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Alytes, 2017, 34 (1¢4): 1¢19.
A new species of the genus Nasikabatrachus
(Anura, Nasikabatrachidae) from the eastern slopes
of the Western Ghats, India
S. Jegath Janani
1,2
, Karthikeyan Vasudevan
1
, Elizabeth Prendini
3
, Sushil Kumar Dutta
4
,
Ramesh K. Aggarwal
1*
1
Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CSIR-CCMB), Uppal Road, Tarnaka, Hyderabad, 500007,
India. <rameshka@ccmb.res.in>, <karthik@ccmb.res.in>.
2
Current Address: 222A, 5th street, Annamalayar Colony, Sivakasi, 626123, India.<janny.sooria@gmail.com>.
3
Division of Vertebrate Zoology, Department of Herpetology, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street,
New York NY 10024-5192, USA. <escott@amnh.org>.
4
Nature Environment and Wildlife Society (NEWS), Nature House, Gaudasahi, Angul,
Odisha. <duttaphrynus@gmail.com>.
* Corresponding Author.
We describe a new species of the endemic frog genus Nasikabatrachus,from
the eastern slopes of the Western Ghats, in India. The new species is morphologically,
acoustically and genetically distinct from N. sahyadrensis. Computed tomography
scans of both species revealed diagnostic osteological differences, particularly in the
vertebral column. Male advertisement call analysis also showed the two species to be
distinct. A phenological difference in breeding season exists between the new species
(which breeds during the northeast monsoon season; October to December), and its
sister species (which breeds during the southwest monsoon; May to August). The new
species shows 6 % genetic divergence (K2P) at mitochondrial 16S rRNA (1330 bp)
partial gene from its congener, indicating clear differentiation within Nasikabatra-
chus. Speciation within this fossorial lineage is hypothesized to have been caused by
phenological shift in breeding during different monsoon seasons—the northeast
monsoon in the new species versus southwest monsoon in N. sahyadrensis.Itis
postulated that proximate triggers of breeding behavior and highly stenotopic adap-
tation of Nasikabatrachus tadpoles to inhabit cascades during monsoonal stream
flows, have led to allopatry on the eastern and western slopes of the Western Ghats,
thereby promoting speciation in this ancient genus.
http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank:org:pub:56A35631-4676-4899-8EB4-7C2BBFB24223
Introduction
The family NASIKABATRACHIDAE was established in 2003 with a monotypic genus represented by Nasikaba-
trachus sahyadrensis (Biju & Bossuyt 2003), collected from the secondary forest at Kattappana, Idukki district,
Kerala, Western Ghats mountains, India. Molecular evidence presented with its description showed the family to
be the sister-taxon of the family SOOGLOSSIDAE Noble, 1931, at least among the extant fauna.The latter family is
represented by two genera, Sooglossus Boulenger, 1906 and Sechellophryne Nussbaum & Wu, 2007, each encom-
passing two species, found in the Seychelles Islands in the Indian Ocean. The superfamily SOOGLOSSOIDEA Noble,
1931 (sensu Dubois 2005) is hypothesized to have originated during late Jurassic or early Cretaceous period
(180¢160 mya) and SOOGLOSSIDAE and NASIKABATRACHIDAE to have diverged from each other around 120¢80 mya ago
(Bossuyt & Roelants 2009) by vicariance, as the landmasses of the Seychelles and the Indian Plate of Gondwana
separated and drifted away during the Paleocene epoch. Since the description of this Gondwanan relict frog, there
have been several reports from various locations within the Western Ghats, increasing its known distribution range
(Aggarwal 2004; Dutta et al. 2004; Das 2006; Radhakrishnan et al. 2007; Jobin et al. 2012). The known range of
N. sahyadrensis lies within the bounds of 9.03¢11.26°N and 76.12¢77.65°E. This frog is recorded from elevations
ranging from 50 to 1100 m a.s.l., occupying the habitats from deciduous forests to moist evergreen forests (fig. 1).
However, all reports on occurrence of N. sahyadrensis known to date are from the western slopes of
the Western Ghats (fig. 1), with breeding time at the onset of southwest monsoon (starting late May, and lasting
until September). Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis is a fossorial species, having only a very brief period of terrestrial
activity, being observed above ground only during the breeding season, and as larvae in streams (Dutta et al. 2004;
Raj et al. 2011).
