Description
Diagnosis: (1) bones pale green in life; (2) pericardium and parietal peritoneum transparent; hepatic and visceral peritoneum white; (3) coloration in life: head and dorsum pale green with large lime-green spots, dotted with black melanophores, and larger black flecks, also present on limbs; in preservative, dorsum cream with white large spots, black melanophores and flecks; (4) inner fingers lacking webbing; webbing formula for outer fingers III2 1/3–1IV; (5) foot webbing formula I1–1 2/ 3II1–1 1/2III1–2IV2–1V; (6) snout rounded in dorsal view, truncate in profile; (7) dorsal skin smooth in preservative, finely granular in life; ventral skin areolate; (8) ulnar and tarsal folds lacking; (9) humeral spine absent in male; (10) tympanum not visible; tympanic region oriented nearly vertically; (11) size (male): 20 mm SVL; (12) nuptial excrescences lacking or inconspicuous; (13) vomerine teeth absent (Barrio-Amorós and Brewer-Carias 2008, describing H. mesai, now synonymized with H. iaspidiense).

Similar species: Hyalinobatrachium iaspidiense can be distinguished from other Venezuelan Guayanan species of Hyalinobatrachium (H. fleischmanni, H. ignioculus), except for H. taylori, by having pale green bones in life (which become white bones in preservative). H. iaspidiense can be distinguished from H. taylori by the following combination of characters: snout truncate in profile (vs. sloping in profile for H. taylori); Finger I longer than Finger II (vs. Finger I = Finger II in H. taylori); lacks fringe between Fingers II-III (fringe present between Fingers II-III in H. taylori); coloration in life pale green with large lime-green spots and small irregular black flecks (vs. dark green with small white spots for H. taylori); coloration in preservative whitish with large white spots and small black flecks (vs. yellowish with numerous purple chromatophores in H. taylori); calls consist of 1-2 notes (vs. 5-7 notes for H. taylori) (Barrio-Amorós and Brewer-Carias 2008).

Description: Adult male (specimen originally described as H. mesai) measures 20 mm in SVL. Small body with head wider than body. Short snout (truncate in profile and rounded in dorsal view) with indistinct canthus rostralis and a sloping loreal region. Nares protrude and the internarial region is slightly concave. Eyes are large. Tympanum is indistinct and the supratympanic fold is absent. The parietal peritoneum and the pericardium are transparent, while the hepatic and visceral peritonea are white. Vomerine teeth are absent. Tongue is round, has a posterior notch, and is barely free. Lacks ulnar and tarsal folds. Forearms broader than upper arms. Finger lengths are III>IV>I>II. No bulla. Webbing is absent between inner fingers but present between outer fingers. Finger discs are oval and wider than the adjacent phalanx. Humeral spines lacking. Hind limbs are slender. Toes are about 3/4-webbed. Toe discs are round to truncate and smaller than finger discs. Inner metatarsal tubercle is low and elliptical. Outer metatarsal tubercle is small and round. Smooth dorsal surfaces, areolate venter. Cloacal opening hidden by short anal flap. Cloacal ornamentation includes low folds and whitish tubercles. Males have vocal slits and a distensible subgular vocal sac but nuptial excrescences have not been seen (Barrio-Amorós and Brewer-Carias 2008).

In life, the skin is pale green. The head, dorsum, forearms and legs have large bright lime green blotches and much smaller irregular black spots, as well as black melanophores. White ulnar and tarsal stripes, but no folds. White iris with black melanophores. Bones are pale green in life (Barrio-Amoros and Brewer-Carias 2008).

In preservative, the dorsum is cream-colored with large white spots and small black flecks. Ventral surfaces whitish and opaque, with internal organs not easily seen. Iris dirty white with black melanophores. Bones are white in preservative (Barrio-Amoros and Brewer-Carias 2008).

Distribution and Habitat

Country distribution from AmphibiaWeb's database: Brazil, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, Venezuela

View distribution map in BerkeleyMapper.

In Venezuela, this species is found on the southern slope of Sarisariñama-tepui, Estado Bolívar, Venezuela at an elevation of 420 m asl, where mountain streams flow down through the forest (Barrio-Amorós and Brewer-Carias 2008, as H. mesai), and at Quebrada de Jaspe in Bolivar State, between 850-1000 m asl (La Marca and Señaris 2004). In Venezuela it has also been reported from Serranía de Imataca, Delta Amacuro State, at an elevation of 25 m asl (La Marca and Señaris 2004). In Ecuador, it has been found in Sucumbíos Province at an elevation of 280 m asl (Yánez-Muñoz et al. 2009) and Napo Province (Guayasamin and North 2009). In Peru, it has been found at Lago Preto-Paredón in the Province of Ramon Castilla, Department of Loreto, Peru, on the Peruvian-Brazilian border, at an elevation of 95 m asl (Yánez-Muñoz et al. 2009). In Brazil, it is found in the state of Amazonas (Municipality of Presidente Figueiredo) (Cordeiro-Duarte et al. 2002, as H. nouraguense/H. nouraguensis in Cisneros-Heredia and McDiarmid 2007), and in Mato Grosso (Yánez-Muñoz et al. 2009, based on unpublished records of Vitt and Caldwell). It is also found in the Sipaliwini District of Surinam (Kok and Castroviejo-Fisher 2008, as H. nouraguense).

