THE STEINHART AQUARIUM - Gulf of Guinea Science ...

200 A Docent Field Guide to the Species of the Steinhart Aquarium
decaying vegetation.
Appearance: Length to 2.5 cm. Despite the
common name, coloration is reportedly highly
variable among locations. Individuals may be
ripe-strawberry red, brilliant blue, deep green
or brown. The limbs are marbled dark blue and
black. Body is slim, snout is rounded, the eyes
large. The long, slender forelimbs end in finger
and toe tips expanded into adhesive discs.
Diet: Hunts diurnally, primarily upon ants
and termites.
Reproduction and Development: Males
vocalize loudly in order to attract mates.
Amplexus absent; fertilization external.
Females lay clutches of 4–6 eggs in leaf
litter during the rainy season. Males protect
the clutch of eggs, keeping them moist by
periodically emptying their bladders on the
eggs. Once the eggs hatch, the female of this
species, transports them on her back, often
high into the canopy, to rosettes of bromeliads
or to water-filled tree crevices and deposits
one tadpole into each pool. She returns on a
regular basis to feed her offspring unfertilized
eggs. Tadpoles metamorphose after ~ six
weeks.
Conservation Status: Reported locally
common, though tourism and cultivation of
forests are problems for some populations.
Remarks: Indigenous hunters heat this frog
over a fire to extract the toxin exuded from the
frog’s skin glands. The hunters use the poison
to tip their hunting darts.
Their bright coloration is a “stay away”
warning to potential predators. Such coloration
is called warning coloration, or aposematic, if
you are a biologist.
Striped Poison Dart Frog
Phyllobates sp. (Dendrobatidae)
Distribution: Central and South America:
Nicaragua to Colombia.
Habitat: Humid lowlands to premontane
zones.
Appearance: Most species are brightly colored.
Diet: Various insects. Diurnal feeder.
Reproduction and Development: Eggs are
deposited in dry leaf-litter; males transport
hatching tadpoles to forest streams to complete
metamorphosis.
Remarks: The genus Phyllobates contains
the most poisonous frog species, Pyllobates
terribilis, the Golden Poison Dart Frog.
Phyllobates species are the frogs most commonly
sought by South American tribes for the poison
used on their hunting darts.
Red-eyed Treefrog
Agalychnis callidryas (Hylidae)
Distribution: Southeastern Mexico, through
Central America, to northwestern Colombia.
Habitat: Live near ponds or rivers in neotropical
rainforests from sea level up to 960 m. These
nocturnal frogs are completely arboreal.
During the day they remain motionless,
blending in among the foliage. They live in
warm (75-85° F, day; 66-77° F, night), humid
(80-100%) climates.
Appearance: Males are smaller (about 5 cm)
than females (almost 1.75 cm). Both have neon
green backs. With its bright orange-red suction
toe pads it easily clings, climbs, and jumps
among arboreal surfaces. Their distinctive
bright red, bulging eyes provide highly
developed parabolic vision. A reticulated
pale nictitating membrane shields the frog’s
sensitive eyes.
Diet: These carnivorous frogs ambush insects
(crickets, moths, beetles, flies, grasshoppers)
and even smaller frogs.
Reproduction and Development: The redeyed
treefrog’s reproduction is remarkable
in all three phases: courting, mating, and
development. Males call from branches and
leaves of trees above ponds in the rainy
season; they vocalize in unison and threaten
one another competing for females. Females
approach calling males; once in amplexus, with
one or even several males attached, the female
descends to the pond, where she absorbs water
for each clutch of eggs and then climbs to a
leaf above the water. with all suitors attached!
Sometimes a single male will become superior,
at other times another male will displace
the original one and inseminate subsequent
clutches. Clutches of 11–78 eggs are deposited
on the leaf, which usually is folded around the
egg clutch. After hatching, tadpoles drop into
the water. Tadpoles are mid-water filter feeders
and orient themselves in a head-up position.
Mortality/Longevity: Life span: 3–5 yrs. Adults
preyed upon by birds, turtles, lizards, snakes,