Account
What the sources say about this taxon, as written.
description · 
Plazi
Identity and justification .—This lineage was considered as M . sp. 33 by Vieites et al. (2009) and M . sp. Ca33 by Perl et al. (2014) and Vences et al. (2018). It was depicted as ‘ Mantidactylus sp. aff. biporus “Tsaratanàna Antsahamanara”’ by Glaw and Vences (2007) . It occurs in sympatry(although not strict syntopy)with its sister species M. schulzi but is distinguished from it by advertisement calls, morphology, and concordant differentiation of 16S and Rag-1. It was previously thought (e.g. Glaw & Vences 2007 ) to be related to M. biporus , but our phylogenomic tree firmly places it in the M. ulcerosus clade .
diagnosis · Plazi
Diagnosis .— Mantidactylus steinfartzi sp. nov. is a member of the M. ulcerosus clade as revealed by the phylogenomic analysis, and sister to the sympatric M. schulzi . See Table 4 for a list of diagnostic morphological characters. The combination of a small body size of up to 28 mm , smooth to slightly tubercular dorsal skin, absence of dorsolateral ridges, large tympanum size in males (15–17% of SVL), presence of white spots on flanks, and absence or weak expression of a white marking on snout tip, distinguishes M. steinfartzi sp. nov. from most other species of Brygoomantis from other clades: members of the M. betsileanus clade typically have a distinct white marking on the snout tip and no white spots on the flanks, and (except for M. betsileanus and M. riparius sp. nov. which differ in the number of pulses per note; Table 4 ) a lower pulse rate in advertisement calls; members of the M. fergusoni clade are larger, have a more granular dorsal skin, no white spots on the flanks, and lower pulse rate in advertisement calls; and members of the M. biporus and M. inaudax clades have, as far as known, fewer pulses per note in advertisement calls ( Table 4 ). Within the M. ulcerosus clade, the new species differs by a distinctly smaller body size and several other characters from M. bellyi and M. ulcerosus . It is morphologically rather similar to its sister species M. schulzi which, however, usually has no white dots on the flanks and a more distinctly expressed white marking on the snout, more granular dorsal skin, a smaller tympanum in males, a slightly larger male body size, and also differs in details of advertisement calls: a rather irregularly emitted note of quite variable number of pulses in M. schulzi vs less variability in pulse number and emission of short series of usually two calls in M. steinfartzi sp. nov. For detailed distinction from new species described herein, see the respective species accounts. A full list of molecular diagnostic sites in the 16S gene of M. steinfartzi sp. nov. in pairwise comparisons to all other Brygoomantis species is provided as Supplementary appendix.
description · Plazi
Calls.— The advertisement call recorded on 4 February 2001 at Antsahamanara Campsite, Manarikoba forest, Tsaratanàna Strict Nature Reserve, 20°C air temperature ( Vences et al. 2006 : CD2, track 73), consists of a pulsed note ( Fig. 32 ), emitted in groups containing two calls. Notes exhibit slight amplitude modulation, with maximum call energy occurring at approximately the middle of the note’s duration. Pulse repetition rate within notes is higher at the beginning of the note and slightly decreases after approximately the first quarter of the note’s duration. Numerical parameters of six analysed calls were as follows: call duration (= note duration) 516–721 ms (615.3 ± 87.8 ms); 40–54 pulses per note (47.2 ± 5.1); pulse duration 2–5 ms (2.9 ± 1.0 ms); pulse repetition rate within notes 69.8– 115.4 pulses/s (87.2 ± 17.5); dominant frequency 3193– 3716 Hz (3416 ± 184 Hz); prevalent bandwidth 2700–4300 Hz; call repetition rate (= note repetition rate) within call groups ca 24–36 calls/min. Tadpoles.— The tadpole of this species has not been described.
biology_ecology · Plazi
Natural history .—All specimens were observed in small streams and brooks in primary rainforest. Calling males were observed from one headwater pool, calling from positions directly next to the water during the day.