Abstract
We report the first cases of leucism in Ceratophrys stolzmanni larvae. The leucistic individuals were recorded in an ex-situ population for conservation and research of the species, within the Conservation Initiative for Threatened Amphibians “Balsa de los Sapos” [Raft for Frogs] at the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador. These individuals presented different color traits from those of the same cohort and as they grew older their uniform white coloration was defined. The leucistic individuals died as tadpoles, after time periods that exceeded the ones reported and recorded for ending metamorphosis in the species, suggesting a link between the absence of pigmentation and a potential malfunction of the thyroid gland.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 76-81 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| Journal | Neotropical Biodiversity |
| Volume | 9 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 29 May 2023 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
Funding
Authors thank Dr. Santiago Ron for allowing access to the Zoology Museum (QCAZ) database and herpetological collection at PUCE (data and photographs). Diego Paucar and Jhael Ortega helped on QCAZ databases mining. Tatiana Arias was responsible for the management of Ceratophrys stolzmanni individuals at the “Balsa de los Sapos” facilities, while these records were obtained. Dr. Luis A. Coloma and Andrea Terán, from Centro Jambatu de Investigación y Conservación de Anfibios provided the rearing information and live photographs of the third individual and lent the preserved specimen for data collection. Andrés Romero Carvajal, Phil Jervis and Kyran Staunton provided useful comments on the manuscript.
Keywords
- Ceratophrys stolzmanni
- ex - situ management
- leucism
- tadpole
- thyroid gland