Hylarana annamitica ( Sheridan and Stuart, 2018 )

Hylarana annamitica ( Sheridan and Stuart, 2018)

Materials

Type status: Other material. Occurrence: catalogNumber: VQ.2024.10 ; individualCount: 1; sex: female; occurrenceID: 393818A1-4D65-5BB0-9CAA-850B3EADA599; Taxon: scientificNameID: Hylarana annamitica ; scientificName: Hylarana annamitica ; class: Amphibia; order: Anura ; family: Ranidae ; genus: Hylarana ; specificEpithet: annamitica ; scientificNameAuthorship: Sheridan & Stuart, 2018; Location: country: Vietnam; countryCode: VN; stateProvince: Ha Tinh; county: Vietnam; municipality: Vu Quang; locality: Vu Quang National Park ; verbatimElevation: 310; verbatimLatitude: 18°17'31.3"N; verbatimLongitude: 105°21'04.8"E; verbatimCoordinateSystem: WGS 84; Event: eventDate: April; eventTime: 2024; eventRemarks: collected by A. V. Pham and T. V. Bui; Record Level: language: en; collectionCode: Amphibia; basisOfRecord: PreservedSpecimen GoogleMaps

Type status: Other material. Occurrence: catalogNumber: VQ.2024.12 ; individualCount: 1; sex: male; occurrenceID: 2C23E6FE-2895-5D21-9CD4-C7E4F4AC6E97; Taxon: scientificNameID: Hylarana annamitica ; scientificName: Hylarana annamitica ; class: Amphibia; order: Anura ; family: Ranidae ; genus: Hylarana ; specificEpithet: annamitica ; scientificNameAuthorship: Sheridan & Stuart, 2018; Location: country: Vietnam; countryCode: VN; stateProvince: Ha Tinh; county: Vietnam; municipality: Vu Quang; locality: Vu Quang National Park ; verbatimElevation: 310; verbatimLatitude: 18°17'31.3"N; verbatimLongitude: 105°21'04.8"E; verbatimCoordinateSystem: WGS 84; Event: eventDate: April; eventTime: 2024; eventRemarks: collected by A. V. Pham and T. V. Bui; Record Level: language: en; collectionCode: Amphibia; basisOfRecord: PreservedSpecimen GoogleMaps

Type status: Other material. Occurrence: catalogNumber: VQ.2024.19 ; individualCount: 1; sex: female; occurrenceID: D5710AB1-B6F2-5C74-92C8-8D280709B7C0; Taxon: scientificNameID: Hylarana annamitica ; scientificName: Hylarana annamitica ; class: Amphibia; order: Anura ; family: Ranidae ; genus: Hylarana ; specificEpithet: annamitica ; scientificNameAuthorship: Sheridan & Stuart, 2018; Location: country: Vietnam; countryCode: VN; stateProvince: Ha Tinh; county: Vietnam; municipality: Vu Quang; locality: Vu Quang National Park ; verbatimElevation: 310; verbatimLatitude: 18°17'31.3"N; verbatimLongitude: 105°21'04.8"E; verbatimCoordinateSystem: WGS 84; Event: eventDate: April; eventTime: 2024; eventRemarks: collected by A. V. Pham and T. V. Bui; Record Level: language: en; collectionCode: Amphibia; basisOfRecord: PreservedSpecimen GoogleMaps

Type status: Other material. Occurrence: catalogNumber: VQ.2024.113 ; individualCount: 1; sex: male; occurrenceID: 065074F0-5F72-5B8B-9202-BC826C12CE3E; Taxon: scientificNameID: Hylarana annamitica ; scientificName: Hylarana annamitica ; class: Amphibia; order: Anura ; family: Ranidae ; genus: Hylarana ; specificEpithet: annamitica ; scientificNameAuthorship: Sheridan & Stuart, 2018; Location: country: Vietnam; countryCode: VN; stateProvince: Ha Tinh; county: Vietnam; municipality: Vu Quang; locality: Vu Quang National Park ; verbatimElevation: 350; verbatimLatitude: 18°18'09.9"N; verbatimLongitude: 105°19'31.1"E; verbatimCoordinateSystem: WGS 84; Event: eventDate: May; eventTime: 2024; eventRemarks: collected by A. V. Pham and T. V. Bui; Record Level: language: en; collectionCode: Amphibia; basisOfRecord: PreservedSpecimen GoogleMaps

Description

A 563 - bp long sequence (GenBank accession number PV 075678) obtained from a specimen (Field No. VQ. 2024.113) from Vu Quang NP was 99.82 % similar to that with GenBank accession number AF 285217 View Materials of Hylarana annamitica collected in Ky Anh District, Ha Tinh Province.

Morphological characteristics of specimens from Vietnam agreed well with the description of Sheridan and Stuart (2018): SVL min-max: 39.2–49.4 mm; mean and SD: 43.54 ± 2.76 mm, n = 32), MW 12.5-17.8 mm (14.56 ± 1.32 mm, n = 32) and body mass (BM 5.0–11.0 g, 7.50 ± 1.61 g, n = 32) in males was smaller than in females SVL 37.0– 53.1 mm (46.10 ± 4.56 mm, n = 14); MW 11.2–22.4 mm (16.35 ± 3.34 mm, n = 14); BM 5.0–14.0 g, 9.07 ± 2.46 mm, n = 14). There were strong positive correlations between the morphological measurements (SVL and MW: r = 0.950, P <0.001; SVL and BM: r = 0.949; P <0.001; MW and BM: r = 0.907, P <0.001; Fig. 1 View Figure 1 ).