During our recent field visits, we first noted the presence of Nasikabatrachus sp. by sighting its distinctive
tadpoles in a stream that flows from the eastern slopes of the Western Ghats, during the northeast monsoon in
2010. We used morphological, molecular, and bioacoustics data to ascertain the species status of this population.
As a result, we describe a new species of the genus Nasikabatrachus that occurs on the eastern slopes of the Western
Ghats.
Figure 1. Distribution of the Indian endemic family NASIKABATRACHIDAE in the Western Ghats Mountains, southwestern India.
Circles: Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis (1: type locality, 2: Sankaran Kudi, Dutta et al. 2004, 3: Karean shola, Anamalais, Raj et
al. 2012); star: Nasikabatrachus bhupathi, type locality.
2 ALYTES 34 (1¢4)
Materials and methods
Specimen collection and preservation
We detected the presence of populations of Nasikabatrachus sp. thanks to their mating calls from burrows
along the ephemeral stream flowing through a farm adjacent to the Watrap Range of the Srivilliputhur Grizzled
Giant Squirrel Wildlife Sanctuary (SWS) in 2012. We collected two adult specimens (ZSIA 14153 and ZSIA 14174)
from an agricultural field near the forest edge, outside of the Watrap Range of the SWS, at an elevation of 200 m
a.s.l. (fig. 1), while they were calling. We do not provide the coordinates on the locality as it falls within privately
owned areas and we comply with the request made by the land owners. The area primarily receives rainfall during
the northeast monsoon (October to December) and most of the streams dry up as the summer approaches. The
forest types at the type locality are southern dry mixed deciduous forest and Carnatic umbrella thorn forest (fig. 2)
(Champion & Seth 1968). We used 10 % formalin to fix and preserve one of the adult specimens and 70 % ethanol
to preserve the other after collecting tissue samples for genetic analysis. Six tadpoles (ZSIA 14158¢14163) were also
preserved for both genetic and morphometric analysis, as well as four imagos (just metamorphosed froglets; see
Vences 2004) (ZSIA 14154¢14157) raised by us, under semi-natural conditions, from tadpoles that we had collected
in advanced stages of development (stage 38 and above, Gosner 1960). We raised them in stream water stored in
earthern pots, away from the stream where they had been found. We fed them a combination of boiled and minced
spinach, algal scrapings from the breeding sites and chicken egg yolk, coated on the rocky substratum and on the
walls of the earthen pots in which they were raised.
Acoustic characterization
We recorded the male advertisement calls of the new species in situ during the breeding season using a
Nikon S4 digital camera, as audio file in 8 bit format. Recordings were analyzed with RAVEN Lite v1.0 (Cornell
Bioacoustics Research Group) and compared with the call patterns of Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis from
Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds Catalogue No. 163897 and Thomas et al. (2014).Calls were digitized at a
sampling rate of 7872 Hz for Nasikabatrachus sp. and 48000 Hz for N. sahyadrensis, respectively. We used the
following setting to produce the sonograms for both the species: Discreet Fourier Transform (DFT) size = 256
samples, frequency grid size = 30.75 Hz, time grid size = 16.2 ms for Nasikabatrachus sp.; and DFT = 256 samples,
frequency grid size = 187.5, time grid size = 2.67 ms for N. sahyadrensis. Descriptors of call parameters are given
as means and two standard deviations.
Morphometrics
We obtained the following measurements from the preserved specimens (two adult males and four imagos
of Nasikabatrachus sp.) and compared them with the measurements given in Dutta et al. (2004) for N. sahyadrensis:
snout-vent length (SVL); eye diameter (ED); inter narial distance (IND); inter orbital distance (IOD); tibia length
(TL); inner metatarsal tubercle length (IMT); and inner metatarsal tubercle width (IMTW). All measurements
were made with digital calliper to the tenth of millimeter (Table 1). We followed Gosner (1960) for staging the
tadpoles and Raj et al. (2012) for description of larval external morphology.
