A new frog species from rapidly dwindling cloud forest streams of Sri Lanka—Lankanectes pera (Anura, Nyctibatrachidae)

Abstract

The monotypic genus Lankanectes, considered an evolutionary long branch with India’s Nyctibatrachus as its sister lineage, is represented by L. corrugatus, a species widely distributed within the wet zone of Sri Lanka up to 1500 m asl, where it inhabits a variety of lotic and lentic habitats. Here, following an integrative taxonomic approach using DNA-based phylogenies, morphology, morphometry, and ecological niche models, we describe a new species—Lankanectes pera sp. nov. The new species is distinguished from its sister species mainly by its tuberculated throat and absence of dark patches on venter, throat, manus and pes. The uncorrected genetic distances between the two Lankanectes species for a fragment of the non-coding mitochondrial 16S rRNA gene is 3.5–3.7%. The new species has a very restricted climatic distribution with a total predicted area of only 360 km2 (vs. 14,120 km2 for L. corrugatus). Unlike L. corrugatus, which prefers muddy substrates and marshy areas, the new species is observed inhabiting only pristine streams flowing through canopy covered montane forests in the highest reaches of the Knuckles Mountain range. The specialized new species will need immediate conservation attention due to its restricted distribution (montane isolate), specialized habit of inhabiting clear mountain streams, and small population size.

Molecular phylogeny and phylogeography of the freshwater-fish genus Pethia (Teleostei: Cyprinidae) in Sri Lanka

“…1d-f ). Except for a single specimen, the series of P. nigrofasciata (n = 167) examined from all the river basins excluding Attanagalu possess a complete lateral line, with 17 (1), 18 (9), 19 (62), 20 (64), 21 (23), or 22 (7) pored scales (Fig. 1p-r).…”

A new ancient lineage of frog (Anura: Nyctibatrachidae: Astrobatrachinae subfam. nov.) endemic to the Western Ghats of Peninsular India

“…Leaf-litter dwelling and habitat distinguishes A. kurichiyana from many species of Nyctibatrachus that are torrential frogs and prefer to live in water or next to perennial streams (Biju et al, 2011). While its terrestrial habits are somewhat similar to some small-bodied Nyctibatrachus species (see Garg et al, 2017), the new lineage differs strongly from the two Lankanectes species which are aquatic (Senevirathne et al, 2018).…”

“…The genus Nyctibatrachus contains predominantly torrent-dwelling species (Biju et al, 2011; Garg et al, 2017). The Sri Lankan Lankanectes is almost entirely aquatic, but resides in slower-moving streams (Delorme et al, 2004; Senevirathne et al, 2018). The only known species of Astrobatrachus comprises entirely terrestrial forest-dwellers that prefer leaf-litter habitats.…”

“…No information is available on the larval biology or reproductive modes of Astrobatrachus . Astrobatrachus differs from Lankanectes in lacking dorsal skin ridges, lacking a lateral line system as an adult, having a distinct tympanum and canthus rostralis, lacking odontoid fangs, having widely spaced nasals, having a long ridge of vomerine teeth, having separate anterior and posterior portions of the vomer with the latter fused to the neopalatine, lacking a forked omosternum, lacking a prominent dorsal crest on the ilium, and lacking both a tarsal fold and webbed pedal phalanges (Dubois & Ohler, 2001; Senevirathne et al, 2018; Figs. 5 and 6).…”

<em>Potentila indica (Andr.) nov.</em> (wild strawberry) in Sri Lanka is Restricted to a small Climatic Envelop Urging Strict Conservation

“…Through identification of the niche of a species; the distribution pattern, as well as the climatic factors supporting the distribution can be tested (Geneletti, 2004). Currently distribution modeling is used as a versatile tool to identify the populations and species that are climatically restricted to device the conservation priorities (Senevirathne et al, 2018;Wijayathilaka et al, 2018).…”