A new species of Brachycephalus (Anura, Brachycephalidae) from the coast of Santa Catarina State, southern Atlantic Forest, Brazil

Abstract

We describe a new species of Brachycephalus from municipality of São Francisco do Sul and municipality of Itapoá, in the state of Santa Catarina, Brazil, southern Atlantic Forest. The new species is known from six localities from near sea level up to 250 meters and represents the first record of a "pumpkin-toadlet" occurring in the lowlands. Morphological traits and phylogenetic analysis of a fragment the 16S mtDNA gene place the new species in the Brachycephalus pernix group. The new species is supported by external morphology, osteology, advertisement call, and mtDNA divergence. It is characterized, among other traits by a dorsal body color dark green with a dark brown vertebral stripe, and an orange background; snout-vent length of 9.2-10.8 mm in males and 11.1-12.4 mm in females; and advertisement call short (0.02-0.03 seconds), composed of one high-frequency note (dominant frequency 6.6-7.3 kHz). We observed synchronized alternation in the emission of vocalizations among neighbor males, indicating that males of the new species are able to hear and use vocalizations to interact with each other. We provide descriptions of clutch, eggs, and juvenile and observations on parental care. The new species has not been recorded within any protected area and can be threatened by human-induced habitat loss and modification.

A new species ofBrachycephalus(Anura: Brachycephalidae) from southern Brazil

“…On the other hand, we cannot distinguish the advertisement call of the new species from that of B. albolineatus ( Bornschein et al, 2018 ), due to the general similarity, as least considering the features described to date. Finally, we also cannot distinguish the advertisement call B. mirissimus from that of B. hermogenesi ( Verdade et al, 2008 ) and B. actaeus ( Monteiro et al, 2018 ), but in these cases this is likely due to the simplicity of the description of the call of B. hermogenesi and the use of the call-centered approach in B. actaeus ( Table S2 ) rather than by its supposed similarities.…”

“…Brachycephalus mirissimus is the fourth species of the B. pernix group whose advertisement call has been described to date (see Garey et al, 2012 ; Bornschein et al, 2018 ; Monteiro et al, 2018 ). The advertisement calls of species of B. pernix group share a similar overall resemblance, including structural, temporal, and spectral patterns (see Table S2 ).…”

Hidden by the name: A new fluorescent pumpkin toadlet from the Brachycephalus ephippium group (Anura: Brachycephalidae)

“…The genus Brachycephalus Fitzinger, 1826, commonly known as pumpkin toadlets [1], is composed of miniaturized frogs with cryptic and aposematic species that live in the forest leaf litter and are most active during daylight [2,3]. The specimens are endemic to the Brazilian Atlantic Forest, eastern Brazil, and are spread along almost 1700 km, from Santa Catarina to southern Bahia states [3,4].…”

A second record of the recently described Brachycephalus albolineatus Bornschein, Ribeiro, Blackburn, Stanley & Pie, 2016 (Anura, Brachycephalidae)

“…and geographically from São Paulo to the north through Minas Gerais, while species from the B. pernix group are distributed altitudinally from 20-1,640 m a.s.l. and geographically only in southern Brazil, in Paraná and Santa Catarina (Bornschein et al 2016a, Monteiro et al 2018. Brachycephalus ephippium group includes B. alipioi Pombal & Gasparini, 2006, B. bufonoides Miranda-Ribeiro, 1920 Pombal, Wistuba & Bornschein, 1998, B. pombali Alves, Ribeiro, Haddad & Reis, 2006, B. quiririensis Pie & Ribeiro, 2015, B. tridactylus Garey, Lima, Hartmann & Haddad, 2012, and B. verrucosus Ribeiro, Firkowski, Bornschein & Pie, 2015(Bornschein et al 2016a, b, Pie and Ribeiro 2015, Ribeiro et al 2017, Monteiro et al 2018, Pie et al 2018.…”

“…and geographically only in southern Brazil, in Paraná and Santa Catarina (Bornschein et al 2016a, Monteiro et al 2018. Brachycephalus ephippium group includes B. alipioi Pombal & Gasparini, 2006, B. bufonoides Miranda-Ribeiro, 1920 Pombal, Wistuba & Bornschein, 1998, B. pombali Alves, Ribeiro, Haddad & Reis, 2006, B. quiririensis Pie & Ribeiro, 2015, B. tridactylus Garey, Lima, Hartmann & Haddad, 2012, and B. verrucosus Ribeiro, Firkowski, Bornschein & Pie, 2015(Bornschein et al 2016a, b, Pie and Ribeiro 2015, Ribeiro et al 2017, Monteiro et al 2018, Pie et al 2018. Many species of Brachycephalus present microendemism, occurring in only one or a few adjacent mountaintops, with total extents of occurrence comparable to the smallest ranges of species of the world (Bornschein et al 2016a).…”