Herpetology Notes, volume 16: 179-182 (2023) (published online on 13 March 2023)
New records of the glassfrog Hyalinobatrachium iaspidiense
(Ayarzagüena, 1992) in western Amazonia
Jaime Culebras1,2, Andrés Novales3, Amanda B. Quezada Riera4, Danilo Medina1, and Amadeus Plewnia5,*
The striking members of the family Centrolenidae
Taylor, 1951, commonly known as glassfrogs, are
widely distributed throughout both lowland and
montane ecosystems in the neotropical and Panamanian
realms (Guayasamin et al., 2009; zoogeographic regions
sensu Holt et al., 2013). This species-rich clade radiated
in the northern Andes, which explains the high diversity
particularly in Colombia and Ecuador (Hutter et al.,
2013; Castroviejo-Fisher et al., 2014). Many species
have restricted elevational and spatial distributions,
leading to a high number of local endemics in the Andes
(Guayasamin et al., 2020, 2022). This is contrasted by
some taxa occurring widely, such as several species
from the Amazon Basin (Guayasamin et al., 2020).
However, among these are species that might represent
complexes, but the small number of records hampers
a thorough assessment of these species’ biogeography
(e.g., Guayasamin et al., 2020). Hyalinobatrachium
iaspidiense is a poorly known glassfrog species that
was originally described from the Venezuelan Guiana
Shield (Ayarzagüena, 1992). Additional reports of this
species include other localities in the Guianas (e.g., Kok
and Castroviejo-Fisher, 2008 for the junior synonym H.
nouraguense Lescure & Marty, 2000; Castroviejo-Fisher
et al., 2011; Ouboter and Jairam, 2012; Cole et al., 2013)
and major parts of the Amazon Basin in Brazil, Ecuador,
and Peru (e.g., Guayasamin and North, 2009; Yánez-
1
Photo Wildlife Tours, Isla Isabela 1021 y Rio Coca, Quito
170501, Ecuador.
2
Fundación Cóndor Andino, Tamayo N24-260 y Lizardo
García, Quito 170523, Ecuador.
3
Andres Novales Wildlife, Km 13.5 Carretera Al Salvador,
Lomas de Puerta Parada 57, Santa Catarina Pinula,
Guatemala.
4
Centro Jambatu de Investigación y Conservación de Anfibios,
Fundación Jambatu, Giovanni Farina y Baltra 566, Quito
170503, Ecuador.
5
Department of Biogeography, Trier University,
Universitätsring 15, 54296 Trier, Germany.
*
Corresponding author. E-mail: amadeus.plewnia@t-online.de
© 2023 by Herpetology Notes. Open Access by CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.
Muñoz et al., 2009). Herein, we report H. iaspidiense
from two new localities, one from the upper Amazon
Basin in Pastaza Province, Ecuador, and the other from
Loreto Department, Peru.
On 23 September 2021 we conducted nocturnal visual
and acoustic surveys for amphibians in the surroundings
of Puyo, Pastaza Province, Ecuador (1.4°S, 77.9°W;
elevation 950 m). Along a slow-moving stream of
approximately 5 m width in selectively logged lowland
rainforest, we found a single adult male glassfrog of
the genus Hyalinobatrachium at night (Fig. 1). The
individual was perching on a leaf approximately 30 cm
above the ground close to the aforementioned stream.
It was collected and euthanized, and muscle tissue was
extracted and preserved in 96% ethanol. The specimen
was fixed in 96% ethanol, subsequently stored in 75%
ethanol, and deposited in the collection of the Centro
Jambatu de Investigación y Conservación de Anfibios,
Quito, Ecuador (accession no. CJ12463). We assign
the specimen to H. iaspidiense based on the following
characters: (1) snout–vent length (SVL) 21.2 mm; (2)
dorsal pattern showing irregular light green blotches
on the yellowish-green dorsum, covered with minute
black spots and larger solid greenish-black dots; (3)
fully transparent parietal peritoneum and pericardium
but white hepatic and visceral peritonea; (4) humeral
spine absent; (5) truncate snout; and (6) presence of
white bones, which distinguish H. iaspidiense from
its potential junior synonym H. mesai Barrio-Amorós
& Brewer-Carias, 2008 (see Castroviejo-Fisher et al.,
2011; Guayasamin and North, 2009; Guayasamin et
al., 2020). However, H. tricolor Castroviejo-Fisher
et al., 2011, a species restricted to the Guiana Shield,
cannot be distinguished from H. iaspidiense solely
based on morphology (Castroviejo-Fisher et al., 2011).
Therefore, our identification is preliminary, underlining
the necessity for an integrative taxonomic approach
including bioacoustics and genetic analyses of the
western Amazonian populations of H. iaspidiense.
A nocturnal visual survey of herpetofauna in Peru on
3 March 2022 yielded another specimen we tentatively
assign to H. iaspidiense based on the same characters as
180 Jaime Culebras et al.

Figure 1. Adult male Hyalinobatrachium iaspidiense (CJ12463) from Pastaza Province, Ecuador, in dorsal and ventral view.
Photos by Jaime Culebras.

