Herpetology Notes, volume 14: 461-464 (2021) (published online on 26 February 2021)

First confirmed record of the Amazonian Horned Frog Ceratophrys cornuta (Amphibia: Ceratophryidae) for Venezuela

Fernando J.M. Rojas-Runjaic1,*, Carlos Palomera-García2, and Pilar Alexander Blanco Márquez3

Ceratophrys cornuta (Linnaeus, 1758) is a large-sized, in his book on Venezuelan fauna, accompanied of a primarily nocturnal frog that inhabits the leaf-litter on short morphological description, illustration, and some the forest floor (Rodríguez and Duellman, 1994). It is a comments on the species natural history, but without any voracious sit-and-wait predator that feeds upon a wide indication of geographic records or voucher specimens. variety of invertebrates and small vertebrates (Duellman Rivero (1961) listed C. cornuta for Venezuela following and Lizana, 1994; Chávez et al., 2011; Schalk et al., Ernst (1877) and Röhl (1949) but, in absence of any 2014). Reproduction and foraging activity of C. cornuta voucher, he doubted the presence of the species in the is markedly seasonal and mainly restricted to the rainy country. Lynch (1982) did not explicitly mentioned the season. It estivates buried in the ground during the occurrence of C. cornuta for Venezuela but the species driest months and only emerges with the first heavy range depicted in his distribution map overlaps with the rains to breed and feed (Duellman and Lizana, 1994; southern part of Amazonas and Bolívar states. Rodríguez and Duellman, 1994). This species appears Subsequent studies on Venezuelan amphibians to be rare throughout its range (La Marca et al., 2004); (Péfaur, 1992; La Marca, 1992; Barrio-Amorós, 1999; nevertheless, its abundance may be underestimated Péfaur and Rivero, 2000) repeatedly listed this species due to its cryptic colouration, fossorial habits, and for the country and, despite none of them were based on passive foraging behaviour, which markedly reduce its evidence (i.e., voucher specimens or detailed anecdotic detectability. records), almost all of them mentioned that C. cornuta Ceratophrys cornuta is widely distributed in moist occurred in the Guayana and Amazon regions, south of tropical forests of the Amazon region (Lynch, 1982) Venezuela. Moreover, Barrio-Amorós (1999) referred and it has been documented from Colombia, Ecuador, three locations for the species in Amazonas state, but Peru, Bolivia, Brazil and the Guianas (Frost, 2020). then the same author (Barrio-Amorós, 2004) noted that Its presence in the Amazon region of Venezuela was it was an error of identification and that the population presumed (La Marca et al., 2004), and the species was of Ceratophrys that inhabits dry open environments even listed for this country by several authors, but until in north Amazonas state actually corresponded to C. now its occurrence had not been corroborated. The calcarata Boulenger, 1890. Barrio-Amorós (2004) first mention of C. cornuta for Venezuela corresponds further highlighted there were no Venezuelan specimens to Ernst (1877), who only mentioned it as part of of C. cornuta in national or foreign natural history the Venezuelan anuran fauna, without additional collections. Since then, C. cornuta was definitively comments. Röhl (1949) also included this species excluded from the list of Venezuelan amphibians due to the lack of voucher specimen or photographs to demonstrate its occurrence in the country (Barrio- Amorós, 2004; Barrio-Amorós et al., 2009; 2019). Herein, we report the first record of Ceratophrys 1 Museo de Historia Natural La Salle (MHNLS), Fundación La cornuta for Venezuela on the basis of two old photographs Salle de Ciencias Naturales, Caracas 1050, Venezuela. 2 Departamento de Ciencias de la Salud y Ecología Humana, of an adult specimen (Fig. 1; https://www.inaturalist. Centro Universitario de la Costa Sur, Universidad de org/observations/46276954) taken on July 1993, at Guadalajara. Av. Independencia Nacional 151, C.P. 48900, “El Vivero”, Intecmaca Forest Concession, on the road Autlán de Navarro, Jalisco, México. Tumeremo-El Bochinche, Imataca Forest Reserve, 3 Fundación Esfera, Puerto Ordaz, Bolívar, Venezuela. Sierra de Imataca, Sifontes municipality, Bolívar state * Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected] (7.4578°N, 61.1658°W; ~190 m a.s.l.). The specimen © 2021 by Herpetology Notes. Open Access by CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. was found active on the edge of the main dirt road at 462 Fernando J.M. Rojas-Runjaic et al.

Figure 1. Dorsolateral (A) and frontal (B) views of an adult specimen of Ceratophrys cornuta from El Vivero, Sierra de Imataca, Bolívar state, Venezuela, found in July 1993. Photos by C. Palomera-García.

