First description of larval and juvenile stages of Rhacophorus maximus Günther, 1859 "1858" (Anura: Rhacophoridae) from Vietnam

Abstract

We describe the tadpole morphology of the Nepal flying frog, Rhacophorus maximus Günther, 1859 "1858", based on specimens originating from the lowland evergreen forest of the Tay Yen Tu Nature Reserve in the Bac Giang Province in northern Vietnam. The description is based on exotrophic larvae of ORTON'S type IV: lentic, benthic, nektonic in developmental stages 33-41, which were bred at the IEBR Amphibian Breeding Station in Hanoi and identified by DNA barcoding. DNA sequences of the mitochondrial 16S rRNA gene obtained from a tadpole voucher in developmental stage 35 used for the description had less than 0.18% sequence divergence to those of a sympatric adult frog, making the identification unambiguous. Tadpoles of R. maximus are of more generalized morphology with a labial tooth row formula of 5(2-5)/3(1). In addition, based on (hand-) reared froglets and by identifying wild-caught subadults through DNA barcoding, we provide first data on colour pattern change from metamorphosed to adult stages.