Description
Hyalinobatrachium vireovittatum adult males measure 21.5-23 mm and adult females 24-25 mm in SVL. The head is broader than long, and the snout is truncate both from above and in profile. The loreal distance is greater than the orbital diameter, and the eyes are not protuberant. The interorbital space is broader than the snout length. Nares (nostrils) lie in swollen protuberances on distinct raised ridges. The tympanum is indistinct and directed dorsally. Webbing is vestigial between fingers I-II-III and well-developed for the outer fingers. The digital discs are truncate. Finger I is longer than finger II. Subarticular tubercles are present and are small and round. The thenar tubercle is elongate and the palmar tubercle is round. There are no supernumerary, accessory palmar, or plantar tubercles. Toes are extensively webbed. The inner metatarsal tubercle is elongate, but the outer metatarsal tubercle is lacking. There is no tarsal fold. Males lack nuptial pads. The dorsal surface is shagreened. (Savage 2002).

A distinct mid-dorsal longitudinal green stripe is present, bordered on both sides by a paravertebral yellow stripe; the green stripe is clearly indicated by purplish to brownish pigment in preservative. The sides and upper surfaces of the head and limbs are green with a moderate number of yellow spots. The venter is transparent. The liver and digestive tract are white, while the heart and pericardium are unpigmented. The iris is gold (Savage 2002).

Distribution and Habitat

Country distribution from AmphibiaWeb's database: Costa Rica, Panama

View distribution map in BerkeleyMapper.

Hyalinobatrachium vireovittatum occurs in scattered localities within the premontane zone of southwestern Costa Rica, from the slopes of Volcán Tenorio, Guanacaste Province, to near Barú, Puntarenas Province, and in west-central Panama. It is found in premontane wet forests and rainforests, at 800-1100 m above sea level (Savage 2002).

Life History, Abundance, Activity, and Special Behaviors
Females deposit clutches of green eggs on the undersides of leaves. At night, males perform ventral hydric brooding by bringing their posterior and thighs into contact with the eggs and emptying their bladder over them. Neither males nor females guard the eggs during the day. According to Savage (2002), the natural history of H. vireovittatum is similar to that of H. fleischmanni. (Savage 2002) .

The call is a repeated whistle sounding like "wheet" and rising over a period of 400-500 milliseconds. The dominant frequency starts at 5 kHz and rises to 5.4 kHz. (Savage 2002). Hyalinobatrachium vireovittatum is rather rare and little reliable population data have been gathered to date (Savage 2002; IUCN 2006).

Trends and Threats
A relatively small potential range of occurrence, coupled with general habitat loss and degradation, has caused the IUCN to label this species as Near Threatened (Stuart et al. 2008).

Possible reasons for amphibian decline

General habitat alteration and loss
Intensified agriculture or grazing
Urbanization

Comments
Hyalinobatrachium vireovittatum is the only Costa Rican centrolenid with a longitudinal mid-dorsal green stripe (Savage, 2002)[3049]. It was originally described by Starrett and Savage (1973) as Centrolenella vireovittata.

A Spanish-language species account can be found at the website of Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad (INBio).

References

Savage, J. M. (2002). The Amphibians and Reptiles of Costa Rica:a herpetofauna between two continents, between two seas. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois, USA and London.

Starrett, P. H., and Savage, J. M. (1973). ''The systematic status and distribution of Costa Rican glass-frogs, genus Centronella (family Centrolenidae), with description of a new species.'' Bulletin of the Southern California Academy of Sciences, 72(2), 57-78.

Stuart, S., Hoffmann, M., Chanson, J., Cox, N., Berridge, R., Ramani, P., Young, B. (eds) (2008). Threatened Amphibians of the World. Lynx Edicions, IUCN, and Conservation International, Barcelona, Spain; Gland, Switzerland; and Arlington, Virginia, USA.

Species Account Citation: AmphibiaWeb 2009 Hyalinobatrachium vireovittatum: Starrett's Glass Frog <https://amphibiaweb.org/species/1831> University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. Accessed Dec 23, 2024.

Citation: AmphibiaWeb. 2024. <https://amphibiaweb.org> University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. Accessed 23 Dec 2024.

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