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34IS FIELDIANA • ZOOLOGY

[ Published by

CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM

Volume 34 JULY 24, 1953 No. 15

NEW FROG FROM PANAMA

Dendrobates galindoi

* — •

HAROLD TRAPIDO

GORGAS MEMORIAL LABORATORY, PANAMA

In the course of operating a series of forest tree stations for the
study of the canopy mosquito fauna associated with the transmis-
sion of jungle yellow fever, I have had opportunity during the past
two years to collect large series of Dendrobates in the tropical rain
forest near Almirante, Panama. In this forest, about ten kilometers
northwest of Almirante, at an altitude of 500 to 700 feet, there are
two common Dendrobates. One, a relatively large species (body
length 35 to 40 mm.) strikingly marked with an irregular pattern
of black and metallic green, for the present may be called Dendrobates
auratus Girard. The second is a smaller species (body length about
20 mm.), deep red both above and below, but with the forefeet, hind
feet, and thighs black, flecked with metallic green on the dorsal
aspect and metallic pale blue on the ventral aspect. The dark color
of the hind limbs extends into the concealed surfaces of the groin
and to varying degrees forward on the belly. Occasional individuals
have the red dorsal body color peppered with tiny flecks of black.
Professor E. R. Dunn, who has studied this genus extensively both
in the field and in museums, has suggested that the available name
for this form is Dendrobates pumilio Schmidt. The study of the
frogs of this genus, except in life, is made particularly difficult by
the fact that on preservation in formalin they turn a uniform drab
black, the brilliant and distinctive colors and patterns so evident in
life are lost, and only structural characters may then be discerned.
In preserved material, however, D. pumilio may be told from young
D. auratus by the fact that the former has a very finely rugose skin,
while the skin of the latter is smooth. I have seen neither of these
forms near sea level at Almirante, although I have taken both in
an old cacao plantation at sea level at Wachope, near Limon, Costa
Rica, some 60 miles west of Almirante. I am informed by Dr.
No. 712 181 TOE LIBRARY OF THE

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182 FIELDIANA: ZOOLOGY, VOLUME 34

Dunn, however, that he has seen them near Chiriquicito on the
Chiriqui Lagoon.

The island of Bastimentos, 14 miles east of Almirante, is one of
the barrier islands protecting the Bahia de Almirante. At the edge
of the village of Bastimentos, on the northwestern shore of the island,
there is a sizable patch of the large-leaved terrestrial araceous
"otoe," Xanthosoma violaceum, grown for its tuberous edible root.
Several years ago, while aspirating water from the axils of these
plants in the search for mosquito larvae, my colleague, Pedro
Galindo V., took several tadpoles. Also crouched on the plant
petioles and in the water accumulated in the leaf axils were a
number of small orange-red frogs strongly spotted with black. A
preserved series of these presented to me at the time had lost the
orange-red pigment and were drab black and gray.

Recently it has been possible to visit this island, as well as the
adjacent Isla de Colon, to collect living material of this frog. The
species was found to be extremely common at Bastimentos, but
none were found in searches of Xanthosoma at several places on the
Isla de Colon. Residents of the adjacent mainland, familiar with
the area from Almirante to the Costa Rican border, when shown
specimens of this frog, reported that they had never seen any like
it before. It may be concluded for the present that this form is
endemic on Bastimentos Island.

From the preserved material previously available it had been
supposed that the red Dendrobates of Bastimentos, similar in size to
the red D. pumilio of the mainland, was possibly a race, in which
the flecks of black on the body of occasional specimens of pumilio
had become more fully developed into a pattern of black spots. It
was only when the Bastimentos frog was seen in life that it was
apparent that this was a distinct species with the venter white,
not red as in pumilio, and with other coloration and structural
differences.

Dendrobates galindoi sp. nov.

Type. — Chicago Natural History Museum no. 71053, collected
November 22, 1952, altitude 20 feet, in a patch of Xanthosoma
violaceum at the edge of the village of Bastimentos, island of Basti-

FIG. 36. Three paratypes of Dendrobates galindoi sp. nov., showing variation
in extent of dark markings of dorsum. Upper: the specimen with the least black
pigment. Middle: one in the intermediate condition. Lower: one showing de-
velopment to the point where the dark marks have become fused to form irregular
longitudinal bars.

183

184 FIELDIANA: ZOOLOGY, VOLUME 34

mentos, Bocas del Toro Province, Republic of Panama, by Harold
Trapido, Pedro Galindo V., and Wilfred Hils.

Paratypes. — Same data as the type. Chicago Natural History
Museum nos. 71054-71087.

Diagnosis. — A small (20 mm.) Dendrobates presumably related
to D. pumilio, but with the red dorsum punctate, maculate, or longi-
tudinally barred with black. The venter is enamel white, not red
as in pumilio. The fingers, toes, legs, and thighs are light, spotted
or maculate with black or brown, not black flecked with metallic
green or blue as in pumilio. There is a chromatic form comprising
a small part of the population with the ground color of the dorsum
cream, pale yellow or green, rather than red. The body is finely
rugose as in pumilio but is slightly longer and stouter, and the
terminal finger disks are more expanded.