Life History, Abundance, Activity, and Special Behaviors
This species generally prefers the upper surfaces of leaves in vegetation up to 7 meters above streams or the forest floor (La Marca and Señaris 2004).

A male (originally described as H. mesai) was found calling on the upper surface of a Heliconia leaf, about 2 m above ground and 2 m from a small stream in the forest, on Sarisarinama-tepui in Venezuela. Males were also heard calling from higher trees and bushes and away from the stream. Calls were high-pitched and were usually a single note (duration 0.17 sec), but some were two notes, with a call interval of 9.3 sec. Dominant frequency was 4700 Hz and the fundamental frequency was 4300 Hz (Barrio-Amorós and Brewer-Carias 2008).

In Peru, an individual was collected from about 1.2 m above ground, perching in the leaves of a shrub about 50 m away from a small lagoon in the forest (Yánez-Muñoz et al. 2009).

Eggs are laid on the underside of leaves overhanging running water; when the eggs hatch, the larvae fall into the stream (La Marca and Señaris 2004).

Trends and Threats
In suitable habitat, it is not uncommon. It occurs in at least one protected area: Parque Nacional Canaima, in Venezuela. Diamond and gold mining have threatened its habitat in the past, and logging presents a current threat (La Marca and Señaris 2004).

Possible reasons for amphibian decline

General habitat alteration and loss
Habitat modification from deforestation, or logging related activities
Mining

Comments

Species authority: Ayarzagüena 1992.

H. mesai (from Sarisarinama-tepui in Venezuela; Barrio-Amorós and Brewer-Carias 2008) was recently synonymized with H. iaspidiense by Yánez-Muñoz et al. (2009); synonymy was also suggested by Guayasamin and North (2009). In addition, H. nouraguense (also referred to as H. nouraguensis in Cisneros-Heredia and McDiarmid 2007) was synonymized with H. iaspidiense recently, by Yánez-Muñoz et al. (2009); synonymy had been previously suggested by Ernst et al. (2005), Cisneros-Heredia and McDiarmid (2007) and Guayasamin et al. (2008).

References

Ayarzagüena, J. (1992). ''Los Centrolénidos de la Guayana Venezolana.'' Publicaciones de la Asociacién Amigos de Donana, 1, 1-48.

Barrio-Amoros, C. L., and Brewer-Carias, C. (2008). ''Herpetological results of the 2002 expedition to Sarisariñama, a tepui in Venezuelan Guayana, with the description of five new species.'' Zootaxa, 1942, 1-68.

Cisneros-Heredia, D. F., and McDiarmid, R. W. (2007). ''Revision of the characters of Centrolenidae (Amphibia: Anura: Athesphatanura), with comments on its taxonomy and the description of new taxa of glassfrogs.'' Zootaxa, 1572, 1-82.

Ernst, R., Rödel, M.-O. and Arjoon, D. (2005). ''On the cutting edge - The anuran fauna of the Mabura Hill Forest Reserve, Central Guyana.'' Salamandra, 41, 179-194.

Guayasamin, J. M., Castroviejo-Fisher, S., Ayarzagüena, J., Trueb, L., Vilà, C. (2008). ''Phylogenetic relationships of glassfrogs (Centrolenidae) based on mitochondrial and nuclear genes.'' Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 48(2), 574-595.

Guayasamin, J. M., and North, S. (2009). ''Amphibia, Centrolenidae, Hyalinobatrachium iaspidiense: Distribution extension.'' Check List. Journal of Species Lists and Distribution, 5, 526-529.

Kok, P. J. R., and Castroviejo-Fisher, S. (2008). ''Glassfrogs (Anura: Centrolenidae) of Kaieteur National Park, Guyana, with notes on the distribution and taxonomy of some species of the family in the Guiana Shield.'' Zootaxa, 1680, 25–53..

Yánez-Muñoz, M. H., Pérez-Peña, P., and Cisneros-Heredia, D. F. (2009). ''New country records of Hyalinobatrachium iaspidiense (Amphibia, Anura, Centrolenidae) from the Amazonian lowlands of Ecuador and Peru.'' Herpetology Notes, 2, 49-52.

Species Account Citation: AmphibiaWeb 2021 Hyalinobatrachium iaspidiense <https://amphibiaweb.org/species/1815> University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. Accessed Dec 26, 2024.

Citation: AmphibiaWeb. 2024. <https://amphibiaweb.org> University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. Accessed 26 Dec 2024.

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