The tadpole of Rhinella crucifer (WIED-NEUWIED, 1821) (Amphibia: Anura: Bufonidae) from southern Bahia, Brazil

Abstract

According to Baldissera et al. (2004) the Rhinella crucifer group includes five recognized species: Rhinella crucifer (Wied-Neuwied, 1821); R. ornata (Spix, 1824); R. henseli (A. Lutz, 1924); R. abei and R. pombali (Baldissera, Caramaschi & Haddad, 2004). The distribution of this group is associated to the Atlantic Rain Forest, from Ceará to Rio Grande do Sul, adjacent areas in Minas Gerais and São Paulo, Brazil. One species also occurs in Uruguay and northeastern Argentina, in the Misiones and Corrientes provinces (Baldissera et al. 2004; Frost 2011). Thomé et al. (2010) in a phylogeographic study of the Rhinella crucifer group identified two subclades in northeastern Brazil and adjacent areas: one ranging from Bahia to Paraíba and another from Minas Gerais to Espírito Santo. Of five species belonging to the R. crucifer group, only two have described tadpoles, R. ornata and R. pombali (Heyer et al. 1990, where the tadpole described as R. crucifer represents R. ornata; Lourenço et al. 2010). Here we described the tadpole of R. crucifer from a population from southern Bahia.

The Stream Tadpoles ofRhinella rumbolli(Anura: Bufonidae)

“…On the other hand, the wide and truncate snout in dorsal view is distinctive of the R. veraguensis group (Pramuk and Lehr, 2005;Aguayo et al, 2009), although in R. rumbolli and R. quechua this trait is somewhat attenuated. Likewise, the medial vent tube is the prevalent condition in larvae from this genus (e.g., Cei, 1980;Lavilla et al, 2000;Aguilar and Gamarra, 2004;Pramuk and Lehr, 2005;Borteiro et al, 2006;Ruas et al, 2012) whereas a dextral tube is described in R. quechua and R. veraguensis (Cadle and Altig, 1991;Aguayo et al, 2009) and in R. rumbolli in this study. Echeverría (2004) mentioned that diversity in morphology and position of the vent tube has taxonomic and also, possibly, ecomorphological importance.…”

<strong>Internal oral morphology in larvae of the genus <em>Rhinella</em> Fitzinger, 1826 (Amphibia, Anura, Bufonidae) </strong>

“…Of the 86 valid species of Rhinella, 25 have the tadpole known (Cei 1980;Heyer et al 1990;Caldwell 1991;Carvalho-e-Silva 1988;Eterovick & Sazima 1999;Carvalho-e-Silva et al 1994;Aguilar & Gamarra 2004;Borteiro et al 2006;Menin et al 2006;Lima et al 2007;Maciel et al 2007;Mercês et al 2009;Lourenço et al 2010;Tolledo & Toledo 2010;Fehlberg et al 2012;Ruas et al 2012) and only five have the internal oral morphology evidenced, as R. arenarum, R. icterica, R. ornata, R. quechua, R. schneideri and R. spinulosa (Fabrezi & Vera 1997;Prado 2006;Candioti 2007;Dias 2008;Aguayo et al 2009). Broad comparisons and generalizations about larval morphology exist for few taxa of anurans, which complicate the use of these characters in taxonomic and systematic studies.…”