Ecuadorian frogs of the genus Colostethus (Anura: Dendrobatidae)

Abstract

The present knowledge of dendrobatid frogs of the genus Colostethus in Ecuador is summarized. The taxonomic history of the genus is discussed and taxonomically useful characters (e.g., external morphology, gonads, tadpoles, and calls) are described. Thirty-one species are recognized, including five new species described herein. Eight nominal species are assigned to its synonymy; they are v iz., Colostethus citreicola (C. nexipus), C.festae (Epipedobates parvulus), C. intermedins (C. kingsburyi), C. maculosus (C. bocagei), C. parens (C. exasperatus), C. taeniatus (C. pulchellus), C. tergogranulans (C. pulchellus), and C. torrenticola (C. jacobuspetersi). Lectotype designations are made for C. bocagei and C. infraguttatus, and a neotype is proposed for C. pulchellus. Several species are redescribed, and taxonomic accounts with data on variation are given for each species. New locality records and distribution maps are provided. The ranges of species previously known from other countries (C. breviquartus, C. lehmanni, and C. talamancae) are extended to Ecuador. New ecological data are presented, and descriptions of tadpoles of eight species and calls of six species are provided. A dichotomous key is included to assist in the identification of specimens. Systematic, distributional, natural history, and extinction trends summaries are presented.