Costa-Campos, Carlos Eduardo

Freitas, Abdiel P.

Kaefer, Igor L.

Pedroso-Santos, Fillipe

Pinheiro, Rodrigo T.

Sanches, Patrick R.

English

Cadernos Espinosanos (E-Journal)

215Phyllomedusa - 21(2), December 2022Received 28 June 2022Accepted 04 November 2022Distributed December 2022Short CommunicationXanthism in the Leaf-frog Phyllomedusa vaillantii (Anura: Hylidae)Fillipe Pedroso-Santos,1 Abdiel P. Freitas,2 Rodrigo T. Pinheiro,2 Patrick R. Sanches,3 Igor L. Kaefer,3,4 and Carlos Eduardo Costa-Campos2,51 Universidade Federal do Amapá. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biodiversidade Tropical. Campus Marco Zero do Equador, 68903-419, Macapá, AP, Brazil. E-mail: fillipepedrosodossantos@gmail.com.2 Universidade Federal do Amapá, Departamento de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde, Laboratório de Herpetologia, Campus Marco Zero do Equador, 68903-419, Macapá, AP, Brazil.3 Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biologia (Ecologia). 69011-970, Manaus, AM, Brazil.4 Universidade Federal do Amazonas, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Departamento de Biologia. 69077-000, Manaus, AM, Brazil.5 Rede-BIONORTE, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biodiversidade e Biotecnologia. 68902-280, Macapá, AP, Brazil.Phyllomedusa 21(2):215–217, 2022© 2022 Universidade de São Paulo - ESALQ ISSN 1519-1397 (print) / ISSN 2316-9079 (online)doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.11606/issn.2316-9079.v21i2p215-217Keywords: Amphibians, Chromatic abnormality, Eastern Amazon, Neotropics, Phyllomedusinae.Palavras-chave: Amazônia Oriental, Anfíbios, Anormalidade cromática, Neotrópicos, Phyllomedusinae.Different colors and patterns play an important role in the life history of anurans. Cryptic colors may help camouflage prey, whereas aposematic colors may alert potential predators to avoid individuals (Pedroso-Santos et al. 2022). Color anomalies are characterized by pigmentation abnormalities that are restricted to all or partof an animal’s body. These anomalies are rare in most cases, especially in natural populations (Hoffman and Blouin 2000). Color anomalies have been observed in fishes (Lara-Mendoza and Guerra-Jiménez 2020), anurans (Pereira and Santos 2012, Tavares-Pinheiro et al. 2020), lizards (Sanches et al. 2019), snakes (Mendonça et al. 2020), birds (Camacho et al. 2022), and mammals (Talamoni et al. 2017). Among the most commonly recognized types of color anomalies are albinism, flavism, leucism, melanism, piebaldism, axanthism, and xanthism (Henle et al. 2017). Xanthism is a chromatic abnormality characterized by the predominant production of the purine base xanthine, an organic compound that gives the organism a yellowish coloration (Henle et al. 2017). In this study, xanthism is reported for the subfamily Phyllomedusinae for the first time.Phyllomedusinae is a subfamily whose representatives are commonly known as monkey, leaf, or green frogs. Phyllomedusa Wagler, 1830 is widely distributed in the Neotropics and is the 216Phyllomedusa - 21(2), December 2022most speciose genus in the subfamily. (Frost 2022). Phyllomedusa vaillantii Boulenger, 1882, popularly known as White-lined Leaf Frog or the White-lined Monkey Frog, is a medium-sized nocturnal tree frog found in all Amazonian countries: French Guiana, Suriname, Guyana, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and Brazil (Frost 2022). In the Amazon region of Brazil, it is found around temporary ponds in forested areas (Lima et al. 2012). Little variation in coloration has been observed within and between populations throughout Amazonia (e.g., Duellman 2005, Lima et al. 2012, Ouboter and Jairam 2012). In life, adults of P. vaillantii have a dorsal pattern that is uniform dark green with a sawtooth dorsolateral line of tubercles extending from behind the eye to the midbody, and a ventral surface that is pale grayish-orange with a white or cream spot on the chest (Duellman 1974, Lima et al. 2012, Smith et al. 2019).We found an adult male P. vaillantii during a nocturnal search for amphibians and reptiles in primary forest near the right margin of the stream Água Fria in Reserva Extrativista Municipal Beija-Flor Brilho de Fogo, municipality of Pedra Branca do Amapari, state of Amapá, in eastern Amazonia. The individual (snout–vent length 54.4 mm) was collected by APF at the beginning of the rainy season on 24 March 2022, at 08:27 h, calling 1.45 m above ground on leaves in riparian vegetation (00°4743.8  S, 52°1536.4  W; 190 m a.s.l.). Sympatric amphibians included the hylids Phyllomedusa bicolor (Boddaert, 1772), Callimedusa tomopterna (Cope, 1868), Boana geographica (Spix, 1824), and Dendropsophus gr. microcephalus.The individual collected