Hymenochirus curtipes

Description

The type series consists of three specimens measuring 24 - in snout–vent length; the smallest one is the holotype, an adult male. Females can reach at least 33 mm in snout–vent length. The head is narrow and flat, and the eyes point almost directly upward. No tympanum is visible. The legs are short compared to other Hymenochirus. The fingers are half-webbed, whereas the toes are completely webbed, with the webbing scarcely indented. Skin is coarsely and uniformly tubercular. The body is muddy brown above with indistinct dark brown spotting that becomes distinct below.

Habitat and conservation

Hymenochirus curtipes is presumably ecologically similar to Hymenochirus boettgeri, an aquatic frog that occurs in still, shaded water in lowland rainforest and in pools by slow-flowing rivers. Two individuals in amplexus have been reported in a flooded forest. No significant threats to this species are known; although it is collected for the pet trade, this is not considered a threat.

As pets

Hymenochirus curtipes are kept as pets. Former London mayor Ken Livingstone was the first person in the world to breed H. curtipes in captivity.

References

References

1. IUCN SSC Amphibian Specialist Group. (2013). "''Hymenochirus curtipes''".
2. ''[[Would I Lie to You? (British game show). Would I Lie to You?]]'' Series 3 Episode 2. [[BBC]] Television. First broadcast 17 August 2009.
3. Cannatella, David C.. (1988). "Evolution of pipoid frogs: morphology and phylogenetic relationships of ''Pseudhymenochirus''". Journal of Herpetology.
4. Frost, Darrel R.. (2018). "''Hymenochirus curtipes'' Noble, 1924". American Museum of Natural History.
5. (2015). "Chytridiomycosis in dwarf African frogs ''Hymenochirus curtipes''". Diseases of Aquatic Organisms.
6. Noble, Gladwyn Kingsley. (1924). "Contributions to the herpetology of the Belgian Congo based on the collection of the American Museum Congo Expedition, 1909–1915. Part 3, Amphibia". Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History.