Narrow mouth frog, Elachistocleis ovalis (Microhylidae)

Frost (2015) suggests the taxonomy and systematics of this species and E. surinamensis are unclear.The name Elachistocleis ovalis is in need of investigation, and is not applied to a biological population. Currently the name is applied to populations from Panama, Trinidad, and Colombia southward, east of the Andes, to Bolivia. However, in Brazil all populations previously thought to be this species are assigned other names. Kenny regarded E. surinamensis as a senior synonym of Relictivomer pearsei. Elachistocleis appears to be the sister taxon of Hypopachus + Gastrophryne. Caramaschi, 2010, Bol. Mus. Nac., Rio de Janeiro, N.S., Zool., 527: 1-30, discussed the difficult nomenclatural and taxonomic history of this taxon and considered the type species, Rana ovalis Schneider, to be a nomen dubium. This has the effect of leaving populations from Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, Ecuador, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, French Guiana, and Surinam without a name.This species inhabits leaf-litter and in tree holes in tropical rainforests and on the forest edge, as well as grasslands and shrublands. Breeding takes place in ponds, and eggs and tadpoles in water. Male specimens have been found calling from water up to 30cm deep, in flooded forest. It is tolerant of some habitat modification and can survive in rural gardens and pastureland. This species is a complex of several species. Specimens from Paraguay, Argentina and Uruguay have been separated from Elachistocleis ovalis as E. bicolor. It feeds primarily on ants.

Tobago Stream Frog, Mannophryne olmonae (Aromobatidae)

Colostethus olmonae Hardy, 1983, Bulletin of the Maryland Herpetological Society, 19: 47. Holotype: USNM 198505, by original designation. Type locality: Bloody Bay, St. John Parish, Tobago, West Indies.

Mannophryne olmonae — La Marca, 1992, Cuadernos Geográficos. Facultad de Ciencias Forestales, Universidad de Los Andes, Mérida, Venezuela, 9: 32.

Taxonomy & Systematics. Mannophryne olmonae is not closely related to Mannophryne trinitatis (Lehtinen et al.2011, Jowers et al. 2011), as was suggested by Murphy (1997). Kaiser et al. showed the chromosome banding pattern distinguished the two species. The sister taxon of M. olmonae is M. riveroi from the Peninsula de Paria, Venezuela (Lehtinen et al.2011, Jowers et al. 2011).

Distribution. Forested areas of central and eastern Tobago, between 30–490 m asl. The report of this species from Little Tobago Island was an error (Murphy, 1997).

Natural History. The Tobago Stream Frog is associated with rocky or gravel bottom streams and may move away from streams into the leaf litter during heavy rains. Females deposit eggs in terrestrial locations, guarded by the male. Upon hatching the male carries the tadpoles to pools for continued development. The pools may be roadside ditches or flooded areas on the forest floor.


Literature

Hardy, J.D. 1983. A new frog of the genus Colostethus from the island of Tobago, West Indies (Anura: Dendrobatidae). Bulletin Maryland Herpetological Society, 19(2), 47-57.

IUCN SSC Amphibian Specialist Group 2013. Mannophryne olmonae. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2015.1. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 09 June 2015.

Jowers, M.J., Martínez-Solano, I., Cohen, B.L., Manzanilla, J. and Downie, R.J. 2011. Genetic differentiation in the Trinidad endemic Mannophryne trinitatis (Anura: Aromobatidae): Miocene vicariance, in situ diversification and lack of geographical structuring across the island. Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research 49(2): 133-140.

La Marca, E. 1992. Catalogo taxonomico, biogeografico y bibliografico de las ranas de Venezuela. Cuadernos Geográficos. Facultad de Ciencias Forestales, Universidad de Los Andes, Mérida, Venezuela 9: 1–197.

Lehtinen, R.M., Wojtowicz, E.A. and Hailey, A. 2011. Male vocalizations, female discrimination and molecular phylogeny: Multiple perspectives on the taxonomic status of a critically endangered Caribbean frog. Journal of Zoology 283: 117-125.