Computed tomography
We used the computed tomography (CT) scanning facility at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur to
examine osteological characteristics in a representative adult male of N. sahyadrensis (KAUNHM 2011131, SVL
= 57.1 mm; collected by Jobin K. M. and P. O. Nameer on 11 June 2011 at Pattikkad, Peechi Forest Division,
Thrissur, Kerala) and the adult male (ZSIA 14153) of Nasikabatrachus sp., which was destined to be the holotype.
We used a CT-MINI desktop scanner (Procon X-ray GmbH) with a microfocus X-ray tube (7-micron focal spot)
and a Hamamatsu flat panel detector (1024 × 1024 photo-diodes). We set the resolution of the scans at 60 μm/voxel
for Nasikabatrachus sp. and at 65 μm/voxel for N. sahyadrensis. Data were exported as .TIFF image stacks in the
original 8-bit imagery. We imported the data into the volumetric rendering program VG Studio MaxE v2.2
(http://www.volumegraphics.com) at the Microscopy and Imaging Facility, AMNH, New York (USA). Images of
the whole skeletal views were produced from the CT scans in VG Studio MaxE v2.2. Images were further processed
in Adobe Photoshop CS5. We followed Scott (2005) to describe the characters. Presacral Vertebrae (PSV) were
Janani et al. 3
Figure 2. Habitat of Nasikabatrachus bhupathi. (a) vegetation at the type locality; (b) typical breeding habitat of N. bhupathi; (c)
stream bed where specimens of the type series were collected.
numbered in the series and abbreviated as PSVx, where x is the number. As the first two sacral vertebrae are fused
in Nasikabatrachus, the first counted vertebra is referred to as PSV1+2, and it bears one set of transverse processes.
We focus here on whether there are any differences between our putative new species and N. sahyadrensis.
The general osteology of Nasikabatrachus is not addressed here and is beyond the scope of this publication. We are
aware of the limitations of comparing the osteology of only one adult male of each taxon via CT scans. If even
present, osteological differences are usually subtle between pairs of sister-species. We do not report on subtle
differences found in the appendicular skeleton, as these may be more highly dependent on the degree of ossification
than those in the axial skeleton. Our two specimens differed in degree of ossification, which may be age related, or
be species dependent. The differences discovered are considered relevant, because gross osteological differences
between closely related taxa, such as sister-species pair, are seldom encountered in Anura (Nussbaum & Wu 1997,
Wu 1994). We do not report on subtle differences found in the appendicular skeleton, as these may be more highly
dependant on the degree of ossification than those in the axial skeleton. Intra-specific (populational) variation in
osteology is poorly studied, but what research has been conducted (Trueb 1977) has shown that although osteology
may differ markedly between semaphoronts, it does not usually differ much between adult individuals within a
semaphoront class. We ewamined the osteology of adult males. Differences between the newly discovered species
Table 1. Morphometrics of adult and imagos of Nasikabatrachus bhupathi.
and N. sahyadrensis in characters that traditionally only differ at the higher systematic level, are presented in the
results section. We found further subtle differences in the pectoral girdle, but as the might be due to the degree of
ossification, they are omitted from the description.
Molecular methods
We isolated total genomic DNA from the ethanol-preserved tissue samples using the phenol-chloro-
form extraction method, after rehydration with saline phosphate buffer (Dutta et al. 2004). Partial mito-
chondrial 12S and 16S rRNA gene fragments were amplified using published as well as newly designed
primers. The primers used for PCR are: 12S_trnaf_ranL (5’GCRCTGAAAACGCTAARATGRACCC3’, this
study) and 12S_1009_anuH (5’ CTTACCRTGTTACGACTTRCCTCTTC3’, this study) for 12S rRNA gene;
and 16S_230_uniL (5’AGTACCGCAAGGGAAIIRTGAAATA3’, this study) and 16SbrH (5’ CCGGTCTG-
AACTCAGATCACGTA3’, Palumbi et al. 1991) for 16S rRNA gene. DNA amplification, amplicon purification
and sequencing were done as described in Shanker et al. (2004). We used the following internal primers to sequence
the amplicons bi-directionally: 12SAL (5’AAACTGGGATTAGATACCCCACTAT3’, Palumbi et al. 1991),
12SeL (5’GGGAAGAAATGGGCTACATTTTCT3’, Cannatella et al. 1998) for 12S rRNA gene; 16SL10
(5’ AGTGGGCCTAAAAGCAGCCA3’, Hay et al. 1995) and 16SarL (5’ CGCCTGTTTACCAAAAACAT-
CGCCTC3’, Palumbi et al. 1991) for 16S rRNA gene. These amplicons were blasted against the database sequences
and compared with the available sequences of Nasikabatrachus and sooglossids, by calculating the pairwise K2P
(Kimura1980)genetic distances betweenthemusing MEGA 6.0(Tamuraet al. 2013).
