Charlotteville Litter Frog, Pristimantis charlottevillensis (Family Craugastoridae)

Vocalizing male. JCM

JCM

Formerly known as Eleutherodactylus charlottevillensis.

Size: A small terrestrial or bush frog, males 31 mm, females 47 mm SVL.

Identification: Dorsal skin of adults smooth (smaller individuals have scattered tubercles and a crescent of red-orange spots above and posterior to the tympanum) and red-brown with mottling; dark spot between the eyes; vertical bars on upper lip. Ventral skin mainly smooth with some posterior granulation; cream-white anterior, yellow posterior. Limbs have dark cross barring. Snout rounded in profile and blunt in dorsal view. Tympanum about two-thirds the diameter of eye; supratympanic fold present. All digits lack webbing but possess terminal adhesive discs. Vocalization: A distinct ‘jivit, jivit’, not loud but easily discernible. Can be heard calling on dry nights from the ground, especially stream margins, on nights when other species are silent.

Similar species: Adults distinctly larger than the other ground-living Tobago frogs with toe-pads (Mannophryne olmonae, two Pristimantis species), and with a wider head and longer snout.

Distribution and habitat: P. charlottevillensis is a Tobago endemic species. Earlier surveys reported this species from northeast Tobago, along the Northside Road to the Parlatuvier-Roxborough Road, and as far west as Speyside on the southern main road. Recent surveys report this species also in the area around Hillsborough Dam, further southwest than previously found, and along the Northside Road as far southwest as Moriah, but not in the more urban area of southwest Tobago, west of Plymouth and Scarborough. This species is found in hillier, forested areas, including the sides of streams. Biology: has been observed feeding on flies and beetles, but overall diet not investigated. As with other terraranans, it is expected that this species lays direct-developing eggs on damp ground, but reproduction has not been reported.

Conservation status: regarded as Vulnerable by IUCN (2004) but later revised to Least Concern on the basis of surveys showing a stable population, wide distribution and much suitable habitat, with no signs of chytrid infection.