Beebe's Toad, Rhinella beebei (Family Bufonidae)

A low elevation, open habitat species that can be found in agricultural, urbanized, and savanna habitats. It will follow roads into forested areas, but stay in the open habitat at the edge of the road. Like many toads they feed heavily on ants, other insects, and snails. It can be separated from other toads on Trinidad and Tobago by the forward pointing nostrils and the presence of crests on the top of the head. Also, calling males are much smaller than calling male Marine Toads. Males 51 mm, females 61 mm. A toad with cranial crests and ridges, nostrils located on a shelf and directed upward; elongated head with snout extending over jaw; skin covered with small warts. Distribution and Habitats. Trinidad’s lower elevations in open habitats in the Northern and Southern basins; abundant at Aripo Savanna; follow roads into forested areas, but stay in the open habitat at the edge of the road. Life History. Males call from shallow water or land near the water, often ephemeral pools; feeds heavily on ants, other insects, and snails.

Note that this toad has been previously called Rhinella humboldti, a species found west of the Andes.

Dwarf Marsupial Frog, Flectonotus fitzgeraldi (Family Hemiphractidae)

Gastrotheca fitzgeraldiParker, 1934, Tropical Agriculture, Trinidad, 11:123. Holotype: BMNH 1947.2.22.41 Type locality: "about 3,000 ft. on Mt. Tucutche", Trinidad.

Nototheca fitzgeraldi: Bokermann, 1950, Pap. Avulsos Zool., São Paulo, 9: 218.

Flectonotus fitzgeraldi: Duellman, 1977, Das Tierreich, 95: 11.

A small frog, males reach 19.0 mm; females reach 24.0 mm SVL. (New metamorph below). They have a yellow-brown dorsum. The posterior surfaces of the thighs are brown, and the venter is unpigmented except for specks of white pigment and is otherwise translucent. The dorsal skin is smooth and the scapular region usually lacks diagonal markings. The head is as long as it is wide. The snout is rounded and the small nasals are widely separated. Upper lips have no spots and no suborbital bar is present. The eyes, separated by an interorbital bar, have diameters of 1.9 to 3.0 mm. The tympanum is smaller than the eye. A brood pouch along the dorsum has a middorsal opening, with lateral folds of skin making up the sides. These folds stick together to enclose the pouch during egg brooding. More often than not, the dorsal thighs are barred, while bars are never present on the anterior and posterior thighs. The tarsus is smooth as opposed to tuberculate, and tibia length in males ranges from 8.8-12.2 mm. Fourth toe webbing is predominately penultimate, although it is sometimes half penultimate and antepenultimate. Fifth toe webbing is mainly distal but can be half distal and penultimate (Duellman and Gray 1983).

Distribution: Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela

Flectonotus fitzgeraldi occurs in humid forests of Trinidad, Tobago and the Peninsula de Paria, Venezuela. It has been found sitting on leaves of bushes and plants at night and on leaf litter during the day. On Trinidad, this tree frog is widespread  from sea level to 950 m in elevation. It is widely distributed on Tobago and is also found in the mountains of the Peninsula de Paria, Venezuela.

Flectonotus fitzgeraldi is crepuscular and nocturnal. Males start calling in the late afternoon and stop an hour or so after sunset. The Female carry the eggs in a dorsal pouch until the eggs hatch at which time they are deposited in a leaf axial pond.

Mating behavior is unknown, but members of Flectonotus are known to have long reproductive seasons and if females were to mate within a week or two after egg deposit, they could theoretically have five broods per season. A female will produce 3-4 embryos, 3.3 on average, with a mean diameter of 3.6 mm. Eggs will brood in her dorsal pouch until developmental stages 39-41. They are then released into bromeliads and aroid leaf bases, where they continue to develop without feeding. Larval development takes place in only 5 days and during this time, the only yolk is consumed (Duellman and Gray 1983).

 On Tobago, it is widespread and associated with forests. It also occurs in the mountains on the Peninsula de Paria, Venezuela. Habitat is humid forests and forest edges. They have been reported in the leaf litter during the day and on bushes at night. However, we have found them in rolled up Heliconia leaves during the day. Males call at sunset and for a short time afterward. Females carry the large fertilized eggs in a pouch on their back, upon hatching the tadpoles are deposited in a leaf axial pond where they undergo development. New metamorph below.

Adult below. 

