Tadpoles of Chiasmocleis alagoanus were collected from a temporary pond in a remnant of Atlantic Forest, municipal district of Maceió, Alagoas, Brazil. The tadpole presents lentic and nektonic habit. Body triangular in lateral view and oval in dorsal view; snout truncate in lateral, dorsal and ventral view. Eyes lateral and nostrils absent. Spiracle medial with wide opening. Anal tube ventral and short, with central opening, without free margin. Oral opening terminal, with marginal papillae and jaw sheaths absent, with the superior semicircular labial flaps suspended on the extremities of the mouth. Tooth rows absent. Tail length representing 59.1% of total length. In preservative the body is brown light and the viscera is partially visible. Notes on the environment and comparison with other tadpoles of the genera are provided.
The genus Edalorhina consists of two species of small forest-floor frogs inhabiting the Amazon basin. The tadpole of Edalorhina perezi, the most widely distributed species, was previously described based on a single and early stage (Gosner 25) individual. Herein, we provide a description of the tadpole in Gosner stages 35-36 including internal morphology data (i.e., buccopharyngeal cavity and larval skeleton) based on samples from two populations from Ecuador. Edalorhina shares a generalized morphology with most members of its closely related taxa; however, it is distinguished from the other species by having an almost terminal oral disc. The presence of a dextral vent tube is considered a synapomorphy for the clade consisting of Edalorhina, Engystomops, and Physalaemus. Within this clade, the combination of two lingual papillae, a filiform median ridge, and the lack of buccal roof papillae are diagnostic of E. perezi and putative autapomorphies of Edalorhina. Chondrocranial anatomy provides characteristics, that is, presence of and uniquely shaped processus pseudopterygoideus and cartilago suprarostralis with corpora and alae joined by dorsal and ventral connections that readily differentiates the genus from other Leiuperinae.
Although anuran tadpoles are widely distributed and abundant in tropical aquatic habitats, there is a lack of taxonomic keys for the Atlantic Forest. Herein, we developed a dichotomous key for identifying the tadpoles for all species with known larval phase and already recorded in the Atlantic Forest north of the São Francisco River. We analyzed discrete characteristics of 1,042 tadpoles encompassing 63 species of 28 genera from 32 localities. The user-friendly key includes illustration and pictures, and it is a significant step towards improving our knowledge of tadpoles of the Atlantic Forest.
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