Number of Pages: 2Integrative BiologyGeological Science

Barrio-Amorós, César L.

Fuentes-Ramos, Oswaldo

English

Number of Pages: 2Integrative BiologyEarth and Planetary Science

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AMPHIBIA: CAUDATA: PLETHODONTIDAE     BOLITOGLOSSA SPONGAIprovided drawings of the lateral side of the head, a dorsal viewof the skull, and dorsal views of a hand and foot.• DISTRIBUTION. Bolitoglossa spongai is known from thetype locality (2200 m) and surroundings, like Finca Cree, Ter-rains of the Universidad de los Andes (ULA) in San Eusebio,all in La Carbonera region, reaching an elevation of 2800 m atPáramo El Tambor. It is apparently endemic to the northwest-ern versant of the Sierra de la Culata in Mérida, Venezuela.Bolitoglossa spongai is a terrestrial inhabitant of mossy terrainin cloud forest, usually found under logs and stones, even indrier sub-páramo habitats. It has been never found in bromeli-ads or epiphytes on trees. The distribution of the species and theother known Venezuelan species of Bolitoglossa was discussedby Barrio-Amorós and Fuentes-Ramos (1999).Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles.Barrio-Amorós, C.L. and O. Fuentes-Ramos. 2004. Bolitoglossaspongai.Bolitoglossa spongai Barrio-Amorós andFuentes-RamosBolitoglossa sp.: Barrio-Amorós 1996:29.Bolitoglossa orestes: Barrio-Amorós 1998:62. Part.Bolitoglossa spongai Barrio-Amorós and Fuentes-Ramos 1999:11. Type locality, “La Carbonera, Fila la Cuchilla, EstadoMérida, 2200 m, 8°38'N, 71°23'W, Venezuela.” Holotype,Museo de Biología de la Universidad Central de Venezuela(MBUCV) 6570, adult female (SVL = 46.4 mm), collectedby Ángela Rosa Delgado de González on 12 December 1982(examined by authors).• CONTENT. This species is monotypic.• DEFINITION. Adult Bolitoglossa spongai are small to mod-erately sized bolitoglossine salamanders with SVL ranging from34–46.4 mm. Sexual dimorphism is not apparent, although malespossess hedonic glands. The snout is short (1/5 of the headlength) and round anteriorly. The nostrils are very small. Themouth contains 23–52 maxillary teeth and 3–16 vomerine teeth.The skin of all body surfaces is smooth. The arms and legs areshort. Webbing on the hands and feet is almost full, leaving freeonly the terminal phalanx of each digit. The tips of the digits arewell differentiated, with rounded tips. The tail is about 100% ofthe SVL and round in cross-section.The dorsum in living salamanders is brown-orange to palebrown or yellowish. The flanks are much darker, gray to almostblack in some specimens. A series of metallic or ivory smallflecks are present, usually becoming larger on the tail.• DIAGNOSIS. Bolitoglossa spongai is readily distinguishedfrom other Venezuelan and Andean salamanders by the follow-ing characters (B. spongai in parentheses): Bolitoglossa oresteshas a lower number of maxillary teeth, mean = 17 (32); rela-tively smaller size, mean SVL = 38.8 mm (40.3 mm); very darkcoloration (lighter, brownish to yellowish); and a different cra-nial osteology (see Barrio-Amorós and Fuentes-Ramos 1999).Bolitoglossa borburata is larger, mean SVL = 44.6 mm (40.3mm); has less extensive webbing on hands and feet; higher num-ber of maxillary teeth, x  = 57 (32); distinctive coloration; andapparently arboreal habits (terrestrial). Bolitoglossa adspersais larger, mean SVL = 49.9 mm (40.3 mm), but less robust; hasfewer maxillary teeth, x  = 27 (32); and less extensive webbingon the hands and feet. Bolitoglossa savagei is larger, mean SVL= 44.1 mm (40.3), and has more maxillary teeth, x  = 48 (32).Bolitoglossa altamazonica has fewer teeth, x  = 15 (32), and arestricted allopatric distribution in lowland Amazonia. Bolito-glossa guaramacalensis is much larger, SVL to 69.4 mm (46.4mm); more maxillary teeth, 49–67 (23–52); and moderatelywebbed hands and feet (almost full).• DESCRIPTIONS. Barrio-Amorós and Fuentes-Ramos (1999)listed morphological characteristics of the holotype and pro-vided a detailed description of adults and subadults, includingvariation in color patterns. They also provided a description ofcranial osteology of this species, B. borburata, and B. orestes.• ILLUSTRATIONS. A color photograph of an adult (unsexed)is in Barrio (1996). Barrio-Amorós and Fuentes-Ramos (1999)0 200 km100MAP. Distribution of Bolitoglossa spongai: the circle marks the typelocality and the immediate vicinity from which the species is known.FIGURE. An adult Bolitoglossa spongai from the vicinity of the typelocality.781.1• FOSSIL RECORD. None.• PERTINENT LITERATURE. The literature pertaining toB. spongai is sparse, consisting of the original description (Bar-rio-Amorós y Fuentes-Ramos 1999), a photograph in Barrio(1996, as Bolitoglossa sp.), notation regarding its conservationstatus (Barrio-Amorós 2001, see Remark), mention in an onlinelist (Frost 2000), and comparisons with recently described B.guaramacalensis (Schargel et al. 2002).• REMARK. Based on its apparently restricted distribution,Barrio-Amorós (2001) suggested that the species be consideredas potentially endangered. However, recent fieldwork indicatesthat, although secretive, the species is not rare in the regionaround the type locality.• ETYMOLOGY. The specific epithet is a patronym honoringManuel González Sponga, a Venezuelan naturalist and arach-nologist. His wife collected the type series in the course of anexpedition looking for opilionid arachnids.• COMMENT. The English common name for this speciesshould be “Sponga’s salamander,” the Spanish common name,“salamandra de Sponga.”• ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. We are grateful to Manuel Gon-zález Sponga for specimens, Hinrich Kaiser for helpful advice,Ancelmo Dugarte, our guide in La Carbonera region, and JorgeBravo, for allowing the senior author to stay at Estancia LaBravera.LITERATURE CITEDBarrio-Amorós, C.L. 1996. Anfibios de Venezuela: visión aproximativa.Reptilia 6:24–32.—. 1998. Sistemática y biogeografía de los anfibios (Amphibia) deVenezuela. Acta Biol. Venez. 18:1–93.—. 2001. Amphibian decline in Venezuela – The state of knowledge.Froglog (47):2–4.— and O. Fuentes-Ramos. 1999. Bolitoglossa spongai. Una nuevaespecie de salamandra (Caudata: Plethodontidae) de los andesvenezolanos, con comentarios sobre el género en Venezuela. ActaBiol. Venez 19:9–19.Frost, D.R. 2000. Amphibian Species of the World: An online refer-ence. http://research.amnh.org/herpetology/amphibia/index.html.Schargel, W, J.E. García-Pérez, and E. Smith. 2002. A new species ofBolitoglossa (Caudata: Plethodontidae) from the Cordillera de Mérida,Venezuela. Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington 115:534–542.CÉSAR L. BARRIO-AMORÓS and OSWALDO FUEN-TES-RAMOS, Fundación Andígen A, Apartado Postal 210,5101-A Mérida, Venezuela (atelopus@andigena.org).Primary editor for this account, Brian T. Miller.Published 30 October 2004 and Copyright © 2004 by the Societyfor the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles.781.2

Bolitoglossa spongai

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Bolitoglossa spongai

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