Polka Dot Tree Frog

Diagnosis A slender, delicate tree-frog with oval, subacuminate snout and eyes prominent; green above, with small carmine or purplish spots scattered on the back.

Occurs throughout the Amazon basin in South America, south to the Chaco region of Paraguay and along the banks of the Río Paraguay-Parana, Argentina. It is present on Trinidad island, Trinidad and Tobago. It is found from the lowlands to 1,400m asl.

Adult morphology A moderate form; snout-vent of about 30-35 mm. A greater size in the females. Body oval, flattened. Head broader than long, with canthus rostralis indistinct and loreal region flaring at the upper lip. Snout short, pointed. Interocular distance twice the upper eyelid being wider than the internarinal interval. Vomerine teeth in two short, almost close patches, between and behind the choanae. Tongue thin, circular, entire and adherent. Eye large, prominent; its diameter equal to its distance from the tip of snout. Tympanum small, 1/2 of the eye diameter. Fingers slightly webbed but largely fringed; a prominent bud at the base of the first finger, as vestige of the pollex. Toes incompletely webbed but widely fringed. Disks smaller than the tympanum. When hindleg is adpressed, heel reaches between eye and tip of snout. Skin smooth and purous dorsally; granular on the belly and lower surface of the thighs. A dorso-lateral glandular line from the upper eyelid to the sacrum. Dorsal light green ground color, scattered with many, small brick-red or yellow spots. Ventrally bluish green, all above the throat and limbs. Larval morphology Body depressed; little longer than one third of total length; body shape oval in dorsal view, widest at spiracle level. In lateral view, ventral contour of body flat in gular and concave in branchial regions, slightly convex in abdominal region. Dorsal contour of body slightly convex from the nostrils to beginning of dorsal fin. Snout rounded in dorsal and lateral views. Nostrils oval, with slightly elevated marginal rim and a rounded projection in medial margin; nostrils dorsolaterally located, placed in a depression, closer to eyes than to the tip of snout, visible in dorsal and lateral views. Eyes large, dorsally positioned and dorsolaterally directed, not visible in ventral view. Spiracle single, lateral and sinistral, its inner wall fused to body except for its distal end; its opening oval, elevated, with diameter smaller than or equal to tube diameter, located in posterior third of body, visible in dorsal and lateral views. Lateral line system visible. Intestinal assa located at the centre of abdominal region. Vent tube starts at midline, at posterior end of body, reaching free margin of lower fin, opening dextral. Tail large, with both fins higher than body height. Dorsal fin originates at tail-body junction. Ventral fin origin concealed by vent tube. Dorsal fin contour slightly convex; ventral fin contour almost flat, both fins tapering to tip of tail in last third. Tail axis straight, end acute; tail musculature reaching tail tip. Oral disc ventral, small with a well marked infraangular constriction on each side. Marginal papillae simple; those at anterior lip short and blunt, while the ones at posterior lip longer and thinner, with pointed tip. Dorsal gap present, small. Row of marginal papillae single or biserially disposed in angular and infraangular regions; some infraangular submarginal papillae present, shorter and wider than marginal ones. Upper jaw sheath slightly convex in the middle and concave laterally, pigmented in distal third and finely serrated. Lower jaw sheath with V-shaped free margin, pigmented in distal Å?, finely serrated. Labial tooth row formula 2(2)/4(1). Coloration in preservative: body light brown in dorsal and lateral views, with fine melanophores. Inner margin of nostrils dark brown. Abdomen dark brown. Caudal musculature little pigmented with a marbled pattern, darker in dorsal view, unpigmented in ventral view. Dorsal fin translucent with dark flecks. Ventral fin translucent, with some melanophores in the last third.

LC. Least Concern.