Brook Frog

Males 26.8-32 mm SVL, females to 38 mm SVL. This species can be distinguished by a combination of small size; vertical (or nearly vertical) snout in profile; lack of vertical rostral keel; webbing between Fingers II-IV more than basal; abbreviated axillary membrane; smooth dorsal surfaces; males with tiny nuptial excrescences on prepollices as well as paired vocal slits and a single median subgular vocal sac; red iris; a broken rather than solid labial stripe and the absence of pale lateral stripes; and coloration/patterning (a lichenous dorsal pattern of olive and bright green and black blotching, on a brown background). Usually the dorsal patterning is quite distinct but occasionally will be less so. The venter is golden yellow. The outer forearm has a series of white dashes running from elbow to wrist. A white anal stripe is present. White-tipped tubercles are present below the vent. The plantar surfaces of the feet are unpigmented (McCranie and Wilson 2002; Wilson and McCranie 1985).Tadpoles are long and slender with large, funnel-shaped ventral mouthparts. At stage 34, the tadpole has a total length of 42.7 mm, with the body being 12.4 mm and the tail 30.3 mm. The body is ovoid and depressed, as well as long and slender, with a robust tail musculature, low fins and rounded tail tip. The dorsal fin does not extend onto the body. The snout is rounded when viewed from above and acuminate in profile. Eyes are somewhat small, directed dorsolaterally, and are widely spaced. Nostrils are dorsolateral and are slightly closer to the eyes than to the tip of the snout. The mouth is large and funnel-shaped, directed ventrally, bordered with rows of tiny papillae and also with large conical papillae. Beaks are slender with the lower beak being V-shaped. Tadpoles have denticles 2/2, with the first upper row shorter than the second. First lower row is in the form of an inverted V and reduced, with a broad medial interruption. Second lower row of denticles is quite short. The spiracle is sinistral while the vent is dextral. The coloration of the tadpole in life is a pale yellowish olive green, with iridescent pale green spotting on the dorsum and tail. Iris is bright red.The specific epithet soralia is a Greek word that refers to one of the means by which lichens can reproduce asexually. Lichen consist of algal cell clusters surrounded by fungal filaments; these groupings are called soredia, which develop inside the structures known as soralia and can be dispersed by wind from the soralia as powdery propagules. The bright green spots on Duellmanohyla soralia are said to resemble the "laminate soralia of a crustose lichen" (Wilson and McCranie 1985).

Occurs in northeastern Guatemala and northwestern Honduras, from 40-1,570 m asl. Found in lowland moist forest, premontane wet forest, and cloudforest (lower montane wet forest) (McCranie and Wilson 2002). The type locality is Quebrada Grande, Sierra de Omoa, Departamento Copán, Honduras, at 1,370 m (Wilson and McCranie 1985).

Adults have been found at night on low vegetation adjacent to streams, from May to August, as well as around a seepage area at the edge of a pasture adjacent to cloudforest and hopping on boulders along a stream (McCranie and Wilson 2002; Wilson and McCranie 1985). Males were found calling in May and July (McCranie and Wilson 2002). The call consists of a single low-pitched "peep", repeated every 20-30 seconds (McCranie and Wilson 2002). Tadpoles are found in quiet pools within mountain streams (Wilson and McCranie 1985). Tadpoles were found schooling from May to August (the same time at which adults were seen), sometimes swimming upside down at the surface of pools with oral discs expanded and sometimes resting on rocks at the bottom of the stream (McCranie and Wilson 2002). Near Tegucigalpita, Cortés, other tadpoles found syntopically with D. soralia in a small stream included those of Plectrohyla guatemalensis, Plectrohyla matudai, Ptychohyla hypomykter, and Rana maculata (McCranie and Wilson 2002). In a stream at the Quebrada Cañon Oscuro, below the village of Quebrada Grande, only D. soralia tadpoles were found (Wilson and McCranie 1985). Within Parque Nacional El Cusuco, tadpoles of Duellmanhohyla soralia, Plectrohyla dasypus, Rana maculata, and Ptychohyla hypomykter were sympatric at most study sites (Kolby et al. 2009).

This species is declining throughout its range and is considered Critically Endangered (Stuart et al. 2008). Major threats include habitat loss due to agriculture and logging, and water pollution (Stuart et al. 2008). Chytridiomycosis also threatens this species, with 45-60% prevalence detected in larvae and juveniles and 8% in adults (Kolby et al. 2009). In Honduras D. soralia occurs within two protected areas, Parque Nacional El Cusuco and Parque Nacional Cerro Azul (Stuart et al. 2008). At some locations within Cusuco, this species is locally abundant. However, habitat loss within the park threatens this species. At least one population in Cusuco (around La Fortuna Camp) has declined considerably due to forest removal and coffee plantations along and above the stream (Townsend et al. 2006).

The Copan brook frog (Duellmanohyla soralia) is a species of frog in the family Hylidae found in northeastern Guatemala and northwestern Honduras, specifically in the Sierra del Merendón, Sierra de Omoa, Sierra de Caral, and Sierra Espíritu Santo ranges. The colouring of this species is very distinctive and the specific name soralia comes from the resemblance of its markings to the vegetative structures on some crustose lichens.