above, only differing in SVL and sex (presence of greenish the study area (more than 15 individuals observed
eggs; Fig. 2). This adult female was found in a private in a 3-h period of surveying by four persons), while
protected area (Otorongo Amazon River Lodge, Loreto only a single C. mariaelenae was heard calling. Other
Department; 3.4733°S, 72.5153°W; elevation 90 m) that common frogs occurring close to the stream include
comprises both terra firme and flooded forests. The frog an undescribed species of Atelopus (aff. spumarius),
was found active in the vegetation approximately 150 m Rhinella dapsilis (Myers & Carvalho, 1945), Boana
distant to the closest stream. Due to the lack of permits it appendiculata (Boulenger, 1882), B. lanciformis (Cope,
could not be collected or measured in detail. 1871), Dendropsophus parviceps (Boulenger, 1882),
To the best of our knowledge, H. iaspidiense is now Scinax garbei (Miranda-Ribeiro, 1926), Adenomera
known from five localities in Ecuador, including in hylaedactyla (Cope, 1868), Engystomops petersi
Napo, Orellana, Pastaza, and Sucumbíos provinces Jiménez de la Espada, 1872, Leptodactylus rhodomystax
(Fig. 3; Guayasamin and North, 2009; Yánez-Muñoz Boulenger, 1884, Pristimantis brevicrus (Andersson,
et al., 2009; Guayasamin et al., 2020; this study). 1945), P. conspicillatus (Günther, 1858), P. diadematus
The new record extends the species’ range 43 km
southwestwards, reaching into the Andean foothills.
With an elevation of 950 m, this specimen corroborates
the species’ upper elevational limit, stated to be 800–
1000 m (Ayarzagüena, 1992; Castroviejo-Fisher et al.,
2011). The locality is situated substantially higher than
the other Ecuadorian localities, which range from 280–
405 m (Guayasamin and North, 2009; Yánez-Muñoz et
al., 2009; Guayasamin et al., 2020). Hyalinobatrachium
iaspidiense occurs at this locality in syntopy with at least
two other centrolenid species, Teratohyla midas (Lynch
& Duellman, 1973), and Chimerella mariaelenae
(Cisneros-Heredia & McDiarmid, 2006), which were
all found together along the same stream. Teratohyla Figure 2. Adult female Hyalinobatrachium iaspidiense from
midas was among the most common amphibians in Loreto Department, Peru. Photo by Andrés Novales.
New Records of Hyalinobatrachium iaspidiense, Amazonia
Figure 3. Distribution of H. iaspidiense in Ecuador and Peru. Blue dots represent published records (Yanez-Muñoz et al.,
2009; Guayasamin et al. 2020). The yellow stars belong to the herein reported new localities.
(Jiménez de la Espada, 1875), P. cf. lanthanites (Lynch,
1975), P. quaquaversus (Lynch, 1974), and P. rubicundus
(Jiménez de la Espada, 1875).
In Peru, H. iaspidiense occurs in syntopy with
Boana punctata (Schneider, 1799), B. calcarata
(Troschel, 1848), Callimedusa tomopterna (Cope,
1868), Dendropsophus marmoratus (Laurenti, 1768),
D. minutus (Peters, 1872), D. triangulum (Günther,
1869), and Sphaenorhynchus lacteus (Daudin, 1800).
The species has only been reported from Peru once and
only from a single specimen, collected in 2003 (Yánez-
Muñoz et al., 2009). The locality we here report lies
inside a gap of over 500 km between known Ecuadorian
localities and the single Peruvian record. Remarkably,
the only two known Peruvian localities are not only
separated by a considerable distance (140 km), but
also by the Amazon River, seen as a dispersal barrier
181
for some taxa (Hayes and Sewlal, 2004; Moraes et al.,
2016, 2022) while not limiting the distribution or even
promoting dispersal in others (Schiesari et al., 2003;
Santorelli et al., 2018).
Most reports of H. iaspidiense, including ours, involve
single or few individuals despite intensive survey effort
(Guayasamin and North, 2009; Yánez-Muñoz et al.,
2009; Silva e Silva and Costa-Campos, 2016). Population
dynamics as well as microhabitat preferences are widely
unknown, hampering definitive reporting of the species’
local distribution or abundance (Ouboter and Jairam,
2012; Guayasamin et al., 2020). Therefore, despite its
wide range, the species is currently classified as Data
Deficient by the IUCN (La Marca and Señaris, 2004).
Throughout its Ecuadorian range, a current assessment
classifies H. iaspidiense as Near Threatened in part due
to ongoing deforestation and agricultural impact in the
182
few known localities (Ortega-Andrade et al., 2021). In
addition, the Ecuadorian locality we report lies within
an area intensely affected by humans, and selective
logging as well as small-scale deforestation and
agriculture were observed in the species’ habitat from
2019 to the present. Recent reports of H. iaspidiense
from the westernmost Amazon Basin suggest a
remarkably extensive distribution of this glassfrog,
including most of the Amazon Basin and the Guiana
Shield. However, an integrative taxonomic approach is
needed to fully understand the intra- and interspecific
variation among Amazonian Hyalinobatrachium
species in order to determine if western Amazonian
specimens truly belong to H. iaspidiense or if some of
the specimens found outside the Guiana Shield indeed
belong to the morphologically indistinct H. tricolor.
Acknowledgments. We are grateful to Juan Manuel Guayasamin
for valuable discussions and comments. Collection and
transportation permits were issued by the Ministerio del Ambiente,
Agua y Transición Ecologica (Nos. MAE-ARSFC-2019-0163
and 00232 MAE-ARSFC-2019-0163, respectively).
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Accepted by Javier Ernesto Cortés Suárez