Physalaemus spiniger (Miranda-Ribeiro 1926)

Diagnoses A species characterized by (1) small size (males 17.1-21.3 mm snout-vent length, females 20.6-22.0 mm snout-vent length); (2) canthus rostralis distinct; (3) dorsal skin texture smooth to rugose; (4) belly orange in life; (5) structure of the advertisement call.

In the Atlantic Rain Forest and restingas on the coastal of eastern of São Paulo State and northeast of Paraná State, Brazil.

Adult morphology Snout-vent length 17.1-21.3 mm in males and 20.6-22.0 in females. Body slender; head wider than long; snout rounded and protruding in dorsal and lateral views; nostril slightly protuberant, directed laterally; canthus rostralis distinct; loreal region concave; eve slightly protuberant; tympanum indistinct to weakly distinct; distinct supratympanic fold from tympanum to shoulder; narrow dorsolateral fo.d extending from posterior corner of eye to inguinal region; males with subgular vocal sac, expanded externally, extending to border of chest; vocal slits present in males; choanae small, nearly round; tongue narrow, long; vomerine teeth absent; maxillary teeth not visible, but discernible by probe. Arms slender, forearms moderately robust in males (in females slender); fingers short; brown nuptial pad on thumb in males; subarticular tubercles single, protruding and rounded; outer metacarpal tubercle large to small, rounded (81% of specimens) or ovoid (19% of specimens); inner metacarpal tubercle large to medium, nearly elliptical, sometimes rounded; supernumerary tubercles small; finger tips not expanded; finger lengths I =V (or rarely IV < I) < II < III. Legs moderately robust; tibia longer than thigh; foot with an inner metatarsal tubercle slight protruding, elliptical to nearly rounded; outer metatarsal tubercle small, slightly protruding, rounded; well-developed subarticular tubercles, single, protruding, round; supernumerary tubercles small; toe tips slightly expanded; toe lengths I < II < V < III < IV. Inguinal glands small to large (21% of specimens with large glands); dorsal skin texture smooth to rugose (25% of specimens with rugose skin texture), undersurface textures smooth. Color in preservative: Dorsum brown or gray with a dark, nearly continuous and symmetrical pattern consisting of an interorbital bar, an arrow pointing to the head just behind the shoulder followed by three branches starting from the posterior part of the arrow; the two lateral branches terminating over the black spots on the inguinal gland, and the middle branch terminating before the cloaca; the interorbital bar and the arrow marks sometimes with a fine light border, in some specimens dorsal marks not evident; a white line on the dorsolateral fold (sometimes absent); flanks below the dorsolateral fold, black; forearm light brown or gray, with a dark brown transverse bar; elbow dark brown; thigh, tibia, and foot light brown, brown or gray, similar to the color of the dorsum; thigh and tibia with a dark brown transverse bar; two black bars on the upperparts of thigh and tibia; anal region dark; belly cream or gray; chest and throat gray or dark brown. Color in Life: Dorsum yellowish brown to brown; dorsal marks (interorbital bar and arrow) dark brown; in some specimens the dorsal marks are not evident; snout brown to cream; dark brown lateral stripe from snout, through nostril, eye, tympanum, and arm insertion to groin; groin orange; inguinal gland with a black spot; forearm, thigh, tibia, and foot yellowish brown to brown with a dark transverse bar; chest and throat dark brown with white spots; belly, axilla, and ventral surfaces of thigh, tibia, foot, and arm orange; anal region black. Larval morphology Description is based on a tadpole in developmental Stage 36 (Gosner, 1960). Body ovoid in dorsal and ventral views, depressed globular in lateral view; body wider than high; snout rounded; eyes small, dorsolateral; nostrils dorsal, small and rounded; nostrils about midway between the eyes and the tip of snout; spiracle sinistral, its opening posterior to the middle of body; cloacal tube medium sized, median; caudal musculature slender; dorsal fin originating on body; dorsal fin wider than ventral. Oral disc directed ventrally and bordered by papillae, interrupted along a large area on the anterior labium; tooth row formula 2(2)/3(1); jaw sheath strongly developed and serrate; posterior jaw sheath v shaped. Color in preservative: body gray; caudal musculature with scattered pigmentation; fins translucent with scattered pigmentation. Measurements of five tadpoles in developmental Stage 36: range (media, SD), total length 17.321.2 (19.56, 1.98); body length 5.8-7.5 (6.74, 0.74); body height 3.5-4.1 (3.72, 0.27); body width 4.3-5.7 (5.0, 0.62); internarial distance 0.7-1.0 (0.82, 0.13); interorbital distance 0.9-1.2 (1.12, 0.13); eye-nostril distance 0.5-0.6 (0.56, 0.05); eye diameter 0.8-1.0 (0.86, 0.09).

LC. Least Concern.