Spix's Green Frog, Lithobates palmipes (Family Ranidae)

Spix's Green Frog is poorly known from Trinidad. Males reach 126 mm, females 101 mm.

Spix's Green Frog is widely distributed in South America east of the Andes. It has been reported from Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Venezuela, the Guianas and Brazil. The species is also said to occurs in the northern Atlantic forest of Brazil. In Trinidad it has been reported from the Central Range and southeast corner of the island of Trinidad. It is unknown from Tobago. In elevation it ranges from near sea level to 1000 m asl. It is a nocturnal tropical rainforest species, living terrestrially in and around permanent water, including slow-flowing watercourses, rivers, and lakes and at the edges of ponds. It also occurs in flooded forest. Their eggs are deposited in the water at the beginning of the dry season, and the tadpoles develop in water. This is most likely a complex of species that needs to be studied in detail.

Bloody Bay Litter Frog, Pristimantis turpinorum (Family Craugastoridae)

Turpin's Litter Frog, Pristimantis turpinorum, is endemic to the forests Tobago's Main Ridge. Adults are 15 to 19 mm in body length and the eye's diameter is about 1.25 times the eye-nostril distance. The iris of the eye does not contain any blue pigment. Males call from palm trees in the late afternoon and usually stop calling when it is dark. It is a poorly studied species and little is known about its natural history. Photograph at left Renoir J. Auguste.

Urich's Litter Frog, Pristimantis urichi (Family Craugastoridae)

This species is known only from Trinidad and Tobago, where it is widespread in forested areas, occurring from near sea level to more than 900 m asl. Pristimantis urichi is a small, 21-24 mm, frog that is highly polymorphic in coloration and pattern. Individuals may be uniform in color or have a relatively complex pattern of blotches. It is a forest dweller and males call from leaves off the ground, often the leaves they call from are covered by other leaves, making them difficult to locate. The upper edge of the iris is a turquois blue, a characteristic that will distinguish them from other Trinidad and Tobago frogs. Females deposit their eggs in terrestrial nests that may be on the ground or under moss or treebak on the surface of the tree. They may be guarded by the male or left to develop on their own. The eggs undergo direct development and hatch into froglets.

Typhlonectes sp. (Family Typhlonectidae)

Its presence on Trinidad is based upon one, now lost specimen (Dresden 639).  This animal is probably not part of the fauna. Photo by Haplochromis.

 

Mata Mata, Chelus fimbriatus (Family Chelidae)

There are no known populations of this turtle in Trinidad, but it is an occasional waif from the flooding Orinoco.

The mata mata has been known to science sine 1741 but not described until 1783. It's large, triangular, compressed head with numerous tubercles and flaps of skin, and its tubular snout make it the most distinctive turtle on the planet. The carapace is brown to black and can reach 45 cm. Adult weight is 15 kg. The coloration, shape and texture provide the mata mata with excellent camouflage. Mata mata's lie motionless in the water until a fish comes close. It then opens its mouth rapidly and the fish is sucked in because of the vacuum created when it opens it mouth. The flaps of skin on the head likely act as motion detectors allowing the turtle to determine the position of the fish before "striking."

Gibba Turtle, Mesoclemmys gibba (Family Chelidae)

This is a highly aquatic freshwater turtle. Adult carapace length 235 mm, maximum size approaches 300 mm; hatchlings 41−48 mm; males do not exceed 170 mm carapace length.

The head relatively wide and flattened; tympanum large; two barbles on chin; carapace depressed in adults, juveniles have a carapace with a medial keel that is lost with age; the bridge is small, equal to the length of three marginal scutes; plastron long and wide with a deep anal notch. All digits have extensive webbing. Crown is olive brown, jaws yellow; carapace lacks a pattern, dark brown or black; plastron dark brown to yellow. 

 
This turtle has a wide, flat head with a large tympanum, granular skin on top of the head, and two small barbles on the chin. Adults have a smooth depressed carapace; juveniles may have a slight median keel lost with age; digits extensively webbed. Head olive-brown or gray, jaws yellow; carapace dark brown or black without a pattern; plastron light to dark brown or yellow. There is a population in Trinidad, Venezuela and Guyana and another in the western Amazon; it is also present in the Parana drainage of the Paraguay River. 