was almost entirely yellow, including the head and limbs. The flanks and anterior parts of the hindlimbs were orange to red, and only the eyes, venter, anterior parts of the forelimbs, fingers, and adhesive discs were normal in coloration (see Figure 1 for a comparison between a normal-colored and a xanthic individual of P. vaillantii). The specimen was killed with lidocaine, fixed in 10% formalin, and preserved in 70% ethanol. It was deposited in the Herpetological Collection of Universidade Federal do Amapá, Macapá, Brazil. Its catalogue number is CECC 3819.To our knowledge, our record of xanthism in P. vaillantii is the first reported case in anurans from the Neotropics, as well as for the genus Phyllomedusa. We hope our study will inspire future investigations on the frequency and possible causes of these unusual pigmentations, including whether these anomalies may affect survivorship and reproduction.A BFigure 1.  Comparative dorsolateral views of Phyllomedusa vaillantii. (A) Normal individual and (B) xanthic individual from Eastern Amazonia (CECC 3819).Pedroso-Santos et al.217Phyllomedusa - 21(2), December 2022Acknowledgments.—We are grateful to Secretaria Municipal do Meio Ambiente of Pedra Branca do Amapari for logistical support. Collecting permits (#48192-5) were provided by Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservação da Biodiversidade (ICMBio) for this study.  ReferencesCamacho, C., P. Sáez-Gómez, P. Hidalgo-Rodríguez, J. Rabadán-González, C. Molina, and J. J. Negro. 2022. Leucistic plumage as a result of progressive greying in a cryptic nocturnal bird. Scientific Reports 12: 3411.Duellman, W. E. 1974. Taxonomic notes on Phyllomedusa (Anura: Hylidae) from upper Amazon Basin. Herpetologica 30: 109–110.Duellman, W. E. 2005. Cusco Amazonico, The Lives of Amphibians and Reptiles in an Amazonian Rainforest. New York. Comstock Publishing Associates, Cornell University. 433p.Frost, D. R. 2022. Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference. Version 6.1. Electronic Database accessible at https://amphibiansoftheworld.amnh.org/index.php. Captured on 18 May 2022.Henle, K., A. Dubois, and V. Vershinin. 2017. Commented glossary, terminology and synonymies of anomalies in natural populations of amphibians. Mertensiella 25: 9–48.Hoffman, E. and M. Blouin. 2000. A review of color and pattern polymorphism in anurans. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 70: 633–665.Lara-Mendoza, R. E. and L. A. Guerra-Jimenez. 2020. Record of albinism in the smooth butterfly ray Gymnura micrura (Rajiformes, Gymnuridae) from the southeastern Gulf of Mexico. Pan-American Journal of Aquatic Sciences 15: 33–38.Lima, A. P., W. E. Magnusson, M. Menin, L. K. Erdtmann, D. J. Rodrigues, C. Keller, and W. Hödl. 2012. Guia de Sapos da Reserva Adolpho Ducke, Amazônia Central / Guide to the Frogs of the Reserva Adolpho Ducke, Central Amazonia. 2nd Edition. Manaus. Editora INPA. 188 pp.Mendonça, L. R., L. Avelar Oliveira, C. L. Assis, J. J. M. Guedes, and R. N. Feio. 2020. First report of xanthism in Bothrops jararacussu Lacerda, 1884 (Serpentes: Viperidae). Herpetology Notes 13: 393–395.Ouboter, P. E. and R. Jairam. 2012. Amphibians of Suriname. Leiden. Brill. 388 pp.Pereira, E. N. and E. M. Santos. 2012. Leptodacylus aff. marmoratus. Albinism. Herpetological Review 43: 323.Pedroso-Santos, F., P. R. Sanches, and C. E. Costa-Campos. 2022. Defensive behaviours and colour patterns displayed by frogs in two rainforest areas of the northern Brazilian Amazon, with comments on mimicry patterns. Herpetology Notes 15: 153–164.Sanches, P. R., F. P. Santos, and C. E. Costa-Campos. 2019. First record of leucism in Tropidurus hispidus (Spix, 1825) (Squamata: Tropiduridae) in north Brazil, Eastern Amazon. Acta Zoológica Mexicana 35: 1–4.Smith, J. M, A. Bland, E. Gourevitch, P. A. Hoskisson, and R. Downie. 2019. Stable individual variation in ventral spotting patterns in Phyllomedusa trinitatis (Anura: Phyllomedusidae) and other Phyllomedusa species: a minimally invasive method for recognizing individuals. Phyllomedusa 18: 13–26.Talamoni, S., P. I. M. Viana, C. G. Costa, L. Palú, R. B. Oliveira, and L. M. Pessôa. 2017. Occurrence of leucism in Eira barbara (Carnivora, Mustelidae) in Brazil. Biota Neotropica 17: e20170328.Tavares-Pinheiro, R., C. E. Costa-Campos, and I. L. Kaefer. 2020. A leucistic brilliant-thighed poison frog Allobates femoralis (Dendrobatoidea). Herpetology Notes 13: 321–323.Editor: J. Roger DownieXanthism in Phyllomedusa vaillantii

Xanthism in the Leaf-frog Phyllomedusa vaillantii (Anura: Hylidae)

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Xanthism in the Leaf-frog Phyllomedusa vaillantii (Anura: Hylidae)

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