Color description of holotype from life (colors from Ridgway) . —
Dorsum of body near Grenadine Red, marked with black spots that
are from one to two mm. in diameter. Eyes black, nostrils and
mouth very narrowly edged with black. Dorsal aspect of the limbs
also Grenadine Red spotted with black. Dorsal aspect of fore and
hind feet between white and Dull Opaline Green, with tiny black
spots. Ventral aspect of body and forelimbs enamel white, with a
diffuse wash between white and Pale Nile Blue on ventral aspect of
hind limbs. Plantar surface of fore and hind feet Cinnamon Brown
mixed with Pale Nile Blue. Black marks of the thighs becoming
Cinnamon Brown on lower legs and feet. A few tiny patches of
metallic blue-green mixed with the Grenadine Red on the dorsum
of the body.

Examination under magnification (from 10 to 30 diameters) re-
veals that the entire body surface is pustulate, with circular black
dots crowning each pustule. The skin color apparent to the naked
eye is determined by the coloration of the slopes of the pustules and
the interpustular space. Thus, while the venter is apparently un-
marked enamel white, it is actually white finely punctate with black.

Measurements of holotype before preservation. — Body length, 22
mm.; tibia, 9.5 mm.; heel to tip of third toe, 13.3 mm.; longest toe,
5.4 mm.; internarial distance, 3 mm.; anterior interorbital distance,
4.4 mm.; nostril to anterior corner of eye, 2 mm.; greatest breadth
of body, 10 mm.

Variation in coloration. — The principal variation is in the
size of the black marks on the red dorsum. The holotype repre-
sents the median condition, with black spots from one to two mm.

FIG. 37. Upper: habitat of Dendrobates galindoi sp. nov. in a patch of the
araceous plant, Xanthosoma violaceum, at the edge of the village of Bastimentos,
on Bastimentos Island, Panama. These little frogs are extremely common on
the leaves and petioles and in the axils of these plants, as well as on the ground
shaded by the large leaves. Lower: the water-holding axils of these plants with
the sheltering leaves cut away. In these accumulations of water the tadpoles
develop.

185

186 FIELDIANA: ZOOLOGY, VOLUME 34

in diameter. Some have only small flecks of black, while at the
other end of the series the spots may be fused to form incomplete
longitudinal bars. All specimens have at least some black marks.
While the venter is usually immaculate white a few specimens have
occasional black spots irregularly distributed on the belly. The
dark markings of the dorsal aspect of the hind limbs vary in size
and intensity. When the marks are small, from one to two mm. in
diameter, they appear black; when they are enlarged they become
paler and brown in color. In specimens with very large marks the
hind limbs appear blotched with brown, with only a narrow network
of the red ground color between the blotches.

Quite apart from this normal variation in coloration a part of the
population presents a color form with the same variation in pattern
but with the dorsal ground color from bronzy-cream to Apple Green
or Pale Dull Green- Yellow. Four specimens out of a total of about
fifty collected exhibit this coloration, but as a special effort was
made to capture the greenish individuals, they probably represent
less than 5 per cent of the population.

Range. — The species is at present known only from the island of
Bastimentos and is thought to be endemic there.

Breeding. — Eggs of this frog were not found, nor were adults
seen transporting larvae on their backs, a habit observed in other
Dendr abates. We do know, however, that the tadpoles develop in
accumulations of water in the axils of the large-leaved terrestrial
Xanthosoma violaceum. On November 22, 1952, in addition to the
series of adults taken, ten tadpoles and transforming individuals
were collected by aspirating water from these plants. The smallest
tadpole is 9.5 mm. in length. There are three transforming indi-
viduals in the series: one with only the hind limbs emerged is 22 mm.
in total length, with the head and body (to anus) 9 mm.; one with
the hind limbs emerged and the fore limbs just about to emerge is
24 mm. in total length, with the head and body 10.5 mm.; and one
with well-developed fore and hind limbs, which has probably begun
the resorption of the tail, is 23.5 mm. in total length, with the head
and body 11.5 mm. The species apparently transforms at about
12 to 15 mm.

Remarks. — These frogs, at the time of year they were collected
at least, seem quite colonial. In an area some thirty yards square
about fifty individuals were collected in half an hour with the help
of native children. Those taken represented only a small fraction
of the ones seen and not collected. During the day these frogs are

TRAPIDO: NEW FROG FROM PANAMA 187

very active, hopping about on the ground and on the petioles and
leaves of the "otoe." As many as three or four could be seen at a
time crouched in the axils of these plants, both in the water and on
the petioles just out of the accumulated water. In this ecological
niche their poison secretion must be of considerable survival value,
for a number of domestic fowl were foraging in the patch of "otoe"
but they made no attempt to eat these bright red frogs. No other
frogs were seen in the area.

A number of these frogs have been kept alive in terraria in the
laboratory for several months, where they do very well feeding on
fruit flies (Drosophila) and mosquitoes (Anopheles albimanus), which
happen to be conveniently available insects. They call intermit-
tently during the day. The call is a series of grating insect-like
chirps, from twenty to thirty in a series, commencing with well-
spaced chirps that rapidly increase in frequency and end in almost
a trill. The upper abdomen and pectoral region are considerably
inflated during calling, the throat only moderately so. Single chirps
are also given with fair frequency. The frogs are active during the
day, as are other Dendrobates, and readily climb the glass walls of
terraria to pursue mosquitoes resting on the covering screen. At
night they are quiescent, for the most part resting in groups toward
the tops of the leaves of plants in the terrarium.

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