Bioacoustics of Brachycephalus pulex

Etymology. The specific name ( pulex ), a noun in apposition, refers to the flea, Pulex irritans , and is allusive to the small size and to the striking capacity for large leaps presented by the new species. Geographic distribution and Natural History. Brachycephalus pulex is only known from the type locality, a forest remnant located in a mountain range regionally named Serra Bonita, with elevations ranging from 200 to 950 m above sea level, which leads to altitudinal changes in the vegetation, from evergreen forest with elements of moist lowland semi-deciduous forest, to moist submontane forest near the summits. The Serra Bonita mountain range lies in the municipalities of Camacan and Pau Brasil , in the State of Bahia, Brazil , and is one of the last remnants of moist submontane forest in the region. It covers an area of approximately 7,500 hectares, 130 km from the city of Ilhéus on the Atlantic coast and 526 km from the State capital of Salvador . Approximately 50 % of the land cover is primary forest, and the remaining is a mosaic of forests in advanced stages of recuperation mixed with ‘cabruca’ (cocoa trees planted under natural forest canopy) and small areas of pasture. In the Serra Bonita there are several springs that provide fresh water for the inhabitants of Camacan and Pau Brasil . Brachycephalus pulex was captured within the Serra Bonita Reserve Complex (SBR), a Private Natural Heritage Reserve (RPPN), which comprises ca. 1,800 hectares of a “consortium” of privately owned properties (Instituto Uiraçu 2009). This is the first record of a Brachycephalus for the State of Bahia and the northernmost record for the coastal Atlantic Forest (but see below). The new species was captured in a primary forest remnant provided with streams near the top of the mountain ( 800–930 m a.s.l.), within an area of dense leaf litter and several epiphytic bromeliads. At the time of specimens capture ( December 2009 to July 2010 ), the minimum mean air temperature was 16.9 ºC (12–20 ºC), the maximum 23.9 ºC (20–28 ºC), and the average monthly precipitation was 188.6 mm ( 22.5–315 mm ). The specimens were captured beneath the leaf litter, except by one individual that was on a tree trunk 30 cm above the ground. One specimen when disturbed during the survey of anurans jumped away many times quickly and stopped over a dry leaf, remaining immovable (deaf feigning) even after we raise the leaf. This behavior was also observed for both juvenile paratypes . No vocalization was heard, although the advertisement call of the closely allied B. hermogenesi has been recorded and described by Verdade et al. (2008) , and also for B. ephippium ( Pombal et al. 1994 ) .