TY - JOUR
T1 - Natural history and conservation of the rediscovered Hula painted frog, Latonia nigriventer
AU - Bina Perl, R. G.
AU - Gafny, Sarig
AU - Malka, Yoram
AU - Renan, Sharon
AU - Woodhams, Douglas C.
AU - Rollins-Smith, Louise
AU - Pask, James D.
AU - Bletz, Molly C.
AU - Geffen, Eli
AU - Vences, Miguel
N1 - Funding Information:
This study was carried out with the help of funds granted by BIOPAT-Patenschaften für biologische Vielfalt e.V. and the Amphibian Conservation Fund by Stiftung Artenschutz and VDZ to MV, BP, SG and EG; by the Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund (MBZ) to MV and BP; and by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services (USFWS) and the Israel Nature and Parks Authority (INPA) to SR, SG and EG. Skin peptide studies in the Rollins-Smith lab were supported by National Science Foundation (USA) grant IOS-1121758. We are grateful to Yael Ballon, Eliane Küpfer, Asaf Moran, Noa Truskanov (in alphabetic order), who have provided assistance during fieldwork, as well as Gilad Amir for reporting the first specimen found in Yesod HaMa'ala, and Shai, Muli and Yehuda Dabush for reporting the L. nigriventer roadkill. Furthermore, we thank the staff of the Hula Nature Reserve for providing access to areas not open to the public and patiently helping wherever help was needed; special thanks go to Yifat Artzi for logistic assistance and provision of office space. We also thank Giora Gigis, curator at the Beit Ussishkin Nature Museum located in Kibbutz Dan for assisting in night surveys and providing access to old documents on L. nigriventer. Above this, we are grateful to Meike Kondermann as well as Joana Sabino-Pinto for help with labwork and Boaz Shacham who allowed the examination of specimens in the HUJ collection under his care. Thanks are also due to Sabin Bhuju, Robert Geffers and Michael Jarek, who performed Illumina sequencing and sequence pre-processing. Last but not least, we thank the reviewers and editorial staff for their detailed comments and suggestions that improved our manuscript. Permits and authorisations were granted by the Israel Nature and Parks Authority. Tadpoles and metamorphs were reared under Permit number 2015/40926.
PY - 2017
Y1 - 2017
N2 - Dramatic global amphibian declines have recently led to an increased concern for many species of this animal class. The enigmatic Hula painted frog (Latonia nigriventer), the first amphibian to be declared extinct but unexpectedly rediscovered in 2011, has remained one of the rarest and most poorly understood amphibians worldwide. Gathering basic biological information on this species, along with an understanding of its disease-related threats remains fundamental for developing risk assessments and conservation strategies. Our surveys in recent years confirmed that L. nigriventer is a localised species with elusive habits. The species appears to follow an opportunistic breeding phenology and has a tadpole morphology similar to its well-studied sister group Discoglossus. However, the adults' extended annual presence in the aquatic habitat is a major difference from species of Discoglossus. We detected the amphibian chytrid fungus, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), in northern Israel and on Hula painted frogs but did not observe any signs of chytridiomycosis in this species. Our preliminary data on aspects of the innate immunity of L. nigriventer suggest that the skin mucosome of this species contains antimicrobial peptides and a bacterial community differing from other syntopic frogs (Pelophylax bedriagae). The combined knowledge of both natural history and innate immunity of L. nigriventer provides valuable insights to direct future research and conservation management of this critically endangered frog species.
AB - Dramatic global amphibian declines have recently led to an increased concern for many species of this animal class. The enigmatic Hula painted frog (Latonia nigriventer), the first amphibian to be declared extinct but unexpectedly rediscovered in 2011, has remained one of the rarest and most poorly understood amphibians worldwide. Gathering basic biological information on this species, along with an understanding of its disease-related threats remains fundamental for developing risk assessments and conservation strategies. Our surveys in recent years confirmed that L. nigriventer is a localised species with elusive habits. The species appears to follow an opportunistic breeding phenology and has a tadpole morphology similar to its well-studied sister group Discoglossus. However, the adults' extended annual presence in the aquatic habitat is a major difference from species of Discoglossus. We detected the amphibian chytrid fungus, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), in northern Israel and on Hula painted frogs but did not observe any signs of chytridiomycosis in this species. Our preliminary data on aspects of the innate immunity of L. nigriventer suggest that the skin mucosome of this species contains antimicrobial peptides and a bacterial community differing from other syntopic frogs (Pelophylax bedriagae). The combined knowledge of both natural history and innate immunity of L. nigriventer provides valuable insights to direct future research and conservation management of this critically endangered frog species.
KW - Amphibia
KW - Antimicrobial peptides
KW - Anura
KW - Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis
KW - Habitat
KW - Skin microbiota
KW - Tadpole
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85014853251&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1163/18759866-08601002
DO - 10.1163/18759866-08601002
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AN - SCOPUS:85014853251
SN - 1383-4517
VL - 8
SP - 11
EP - 37
JO - Contributions to Zoology
JF - Contributions to Zoology
IS - 1
ER -