The following morphological characteristics were based on four preserved specimens. Snout obtusely pointed in dorsal view, rounded in profile; nostril closer to tip of snout than to eye; internarial distance greater than interorbital distance; eye diameter smaller than snout length; tympanum distinct, rounded, more than half eye diameter; vomerine teeth obliquely angled; tongue notched posteriorly; vocal sac openings near corner of jaw in males. Forelimbs: tips of fingers expanded into small discs with circummarginal grooves, relative finger lengths IV <II <I <III; webbing absent; two oval palmar tubercles; one oval thenar tubercle; humeral glands enlarged; nuptial pads small in males. Hind-limbs: tips of toes expanded into discs with circummarginal grooves; webbing present; inner metatarsal tubercle elongate; outer metatarsal tubercle round. See Table 1 View Table 1 for futher measurments.

Skin. Dorsal skin finely granular; distinct supratympanic fold; throat, chest, belly and ventral surface of thighs smooth; flanks slightly glandular; distinct dorsolateral folds.

Colouration in life. Dorsum reddish-brown, with some dark brown mottling spots; lip grey-brown anteriorly and white yellow posteriorly; dorsal surfaces of forelimbs and hind-limbs with dark crossbars; dorsolateral fold dark brown; flanks pale with dark brown spots; humeral glands dark brown; ventral surface slightly yellow or dark mottling on throat, less mottling on chest and underside of thighs (Fig. 2 View Figure 2 ).

Ecology notes. This species was found on the ground near stream. Surrounding habitat was mixed evergreen forest of large hardwood, bamboo and shrub at elevations between 300 and 350 m.

Diet

Prey items

The number of prey items per individual was 1–44 (mean and SD: 7.37 ± 9.23 items, n = 46). The prey item length was 1.0–35.0 mm (min – max, n = 339); mean and prey item width was 0.2–17.0 mm (n = 339) in both sexes. The average dietary volume per individual was 1.31–5484.17 mm 3 (n = 46).

There was no positive correlation between the SVL of frogs and the minimum prey volume (Kendall’s _ tau b = 0.041, P = 0.682), maximum prey item volume (tau = 0.088, P = 0.37), the mean prey item volume (tau = 0.081, P = 0.407) and the total prey volume (tau = 0.089, P = 0.366) (Fig. 3). Similarly, no correlation for the minimum prey volume with the MW and BM of frogs (MW: tau = 0.040, P = 0.428, BM: tau = 0.033, P = 0.537), maximum prey item volume (MW: tau = 0.122 P = 0.218, BM: tau = 0.088, P = 0.391), the mean prey item volume (MW: tau = 0.115, P = 0.244, BM: tau = 0.065, P = 0.53) and the total prey volume (MW: tau = 0.136, P = 0.169, BM: tau = 0.095, P = 0.355) (Fig. 3 View Figure 3 ).

Dietary diversity

We identified 37 prey categories in the stomachs of Hylarana annamitica and other unidentified objects. Insects formed the main food component of H. annamitica , with 10 orders (Blattodae, Coleoptera , Dermaptera , Diptera , Hemiptera , Hymenoptera, Isoptera , Lepidoptera , Mantodea and Orthoptera ) and insect larvae. Other categories included different invertebrate groups ( Gastropoda, Araneae, Opiliones and Geophilomorpha ) and Anura (Table 2 View Table 2 ). The highest proportion (% N) of prey items identified was Coleoptera (19.17 %), followed by Blattodae (16.81 %), Orthoptera (15.63 %), Araneae (14.45 %), Lepidoptera (6.19 %) and Diptera (5.60 %). In the most frequently foraged (% F) prey group was also Coleoptera (25.0 %), followed by Araneae (12.50 %), Lepidoptera and Orthoptera (10.23 %) and Hymenoptera (6.82 %). With regard to the IRI (%), Coleoptera (17.19 %), followed by Mantodea (14.78 %), Orthoptera (11.26 %), Lepidoptera (11.13 %), Araneae (10.0 %) and Blattodae (9.87 %) were found to be the most important prey groups (Table 2 View Table 2 ).

Dietary differences between sexes

The number of prey items found in males was 1–44 (7.88 ± 9.92 items, n = 32) and 1–24 in females (6.21 ± 7.62 items, n = 14) (Table 3 View Table 3 ), the values not being significantly different from each other (ANOVA, F 1, 44 = 0.311, P = 0.58). The prey item length in males was 1.0–34.0 mm (n = 252) and 1.0–35.0 mm in females (n = 87), the values not being significantly different from each other (F 1, 337 = 1.133, P = 0.288). The prey item width in males was 0.2–9.0 mm (n = 252) and 0.2–17.0 mm in females (n = 87). The values were also not significantly different between males and females (F 1, 337 = 1.825, P = 0.178). The average dietary volume per individual in males was 1.31–1811.39 mm 3 (n = 32) and 2.36–5484.17 mm 3 (n = 14) in females, the values not being significantly different from each other (F 1, 44 = 1.963, P = 0.168) (Table 3 View Table 3 , Fig. 4 View Figure 4 ).

The Shannon – Wiener index of diet diversity in Hylarana annamitica from Ha Tinh Province was H = 2.944. Adult males (25 prey categories, H = 2.619) consumed prey with slightly lower diversity than adult females (23 prey categories, H = 2.760).

There was an overlap of 45.63 % in the diet between males and females. The trophic spectrum of males with the most important (IRI> 5 %) consisted of Lepidoptera (17.62 %), Blattodae (17.03 %), Coleoptera (16.92 %), Orthoptera (15.04 %), Araneae (10.42 %) and Diptera (5.03 %), while the trophic spectrum of females with the most important (IRI> 5 %) comprised Mantodea (24.56 %), Coleoptera (19.05 %), Araneae (10.62 %), Hemiptera (6.67 %), Orthoptera (6.10 %), Lepidoptera (6.03 %) and Hymenoptera (5.70 %) (Fig. 5 View Figure 5 ).