Description

A green, medium-sized treefrog with snout vent length 35-60 mm; males 35-40 mm, one female 51 mm. Venter is bluish to greenish. Skin on the back is smooth. White lateral fringes are along lower arm and tarsus. Iris with a red ring on the outer iris area. Nostrils are slightly nearer to eye than to tip of snout. Tympanum/eye ratio is about 1/2. Tibiotarsal articulation reaches tip of snout or beyond. Webbing of the hand: a trace of web between finger 1 and 2, 2e(1), 3i(2), 3e(1), 4(1); webbing of the foot 1(0), 2i(1), 2e(0), 3i(1), 3e(0), 4i/e(1), 5(0). Males are with white nuptial pads and a bluish, paired subgular vocal sac.

Tadpoles live in flowing water and are brownish or blackish-green in late metamorphic stages, with brown or black spots on the caudal musculature. The belly is transparent in early stages becoming silvery in later stages. Total length in stage 25: 14-28 mm; in stages 35-38: 50-65 mm. The mouth is small and directed ventrally. Eyes are large and directed laterally. At midlength of the tail, the caudal musculature represents about 2/5-1/2 of the total tail height. Tooth formula is 1/5+5//3 or 1/4+4//3.

Metamorphosing juveniles measure 18-25 mm from snout to vent. Their colour is green with a red spot between the eyes and two lateral yellow lines from the tip of the snout, over the eye, to the insertion of the hindlimbs. A second tadpole type with a tooth formula of 1/2+2//3 or 1/3+3//3 was also assigned to this species. At Tolagnaro only the first form occured.

Similar species: Boophis elenae, B. englaenderi and B. l. septentrionalis have no red ring around the iris. Other species of the luteus and rappiodes-group are smaller.

Taken with permission from Glaw and Vences (2007).