Molecular phylogeny
We constructed a molecular phylogeny based on the partial 12S (824 bp) and 16S (1330 bp) rRNA gene
along with sequences from NASIKABATRACHIDAE,SOOGLOSSIDAE, and representatives of archeobatrachian and
neobatrachian frog families. Details of the sequences (along with GenBank accession numbers) used for the
phylogenetic analysis are given in Table 2. We aligned and manually edited all sequences using CLUSTALX 2.0
(Thompson et al. 1997), inferred the best fitting DNA substitution model using the Akaike Information Criterion
(AIC) as implemented in jModelTest2 (Guindon & Gascuel 2003, Darriba et al. 2012). Phylogenetic analysis was
conducted using both maximum likelihood (ML) and Bayesian inference (BI) methods. We used Leiopelma archeyi
as the outgroup in our analysis. BI was implemented in MrBayes v3.2 (Ronquist et al. 2012) using the following
parameters: GTR+G+I model of DNA substitution; Nst = 6 (all different substitution rates subjected to GTR);
flat dirchlet prior for both substitution rates and the stationary nucleotide frequencies of the GTR rate matrix, a
uniform distribution (0.1) for both; the shape parameter of the gamma distribution of rate variation and the prior
for the proportion of invariable sites. We performed 2.000.000 MCMC iterations in two runs and four chains, with
Janani et al. 5
sampling in every 300 iterations. We set the minimum standard deviation of the split frequencies as 0.01 and
discarded the initial 25 % of stored trees and parameters as burn-in. Similarly, ML analyses were implemented in
RAxML v7.2.6 (Stamatakis 2006) with GTR+G model of DNA substitution. We performed 100 replicates to
obtain the best-scoring ML tree and 500 bootstrap iterations to obtain clade support values. To understand the
molecular differentiation among the western and the eastern populations of Nasikabatrachus sp., we performed a
separate phylogenetic analysis (combined 12S and 16S partial rRNA gene) with all available sequences of
Nasikabatrachus sp. and representative sequences of SOOGLOSSIDAE, with Heleophryne purcelli as outgroup.
Table 2. List of taxa included in the molecular phylogenetic analysis presented.
6 ALYTES 34 (1¢4)
Table 3. K2P genetic distances between Nasikabatrachus bhupathi,N. sahyadrensis and some sooglossids.
Results
Molecular characterization of partial 12S and 16S rRNA gene and subsequent phylogenetic analysis
indicated that the newly discovered population of Nasikabatrachus sp. in the eastern slopes of the Western Ghats
significantly differed from the previously described species N. sahyadrensis. Further, morphological examination
and acoustic characterization showed results concordant with the genetic analysis. Thus, we convincingly describe
the newly discovered population from the eastern slopes as a new species.
Systematics
Nasikabatrachus bhupathi sp. nov.
(Figures 1, 3, 4b, 5b, 6c¢d, 7b,d, 10; Tables 1, 4)
Holotype
Adult male ZSIA 14153 (fig. 3), collected by S. J. Janani from a stream flowing through a farm outside the
Watrap Range of the Srivilliputhur Grizzled Giant Squirrel Wildlife Sanctuary, at 200 m a.s.l. (fig. 2). The
specimen was calling from a burrow entrance, about5mfromtheseasonal second order stream, immediately after
rain, at around 17:30 h, on 9 October 2012.
Paratypes
Adult male ZSIA 14174 collected by S. J. Janani, at around 20:30 h, on 17 October 2012, at the same locality
as the holotype; this specimen was calling at the time of collection, immediately after rain.
