Luidan Stream Toad

description

Epidermal melanocytes are small, circular in shape, with irregular fringes. The venter and oral disc are mostly unpigmented and translucent, except for the lateral parts of the abdominal cavity (Fig. 8 b). The gills and the heart shine through the ventral skin in red; developing front limbs are visible. Some pigmentation is located at the pericard. The gut coils in a spiral that is clearly visible in ventral view (Fig. 8 b). The colour in preservation is similar to colouration in life, just lighter. The golden cells of the skin and the golden rim of the iris disappears in preservation. External morphological features. Ansonia platysoma is a small tadpole. Maximum total length in our sample was 22.10 mm (stage 41; Tab. 2); relative tail length is 64 – 69 %. In dorsal view the body contour is pear shaped with a slight constriction behind the level of the eye (Fig. 8 b). The body is widest anterior to the eyes, approximately at the level of the nares. The body is clearly dorsoventrally depressed. The snout is greatly expanded bearing a large sucker (oral disc) ventrally. In life, and adhering to the substrate, the snout profile is convex (Fig. 8 c). The tail fins start in the proximal

Larval morphologies of three species of stream toads, genus Ansonia (Amphibia: Bufonidae) from East Malaysia (Borneo), with a key to known Bornean Ansonia tadpoles