 
Literature records from Trinidad suggest it is a lowland species, but uncommon. Mohammed et al. (2010) surveyed Trinidad freshwater turtles and updated the island distributions. They found M. gibba isolated in the south-western drainages of the South Oropuche catchment based based on anecdotal evidence from local residents (in the Penal district) who gave vivid descriptions of the characteristic side folding neck. 

 
The species prefers stagnant or slow moving waters, including marshes, ponds, and streams in or near primary rainforests, gallery forests, in closed canopy situations; also in permanent ponds near Mauritia palms; ephemeral forest pools; often associated with mud substrates. Dry season aestivation occurs when temporary ponds dry. It is nocturnal. 

 
The diet includes insects, crustaceans, amphibian larvae, rivulid fish; plant material such as palm seeds and fruits; aquatic algae, florescences and seeds of aquatic macrophytes. 

 
Reproduction information is poorly known. Five clutches with 2−4 eggs; incubation ranges from 178−200 days; hatchlings show a preference for terrestrial rather than aquatic habitats. Captive reproduction data: clutch sizes of 2−8 eggs (x = 3.92), incubation periods of 140−272 days. Captive females grew from hatchlings to 190 mm in eight years, first reproduction at six years; males grew to 187 mm in six years, attempted copulation in fourth year.

Red-eared Slider, Trachemys scripta elegans (Family Emydidae)

This is an invasive species in Trinidad.

Mohammed (2010) wrote, “Juveniles of Trachemys scripta elegans were imported in large numbers during the 1980s as part of the pet trade. Anecdotal evidence tells of several escapees across the island during that time. Their import was halted later in that decade. Currently, in addition to the Emperor Valley Zoo, there are at least three other privately owned collections of this American species where successful breeding occurs and of these, one is uncontrolled and weather determined. These specimens are possibly of 1980s stock, considering this turtle achieves sexual maturity at five years of age (Wibbels et al. 1998). There has now been resurgence in the popularity of this species and once again import has been permitted within the last four years. It should be noted that with the exception of these two adults, no other individuals have been recorded for the island. Communi­cation with J.C. Murphy revealed the existence of some individuals at a pond within the Arima Valley during the 1980s and 1990s. The natural distribution of T. scripta elegans occurs within the Mississippi Valley, from northern Illinois to south of the Gulf of Mexico (Lever 2003). There are records of its naturalization in over 30 countries, from Europe to Asia, Africa, South America, the West Indies, Australasia, the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. This species has also naturalized in a wider territory within North America (Lever 2003).The natural breeding habits and requirement for this species (Wibbels et al. 1998) are very similar to the local species (Murphy 1997) and it is possible that with the continued occurrence of escapes, they will colonize Trinidad. Similar to our local species, they are also omnivorous (Hart 1983), giving rise to the speculation of potential niche competition and poten­tially a new introduced exotic vertebrate to our drainages. Pritchard and Trebbau (1984) noted a much generalized diet for R. punctularia punctularia, feeding equally readily on land and in water. Our observations support this school of thought, but it should be noted that these feeding habits were aspects of specific captive behavior, and they were observed for Trachemys scripta elegans as well. The Emperor Valley Zoo has in the past housed this exotic species together with the agouti as a means of popu­lation control (the agoutis ate eggs of the turtles). Whilst the unnaturally high density of all species housed within the enclosure does not reflect the wild scenario, it demon­strates to some extent the potential niche competition and aggression the exotic species are capable of inflicting upon our native species.”

Loggerhead Turtle (Caretta caretta)

Loggerheads sometimes nest on Tobago, but rarely if ever on Trinidad. Adult Loggerhead Turtles (Caretta caretta) reach 113 kg and about a meter in length. They attain sexual maturity in about 35 years. Females nest from April-September and generally lay 3-5 nests per season. They have massive heads with powerful jaw muscles to crush their hard shelled prey, mostly molluscs (whelks and conch). Neonates are pelagic and float with drift lines of debris and rarely go below five meters in the water column. When they are 7-12 years old they move into nearshore coastal areas to feed and mature. Loggerheads are circumglobal in temperate and tropical latitudes of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans.