Description
Ikakogi ispacue is a glassfrog from Colombia that was described based on nine males and two females. Adult male snout-vent length range from 28.7 - 30.2 mm and the female snout-vent lengths are 29.5 and 30.6 mm. The head width is larger than the head length. From the lateral profile, the snout appears to be truncated, and in the dorsal profile, it appears to be rounded. The lips are flared slightly, and the eyes are large with a horizontal eye diameter of about 3.5 mm. Although they have a supratympanic fold, the tympanum is not visible. They have a round tongue and lack vomerine teeth. A large subgular vocal sac is present in males. They have slender limbs, and Finger 1 is longer than Finger 2. At the base of the thumb, there is a distinct prepollex as an elongated bulge. The skin is smooth on the dorsal surface, but glandular on the belly and thighs. There are also some warts on the thighs (Rada et al. 2019).

Dorsally, the larval body is elongated and elliptical. Laterally, the body is elliptical and depressed. On average, at Gosner’s stage 25 the total length is 36.4 mm, body length is 10.7 mm, and the tail length is 25.7 mm. The nares are located dorsally, as are the eyes. The body is widest in the middle where the short, tubular, and sinistral spiracle is located. The oral disc is 47.6% of the body width. The mouth is lined by a single row of 64 marginal papillae, and lacks submarginal papillae. The jaw sheaths are serrated and keratinized, as well as uniquely arched (Rada et al. 2019).

DIAGNOSIS:

This species differs from almost all other species of Centrolenid by the fact that it lacks vomerine teeth, adult males have humeral spines, the tympanum is not visible, and it has a unique coloration pattern. However, I. ispacue appears identical to I. tayrona and they can only be differentiated by their calls. The call of I. ispacue is characterized by a single, short, high-pitched trill and a few pulses, whereas I. tayrona has a longer, non-pulsed call (Rada et al. 2019).

In larvae, the mouth part helps differentiate the species. The jaw sheaths are arched instead of M-shaped like other species (Rada et al. 2019)

COLORATION:

In life, I. ispacue is bright green on the dorsal side with some very small black dots. There is some yellow on the legs and around the toes. The flanks are a creamy yellow color, and they have a very small lateral row of white dots that are enameled. Ventrally, they range from pale green, cream to white, including the limbs. The belly is translucent making the internal organs of the frog visible. The bones are mainly white, but some parts are very light green. In preservative, this species is a cream or very pale lavender color on the dorsal side including the head, body, and limbs. The underside of the body, including the throat, hands, feet and chest, are a cream color and there is a very faint row of white dots on the flanks (Rada et al. 2019).

The coloration of the larvae is reddish or pink, due to the skin being highly vascular, with some gray punctuations, mostly between the eyes. The tail fins are transparent, and the body has a longitudinal midline brownish stripe. In preservative, they maintain the same pattern but are less pigmented on the back than tadpoles belonging to other members of the family (Rada et al. 2019).

VARIATION:

Only variations that were found were that females are about 2.3% larger than the males, and that tadpole could vary slightly in their reddish pink color (Rada et al. 2019).

Distribution and Habitat

Country distribution from AmphibiaWeb's database: Colombia

View distribution map in BerkeleyMapper.

The species is found in Columbia in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta and from Riohacha, Monte Cheturrycuak, sitio La Cueva. Their habitat is near small streams (Rada et al. 2019).

Life History, Abundance, Activity, and Special Behaviors
Adults often perch on leaves 1 - 2 m above ground in the subtropical forest (Rada et al. 2019).

Males call along streams from leaf surfaces, close to the ground. The call consists of a single high pitched note, including pulses, with a dominant frequency of 3129 HZ (Rada et al. 2019).

Females lay their eggs on either side of leaves that overhang streams. Females also care for and guard their egg clutches. Each egg clutch contains around 44 - 62 eggs that are very light cream or green colored. But, as the embryos develop they become reddish or pink. The eggs are laid within a clear jelly-like substance. The clutch takes on a ring-like shape due to the lack of jelly or eggs in the center of the egg mass (Rada et al. 2019).

Tadpoles are found in fallen leaves and sand in small pools along the edges of streams. There has been some evidence supporting the theory that larvae have special features for burrowing. For example, Ikakogi larvae have long and laterally compressed crania, the superior part of the skull, strong anterior cartilages, and the absence of lungs. Lungs in tadpoles help with buoyancy, so the absence of them is most likely a fossorial adaptation, as they do not require lungs for burrowing (Rada et al. 2019).

Comments

PHYLOGENETIC RELATIONSHIPS:

At the time of the species description, the only other species in their genus was I. tayrona. The two species were differentiated based on genetic differentiation of cytB mtDNA, bioacoustics, and internal larval morphology (Rada et al 2019).

ETYMOLOGY:

The species epithet, "ispacue" means “twin of” from the Kogi words “tshi” and “spacue”. This name is in reference to the identical morphology of I. ispacue and I. tayrona (Rada et al 2019).

References

Rada, M., Dos Santos Dias, P.H., Pérez-Gonzalez, J.L., Anganoy-Criollo, M., Rueda-Solano, L.A., Pinto-E, M.A., Quintero, L.M, Vargas-Salinas, F., Grant, T. (2019). “The poverty of adult morphology: bioacoustics, genetics, and internal tadpole morphology reveal a new species of glassfrog (Anura: Centrolenidae: Ikakogi) from the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Colombia.” PLOS ONE 14(5): e0215349. [link]

Species Account Citation: AmphibiaWeb 2022 Ikakogi ispacue <https://amphibiaweb.org/species/9001> University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. Accessed Dec 3, 2024.

Citation: AmphibiaWeb. 2024. <https://amphibiaweb.org> University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. Accessed 3 Dec 2024.

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