Other paratypes: four imagos (ZSIA 14154¢7) and six tadpoles at Gosner (1960) stages 29¢44 (ZSIA
14158¢63), collected from a stream at the same locality as the holotype, by S. J. Janani, during the 2011 breeding
season. These imagos were raised from tadpoles at advanced stages and preserved (fig. 10).
Etymology
The species epithet commemorates Dr. S. Bhupathy, a noted scientist and a field herpetologist, who passed
away due to an ill-fated accident while conducting herpetological surveys in Agasthyamalai, Western Ghats on
April 28, 2014.
Janani et al. 7
Figure 3. Holotype of Nasikabatrachus bhupathi. (a) dorsolateral view; (b) anterior view of head showing fleshy protuberance on
the snout; (c) underside of foot, showing hypertrophied shovel-shaped inner metatarsal tubercle; (d) underside of hand showing
palmar tubercles; (e) ventral view.
Diagnosis
The new species is morphologically assigned to the genus Nasikabatrachus on the basis of the following
three external character states of adults: (1) elongated fleshy protuberance on the snout, hardened at the tip (fig. 4);
(2) distinct skin indent running below eye to nostril, with another skin indent running from below posterior corner
of eye to below mouth; (3) extremely hypertrophied prehallux comprising four ossified distal elements, curling up
dorsally and extending over the inner toe. In addition, this taxon has small eyes with round pupils and a distinctive
full blue ring of tissue around the eye (visible in live animals), an acutely pointed snout, nostril openings directed
posteriorly, a globular compact body, tympanum not externally visible, and a lack of both the anterior and
posterior palatal folds, a combination of characters not occurring together in any other known genus of frogs than
Nasikabatrachus.
8 ALYTES 34 (1¢4)
Nasikabatrachus bhupathi is diagnosed from the only known congener, N. sahyadrensis, on the basis of the
following osteological characters: (1) the dorsal crest of the urostyle extends to just about half of urostyle length
and is sharply tapered posteriorly in N. sahyadrensis (fig. 5a), whereas it is longer, more strongly developed, and
more gently tapering posteriorly in N. bhupathi (fig. 5b); (2) transverse processes of PSV8 are shorter and acutely
anterolaterally orientated in N. sahyadrensis (fig. 6a¢b), but are longer and only slightly anterolaterally orientated
in N. bhupathi (fig. 6c¢d); (3) the transverse processes on PSV4 are approximately equal in length in N. sahyadrensis
(fig. 6a¢b) but are slightly shorter than those of PSV3 in N. bhupathi (fig. 6c¢d); (4) the neural spines on PSV4¢8
of N. sahyadrensis (fig. 6a) are less well-developed and flatter than those in N. bhupathi (fig. 6c), where neural spines
are better developed and extended into a semi-cylindrical posterior projecting spine on the anterior half of each
vertebra; (5) the transverse processes of PSV1+2 are much broader in N. sahyadrensis (fig. 6a) and bear a
well-developed, near-isosceles triangle-shaped accessory process covering most of the anterior edge of the
transverse process body, whereas the transverse processes of PSV1+2 are much narrower in N. bhupathi (fig. 6c)
and the accessory process on the transverse processes of PSV1+2 are weakly developed; (6) the transverse
processes of PSV3 have a distinct accessory process in N. sahyadrensis, visible in ventral view in fig. 6b, but this is
not evident in N. bhupathi (fig. 6d). In external morphology, the two species differ in coloration. Nasikabatrachus
sahyadrensis has a purple-brown coloration of dorsum, whereas N. bhupathi lacks the purple tinge on the dorsal
Figure 4. Skulls and anterior vertebrae of Nasikabatrachus, in lateral view. (a) N. sahyadrensis (KAUNHM 2011131);
(b) N. bhupathi (ZSIA 14153, male), showing skull morphologies.
Janani et al. 9
Figure 5. Pelvic girdles of Nasikabatrachus, in lateral view; (a) N. sahyadrensis (KAUNHM 2011131); (b) N. bhupathi (ZSIA
14153), showing increased development of the dorsal ridge (crista dorsalis) of the urostyle.
surfaces: the dorsal coloration of the head is light brown while the dorsum is dark brown (fig. 3). Additionally, the
imagos of N. bhupathi also show a distinctive dark and light brown marbling with infuscation in coloration of the
dorsum (fig. 10), which may be inflected with reds. Although our sample size is low, it appears that N. bhupathi is
smaller in overall size than N. sahyadrensis.