Figure 2. Map of northern South America depicting the geographic distribution of Ceratophrys cornuta throughout the Amazon region. Country limits represented by white lines. Diagonal striped area: Guayana Esequiba (disputed territory). Yellow dots: records from literature (Lynch, 1982; Cole et al., 2013; GBIF Secretariat, 2019; Medina-Rangel et al., 2019; Ueda, 2020). Red triangles: new records for Venezuela (from north to south: La Planada, Delta Amacuro state; El Vivero, Bolívar state; and Pica 12, Bolívar state). First confirmed record of the Amazonian Horned Frog for Venezuela 463 about 17:00 h. After photographed, the specimen was of an incursion of Amazonian fauna in northeastern released at the same site where it was found. Venezuela, that reach their limit of distribution at the In addition, we list two other records from the same Orinoco Delta (Hoogmoed and Gorzula, 1979; Señaris region, obtained from field notes of the third author: The and Ayarzagüena, 2004; Barrio-Amorós et al., 2019). first one, documented on 21 August 2004, at La Planada, Codeforsa Forest Concession, Imataca Forest Reserve, Acknowledgements. We thank Wilmer Díaz and Andrés Orellana Sierra de Imataca, Antonio Díaz municipality, Delta for their help in finding the geographical coordinates of some Amacuro state (8.1147°N, 61.6206°W; 278 m a.s.l.), places in the Sierra de Imataca. To María Matilde Aristeguieta who kindly provided us with a copy of an old bibliographic corresponds to a specimen found active in the afternoon reference, difficult to get. We also thank Mirco Solé for the (14:39 h), after a rain shower. The specimen was on the pre-peer review of the manuscript, and Pedro I. Simões and the leaf-litter of the forest floor, near some temporary pools. anonymous reviewers for their comments and suggestions on an The second record, documented on 23 March 2006, at early version of this note. Pica 12, Comafor Forest Concession, Imataca Forest Reserve, Sierra de Imataca, Sifontes municipality, References Bolívar state (7.2208°N, 60.9881°W; 164 m a.s.l.), Barrio-Amorós, C.L. (1999 “1998”): Sistemática y biogeografía corresponds to a specimen found in the morning (09:43 de los anfibios (Amphibia) de Venezuela. Acta Biologica h), on leaf-litter of the forest floor, alongside a walking Venezuelica 18: 1–93. trail, in a shady area. Although these two last records Barrio-Amorós, C.L. (2004): Amphibians of Venezuela. Systematic lacks voucher specimens, we are confident to include list, distribution and references, an update. Revista de Ecología them, because of the strikingly different morphology Latinoamericana 9: 1–48. of Ceratophrys cornuta (i.e., large size, ball-like body, Barrio-Amorós, C.L., Rojas-Runjaic, F.J.M., Señaris, J.C. (2009): large mouth, and prominent dermal horns on the eyelids) Anexo 1. Listado de los anfibios de Venezuela. In: Anfibios de makes it unlikely to be confused with any other frog Venezuela. Estado del conocimiento y recomendaciones para su conservación, p. 29–39. Molina, C., Señaris, J.C., Lampo, M., species in that region. Rial, A., Eds., Caracas, Venezuela, Conservación Internacional Besides representing the first confirmed records Venezuela – Instituto de Zoología y Ecología Tropical – of Ceratophrys cornuta for Venezuela and resolving Fundación La Salle de Ciencias Naturales – Instituto Venezolano the longstanding controversy about its presence in de Investigaciones Científicas – Gold Reserves Inc. the country, our new locality records (Fig. 2) are the Barrio-Amorós, C.L., Brewer-Carías, C., Fuentes-Ramos, O. northernmost records for the species (GBIF Secretariat, (2011): Aproximación preliminar a la herpetocenosis de un 2019) and extend the species range in ca. 364 km to bosque pluvial en la sección occidental de la Sierra de Lema, Guayana venezolana. Revista de Ecología Latinoamericana 16: NW (in straight line) from Kartabo, Guayana Esequiba 1–46. (Cole et al., 2013), the nearest and northernmost locality Barrio-Amorós, C.L., Rojas-Runjaic, F.J.M., Señaris, J.C. (2019): previously known (Fig. 2). Although, to our knowledge, Catalogue of the amphibians of Venezuela: illustrated and there are no records of C. cornuta in the northwestern annotated species list, distribution, and conservation. Amphibian Brazilian Amazon, near the southern border of & Reptile Conservation 13: 1–198. Venezuela (Fig. 2), it is likely that the species is also Boulenger, G.A. (1890): Second report on additions to the batrachian present in the moist tropical forests of the southern part collection in the Natural-History Museum. Proceedings of the of the Amazonas state in Venezuela. Zoological Society of London 1890: 323–328. Chávez, G., Venegas, P.J. Lescano, A. (2011): Two new records The anuran fauna of the moist tropical forests of in the diet of Ceratophrys cornuta Linneaus, 1758 (Anura: northeastern Venezuela (including south of Orinoco Ceratophrydae). Herpetology Notes 4: 285–286. Delta, Sierra de Imataca, east of the lower basin of Caroní Cole, C.J., Townsend, C.R., Reynolds, R.P., MacCulloch, R.D., river, and Cuyuní river basin) is still undersampled; Lathrop, A. (2013): Amphibians and reptiles of Guyana, South nevertheless, it is well-known that they harbour a America: illustrated keys, annotated species accounts, and a significant component of Amazon species, as noted by biogeographic synopsis. Proceedings of the Biological Society Heatwole et al., (1965), Hoogmoed and Gorzula (1979), of Washington 125: 317–620. Duellman (1997), Señaris and Ayarzagüena (2004), Duellman, W.E. (1997): Amphibians of La Escalera region, southeastern Venezuela: taxonomy, ecology, and biogeography. Barrio-Amorós et al. (2011), and Señaris and Rojas- Scientific Papers, Natural History Museum, The University of Runjaic (2020). The occurrence in Sierra de Imataca Kansas 2: 1–52. of Ceratophrys cornuta, a typical representative of the Duellman, W.E., Lizana, M. (1994): Biology of a sit-and- Amazonian anuran fauna, is therefore not surprising wait predator, the leptodactylid frog Ceratophrys cornuta. and reinforces the hypothesis about the existence Herpetologica 50: 51–64. 464 Fernando J.M. Rojas-Runjaic et al.

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Accepted by Javier Cortés Suárez