Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, (299), 1-262.

Icochea, J., Ariadne Angulo, Karl-Heinz Jungfer, Stefan Lötters, Wilfredo Arizabal, Jorge Luis Martinez (2004). Hyloxalus azureiventris. In: IUCN 2010. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2010.4. www.iucnredlist.org. Downloaded on 08 April 2011.

Kneller, M. and K. Henle (1985). ''Ein neuer blattsteiger-frosch (Salientia: Dendrobatidae: Phyllobates) aus Peru.'' Salamandra, 21, 62-69.

Lötters, S., K-H. Jungfer, and A. Widmer (2000). ''A new genus of aposematic poison frog (Amphibia: Anura: Dendrobatidae) from the upper Amazon basin, with notes on its reproductive behaviour and tadpole morphology.'' Jahreshefte der Gesellschaft für Naturkunde in Württemberg, 156, 233-243.

Species Account Citation: AmphibiaWeb 2012 Hyloxalus azureiventris: Sky Blue Poison Dart Frog <https://amphibiaweb.org/species/1652> University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. Accessed Nov 25, 2024.

Citation: AmphibiaWeb. 2024. <https://amphibiaweb.org> University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. Accessed 25 Nov 2024.

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