Insular Anurans (Amphibia: Anura) of the coast of Rio de Janeiro, Southeast, Brazil

Abstract

Herein we present the first lists of anuran species of five islands off the coast of Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil, and updated lists for two other islands (Ilha Grande and Ilha da Marambaia). These lists resulted from thorough searches of the literature and of herpetological collections databases, and from surveys on the islands conducted between March 2009 and January 2011. Currently there are 49 species of anurans distributed in 10 families recorded for these islands and this number accounts for c. 90% of the diversity present in the nearby mainland areas. Although Hylidae represents more than 40% of the species recorded on the islands, Thoropa miliaris (Cycloramphidae) is the only species present on all islands. On the islands there are three endemic species and two species listed as threatened by the IUCN. This study has added seven species to the previous list for Ilha Grande and two species to the list for Ilha da Marambaia.

The Herpetofauna from Ilha Grande (Angra dos Reis, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil): updating species composition, richness, distribution and endemisms

“…Finally, the record of Ololygon perpusilla is probably referable to an apparently undescribed species of the O. perpusilla group (referred to as Scinax gr. perpusillus by Bittencourt-Silva & Silva, 2013).…”

“…Ischnocnema -Ischnocnema octavioi was first reported for Ilha Grande by Rocha et al (2000Rocha et al ( , 2001, but that record was later found to be based on two misidentified specimens of I guentheri (Vrcibradic et al, 2008). Bittencourt-Silva & Silva (2013) reported the occurrence of I octavioi in Ilha Grande based on a third specimen, MNRJ 60158 (the two previously mentioned specimens, MNRJ 47972-73, were correctly listed by them under I guentheri). The specimen MNRJ 60158 was collected by a colleague and is, in fact, I octavioi, which confirms the occurrence of this species in the island.…”

“…Knowing the species composition occurring in an environment is a prerequisite for the approach of the knowledge of local biodiversity and biogeographical and ecological processes, as well as for mapping conservation and management plans in protected areas. For island communities this knowledge is particularly relevant so that one can select study models for species or populations that provide potential for evaluating the effects of geographical isolation on gene flow (Bittencourt-Silva & Silva, 2013). Insular herpetofaunas constitute good research subjects in this sense because the local species richness and the individual abundance of organisms usually result from historical processes and from their species-specific capacity to transpose geographical barriers.…”

“…Ilha Grande represents one of the areas of the Atlantic Forest for which the knowledge on the vertebrate fauna has continually improved with time, especially since the establishment, in 1996, of a research station there: the Centro de Estudos Ambientais e Desenvolvimento Sustentável -CEADS of the Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro. There are published introductory species lists for non-volant mammals (Pereira et al, 2001), bats (Esbérard et al, 2006), birds (Alves & Vecchi, 2009), squamatan reptiles and amphibians (Bittencourt-Silva & Silva, 2013) occurring in that island.…”

First record of Ischnocnema octavioi (Bokermann, 1965) from São Paulo state, Brazil

“…2004). According to available literature, almost all previous records of I. octavioi are from the state of Rio de Janeiro, including the type locality, Estrada da Cascatinha, Tijuca Mountains (Bokermann 1965, Costa et al 2008, Vrcibradic et al 2008, Siqueira et al 2009, Ouvernay et al 2012Bittencourt-Silva & Siva 2013, Almeida-Gomes et al 2014a, Martins et al 2014. One exception is the record from Espírito Santo state, but this record probably based on I. verrucosa (Reinhardt & Lütken, 1862), a species with very similar characteristics to I. octavioi but having a different distribution (Dantas & Ferreira 2010).…”