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Egg Numbers and Fecundity Traits in Nine Species of Mantella Poison Frogs from Arid Grasslands and Rainforests of Madagascar (Anura: Mantellidae)

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Egg Numbers and Fecundity Traits in Nine Species of Mantella Poison Frogs from Arid Grasslands and Rainforests of Madagascar (Anura: Mantellidae) MADAGASCAR CONSERVATION & DEVELOPMENT VOLUME 4 | ISSUE 2 — DECEMBER 2009 PAGE 113 Egg numbers and fecundity traits in nine species of Mantella poison frogs from arid grasslands and rainforests of Madagascar (Anura: Mantellidae) Giulia TessaI, Fabio MattioliII, Vincenzo MercurioIII and Correspondence: Franco AndreoneIV Franco Andreone Museo Regionale di Scienze Naturali Via G. Giolitti 36, 10123 Torino, Italy E - mail [email protected] ABSTRACT celui des espèces de forêt pluviale (appartenant à plusieurs The body size and number of eggs in dissected females were lignées phylogénétiques). Il apparaît clairement que les espèces analysed in nine species of the Malagasy frog genus Mantella de zones herbeuses produisent un plus grand nombre d’œufs basing upon preserved specimens. These species were dis- par ponte et que les œufs sont plus grands que ceux pondus par tinguished in terms of habitat and grouped as ‘grassland les espèces de forêt pluviale. De plus, il existe dans le groupe species’ (included M. betsileo, M. expectata, M. viridis), and des espèces de zones herbeuses une corrélation significative ‘rainforest species’ (M. baroni, M. crocea, M. cowani, M. laevigata, entre le taux de fécondité et la taille corporelle des femelles. M. nigricans, M. pulchra). The species with the lowest egg - number Par contre, les résultats sont plus hétérogènes pour les espèces was M. cowani with a mean egg number of 37 ± 15, while the de forêt. Les femelles de ce groupe présentent une taille cor- species with the highest egg-number was M. viridis with 115 porelle plus réduite et il n’y a pas de corrélation claire entre le ± 21 eggs. In general, the grassland species are characterised nombre d’œufs et la taille corporelle des femelles. Les dif- by a higher number of relatively small eggs. Moreover, their férences constatées ont été interprétées et expliquées par les fecundity was positively and significantly correlated to female modes de vie distincts que présentent les espèces considérées, body size. Rainforest species were smaller in size and with a avec la production d’un plus grand nombre d’œufs lorsque lower number of eggs. We interpreted these differences as pos- leur taille est réduite. En outre, les femelles de ces espèces sible consequences of habitat adaptations. Among the studied présentent une taille corporelle plus importante; il a d’ailleurs species, the Critically Endangered Mantella cowani is also été prouvé que le taux de fécondité des amphibiens est directe- featured by a low number and large size of eggs. This is likely ment proportionnel à la taille des femelles. Nous pouvons for- correlated with the high elevation site of the central highlands muler l’hypothèse qu’il est plus avantageux pour les Mantella where this species occurs. de zones herbeuses de produire le maximum d’œufs dans un nombre limité d’événements reproductifs, qui seraient rares et RÉSUMÉ localisés. Ces résultats confirment également que les Mantella Dans cet article, nous présentons des informations portant sur de forêts pluviales sont probablement plus sensibles aux altéra- la taille et le nombre d’œufs de neuf espèces de grenouilles de tions de l’habitat, qui est plus stable que celui des espèces Madagascar appartenant au genre Mantella, en nous basant de zones herbeuses. Dans ce contexte, nous considérons que sur l’analyse de spécimens muséologiques. Ces espèces ont l’espèce M. cowani peut être classée comme espèce en été classées selon l’habitat dans lequel elles ont été récoltées danger critique d’extinction. Cette espèce particulière de en deux groupes qui sont les «Mantella de zones herbeuses», grenouille se présente comme la plus menacée parmi les originaires de l’Ouest et du Sud (arides) de Madagascar espèces de la forêt pluviale du fait qu’elle produit un nom- (M. betsileo, M. expectata, M. viridis), et les ‘Mantella de bre limité d’œufs de taille relativement importante. L’espèce forêt pluviale’ (M. baroni, M. crocea, M. cowani, M. laevigata, est ainsi probablement plus sensible que les autres Mantella M. nigricans, M. pulchra). L’espèce présentant le taux de aux altérations environnementales et à la collecte d’individus fécondité le plus bas est M. cowani, avec un nombre moyen pour le commerce d’animaux. d’œufs par ponte de 37 ± 15, tandis que l’espèce avec le taux le plus élevé est M. viridis avec 115 ± 21 œufs par ponte. Nous KEYWORDS: Amphibians, arid habitats, ecology, fecundity, avons également testé si la fécondité observée chez les espèces Madagascar, rainforests. étudiées était différente entre le groupe des espèces de zones MOTS CLEF : amphibiens, écologie, fécondité, forêts pluviales, herbeuses (appartenant toutes au groupe Mantella betsileo) et Madagascar, zones herbeuses. I Museo Regionale di Scienze Naturali, Via G. Giolitti, 36, 10123 Torino, Italy. Phone: +39 011 432 6306 II Acquario di Genova, Area Porto Antico, Ponte Spinola, 16128 Genova, Italy. Phone:+39 010 234 5210 III Forschungsinstitut und Naturmuseum Senckenberg, Sektion Herpetologie, Senckenberganlage 25, 60325, Frankfurt a.M., Germany. Phone: +49 691 742 8153 IV Phone: +39 011 432 6306 Madagascar Conservation & Development is the journal of Madagascar Wildlife Conservation (MWC) and the Jane Goodall Institute (JGI Switzerland). It is produced in these institutions’ own responsibility. All the Issues and articles are freely available at http://www.mwc-info.net/en/services/journal.htm Contact Journal MCD [email protected] for general inquiries MCD [email protected] for supporting the journal Journal Madagascar Conservation & Development Institute and Museum of Anthropology University of Zurich Winterthurerstrasse 190 CH-8057 Zurich, Switzerland contact@mwc-info. net for general inquiries Postfach 2701 CH-8021 Zürich, Switzerland Logement 11, Cité Andohaniato Antananarivo 101, Madagascar [email protected] for general inquiries JGI Jane Goodall Institute Schweiz Postfach 2807 8033 Zürich Switzerland MADAGASCAR CONSERVATION & DEVELOPMENT VOLUME 4 | ISSUE 2 — DECEMBER 2009 PAGE 114 INTRODUCTION of an important available reservoir of biological data, which are The large island of Madagascar has more than 240 described the preserved specimens housed in natural history museums. species (Glaw and Vences 2007) and 150-200 identified but These vouchers can be utilised for several finalities, includ- not yet described species of amphibians (Vieites et al. 2009). ing studying their feeding habits, the pathogenic assessment, Of these, the genus Mantella is particularly striking, and it genetics, anatomy, reproduction, and age structure. The use of includes probably the best - known frogs of Madagascar (Vences preserved museum vouchers as a source of biological data is et al. 1999a, Jovanovic et al. 2006). Almost all the 16 Mantella not only useful, but also ethically relevant, since it does not species currently known show an impressive and attractive involve obtaining data from live animals in the wild, and there- aposematic colouration, are diurnal, accumulate toxic alka- fore maximises the amount of information that can be gathered loids in the skin (Daly et al. 1996, Vences et al. 1998, Clark et al. from already dead animals (Andreone and Gavetti 2000). 2005), and are actively searched for the international pet - trade In the present paper we provide original data on (Mattioli et al. 2006, Andreone and Randriamahazo 2008a). The the egg - numbers and egg - size obtained by dissecting Mantella individuals exported every year sums up to at least individuals of nine Mantella species. Our aim is to present 30,000, and represent a large proportion of the amphibian and not only basic information, but also to analyse the difference reptile trade of Madagascar (Rabemananjara et al. 2008). For in traits between species inhabiting rainforest habitats and this reason the whole Mantella genus is included in the CITES species from open environments, in order to provide useful Appendix II, and three species (M. cowani, M. milotympanum, tools for conservation management. and M. aurantiaca) are currently classified by IUCN red list as Critically Endangered (CR), and four as Endangered (EN) METHODS (Andreone et al. 2005, 2008a,b). We analysed nine Mantella species: Mantella baroni, One of the major tenets of the ongoing of the recently M. betsileo, M. cowani, M. crocea, M. expectata, M. laevigata, launched conservation plan for the amphibians of Madagascar M. nigricans, M. pulchra, and M. viridis (Figure 1, Table 1). Due (Andreone and Randriamahazo 2008b) is the constant monitor- to ongoing phylogenetic works there are some uncertainties ing of the species collected for the pet-trade, with regulation on the taxonomic status of some of the studied species. The of the exportation quotas annually established by Malagasy individuals from Isalo here attributed to M. betsileo (according to authorities. In such a context, it is crucial to accumulate data Crottini et al. 2008), have been considered as M. sp. aff.expectata on species’ life history traits that may provide robust indications ‘South’ by Glaw and Vences (2007). The individuals here attributed on their ecological sensitivity and vulnerability, supporting the to M. crocea (according to Glaw and Vences 2007) were consid- decision-making process for assessing export quotas. ered as M. cf. milotympanum by Bora et al. (2008). Among the life history traits, maximum longevity and mean The studied vouchers are currently held in the collections fecundity are important parameters in assessing the potential of Museo Regionale
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