Eleutherodactylus jasperi is a relatively small frog with adults reaching 22.4 mm in snout-vent length. Males and females are the same size. This frog has a bluntly rounded snout which is almost truncate when viewed from above, and an indistinct canthus rostralis. The tympanum is indistinct. Prevomerine teeth are lacking. The digits have only vestigial webbing and are moderately long with rounded terminal discs. Subarticular tubercles are prominent but metatarsal tubercles are absent. Palmar tubercles are small but distinct. The dorsum is shagreened (with small bumps), with well-developed subdermal glands on the flanks and the posterior surfaces of the thighs. The venter is areolate in texture. Dorsally, the color is a uniform olive-gold to yellow-gold. If the frog is disturbed, the color may pale. Ventrally, the coloration is pale yellow except for transparent abdominal skin. Few to no melanophores appear to be present on the ventral surfaces of the head and abdomen. The iris is pale gray with black speckles (Drewry and Jones, 1976).

Eleutherodactylus jasperi can be distinguished from other Eleutherodactylus in Puerto Rico by its golden ground color without dorsal patterning, by its translucent venter without dark pigmentation, and by the lack of prevomerine teeth (Drewry and Jones, 1976).
 
The chromosome number of Eleutherodactylus jasperi is 2n = 26 (Drewry and Jones, 1976).

This species was first described by Drewry and Jones (1976). It was named for one of the collectors of the holotype, Dr. Jasper J. Loftus-Hills, of New Victoria, Australia. Dr. Loftus-Hills passed away in 1974 at the age of 28 from an automobile accident. (Drewry and Jones, 1976).

This species is found in the Sierra de Cayey, Puerto Rico, where it has been recorded from 647-785 m asl.

The Golden Coquí occurs at an elevation of 650-850 m in Sierra de Cayey, in southern Puerto Rico. It inhabits arboreal bromeliads in subhumid forest, and is restricted to a small area (10 km in radius) with dense bromeliad growth. Although the bromeliad growth seems to be dependent on heavy dew from orographic uplift of air passing over the mountain range, the habitat itself is actually somewhat xeric and prone to fire damage (Drewry and Jones, 1976).

Historic Range:
U.S.A. (PR)

Paratype for Eleutherodactylus jasperi
Collection: Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, Department of Vertebrate Zoology, Division of Amphibians & Reptiles
Preparation: Ethanol
Year Collected: 1973
Locality: Cerro de la Tabla, near, km 15 on PR Route 15, Puerto Rico

Paratype for Eleutherodactylus jasperi
Collection: Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, Department of Vertebrate Zoology, Division of Amphibians & Reptiles
Preparation: Ethanol
Year Collected: 1973
Locality: Cerro de la Tabla, near, km 15 on PR Route 15, Puerto Rico

Paratype for Eleutherodactylus jasperi
Collection: Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, Department of Vertebrate Zoology, Division of Amphibians & Reptiles
Preparation: Ethanol
Year Collected: 1974
Locality: Monte El Gato Peak, Puerto Rico

Habitat and Ecology

Systems

• Terrestrial

Year Assessed

Assessor/s

Reviewer/s

Contributor/s

Current Listing Status Summary

Status: Threatened
Date Listed: 11/11/1977
Lead Region:   Southeast Region (Region 4) 
Where Listed:


Population detail:

Population location: entire
Listing status: T

For most current information and documents related to the conservation status and management of Eleutherodactylus jasperi , see its USFWS Species Profile

Population

Population Trend

This is a nocturnal species, and found only in bromeliads of the genera Guzmania, Hohenbergia, and Vriesia. Eleutherodactylus jasperi tend to occur mainly in clusters of bromeliads rather than isolated plants, implying that this species prefers to disperse over short distances. Inhabited bromeliad clusters were found on the ground, on trees, on large boulders, and on cliffsides (Drewry and Jones, 1976).

During the mating season, males give off a call that sounds like "tuit-tuit-tuit-tuit" (Duellman, 2003). A single call sequence lasts for between ten seconds and two minutes. The first call of the sequence has one to two notes, with successive calls increasing up to a maximum of four to six notes, and maintaining at that maximum number until the end of the call sequence. Notes have approximately the same duration. They consist of relatively pure tones of about 5 kHz. The advertisement calls seem to be the same as territorial calls, as there was no difference between calls made by solitary calling males and those given by multiple males placed together in a single collecting bag. Males placed together in a bag alternately called and engaged in biting each other (Drewry and Jones, 1976).

Call sequences are somewhat synchronized between neighboring males. Eleutherodactylus jasperi is more difficult to distinguish in a multi-species chorus, as it makes somewhat softer calls than other frog species in the same habitat. However, it calls throughout the night, unlike other species which subside between midnight and dawn (Drewry and Jones, 1976).

Eleutherodactylus jasperi is ovoviviparous. It is the only live-bearing species in the genus Eleutherodactylus and family Leptodactylidae, and thus presumably also the only species in that genus and family to have internal fertilization. The only other species of frogs known to retain developing embryos within the oviducts are in the genus Nectophrynoides, in the family Bufonidae (Wake, 1978).

Gravid females have been collected between April and August, containing three to six mature eggs (Drewry and Jones, 1976). Mature eggs are large, 3.3 to 5 mm in diameter (Drewry and Jones, 1976; Wake, 1978). Once fertilized, eggs are retained within a chamber, essentially a uterus, formed of fused portions of the oviducts (Wake, 1978). The embryos take about a month to develop (Drewry and Jones, 1976). As is characteristic of other species with direct development, Eleutherodactylus jasperi embryos have poorly developed mouthparts, lacking denticles and adhesive organs (Wake, 1978). The larval spiracle and external gills are present but transitory, and rates of development are also modified (Wake, 1978). Approximately thirty-three days after amplexus, three to five tiny, fully metamorphosed froglets are born (Drewry and Jones, 1976). The froglets of this species have a small egg tooth and a large, thin, highly vascularized fan-like tail (Wake, 1978). The tail may function in intra-oviducal gaseous exchange (Wake, 1978). The source of nutrition for developing embryos appears to be egg yolk and not maternal secretions, as there is no evidence of a placenta or maternal secretions, and unresorbed yolk is still present in froglets after birth (Wake, 1978). Thus E. jasperi is classified as ovoviviparous, and not viviparous.

Females may reproduce more than once a year, since dissected females had two visible size classes of eggs within the ovaries (Wake, 1978). Although gravid females were collected between April and August, Wake (1978) noted that year-round collections had not been done. Thus it is not known whether reproduction in this species is seasonal or if it occurs throughout the year.

Subadults have been found in the same plant with females, implying that dispersal does not occur until the juvenile is older (Drewry and Jones, 1976).

This species preys mostly on small arthropods (Duellman, 2003).

Major Threats

Eleutherodactylus jasperi, the Golden Coqui, is presumed to be extinct. It has not been seen since 1981, despite searches since then (Moreno, 1991; Burrowes et al., 2004).

Conservation Actions