Description of the holotype
A medium-size male (48.5 mm SVL, Tab. 1); abdominal skin smooth, greyish-white with faint marbling in
coloration; skin on limbs smooth; skin on dorsum smooth, thick, and dark brown from vent to shoulder; head
lighter brown; no dorso-lateral or transverse skin folds; body globular; head not externally distinct from body, the
snout acutely pointed with a lighter coloured fleshy protuberance and a hard knob-like projection at the tip; mouth
small, subterminal, ventral, and posterior to snout tip; mouth not extending posteriorly (beyond a vertical line
drawn downwards from the anterior corner of the eye); a distinct indent running below the eye to the nostril, with
another deeper skin fold extending from below the posterior corner of the eye to behind and below the articulation
of the jaw; nostrils directed postero-ventrally, nostril positioned below the dorsal margin of the eye and located
anteriorly, placed much nearer to the tip of the snout than to the eye; eyes small, pupils round, sclera blue forming
a ring, in life; eye diameter much smaller than the distance between the anterior edge of the eye and the nostril;
interorbital distance more than three times the width of the upper eyelid; tympanum not visible externally;
vomerine teeth absent; mandibular teeth and odontoids absent; tongue small with entire rounded tip, basally
attached, fluted and elongated in shape, longer than wide, lacking a medial lingual process.
Forelimbs short and muscular with a restricted range of movement; fingers unwebbed; tips rounded
without subarticular, subdigital or supernumerary tubercles; palm fleshy, background color brown; tips of fingers,
palmar tubercles pale white, relative length of the fingers:3>2>1=4;tips of toes rounded, rudimentary webbing
between toes; outer two metatarsals forming part of the fleshy tubercle (sensu Poynton 1963), separated distally; no
digital scutes; large, hypertrophied shovel-shaped inner metatarsal tubercle with pale white callused margin; outer
metatarsal tubercle present; slight short flange on outer surface of foot; tarsal fold absent, nuptial pads absent,
macroglands not evident; gular gland absent; femoral glands absent; cloacal opening directed postero-ventrally.
10 ALYTES 34 (1¢4)
Figure 6. Vertebral columns of Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis (top row, KAUNHM 2011131): (a) dorsal view; (b) ventral view;
and Nasikabatrachus bhupathi (bottom row, ZSIA 14153): (c) dorsal view; (d) ventral view, showing longer and more acutely
angled transverse processes of PSV 8 in N. bhupathi and thicker transverse processes with thicker anteriorly directed accessory
process in N. sahyadrensis.
Variation
The SVL in the two adult males ranged from 45.9 to 48.5 mm.
Natural history and distribution
The currently known distribution of Nasikabatrachus bhupathi is restricted to three highly seasonal second
order streams. The type locality is on the leeward side of the Western Ghats, which receives less rainfall than the
western slopes of these mountains during southwest monsoon. Rainfall is sporadic on the eastern slopes of the
Western Ghats (in 2010¢2012, the average rainfall was ca. 700 mm annually). Streams on the hill slopes where N.
Janani et al. 11
bhupathi occurs are ephemeral, with water flowing for only 3¢4 months during the year (October to January). Only
a few sites along the first and second order streams have stagnant water pools throughout the year. The riparian
zone and the streams where the tadpoles were found have open canopy and the stream bed shows rocks of varying
sizes. Other anurans found along these streams were Duttaphrynus melanostictus,Fejervarya sp., Indirana brachy-
tarsus and Sphaerotheca breviceps. The onset of breeding calls was highly synchronous to the monsoonal showers,
wherein males call only during the rain showers and for a few minutes thereafter. The frequency of calling periods
increases as the frequency of intermittent rain showers increase. We did not observe a pattern of constant evening
calls, as noted for N. sahyadrensis during the breeding season (Raj et al. 2011), which may be due to the differences
in the rainfall patterns between the southwest and the northeast monsoons. The northeast monsoon occurs mainly
due to the cyclonic depressions set in the Bay of Bengal. During this period, the eastern slopes also receive thunder
showers, typical of convectional rainfall, late in the afternoon, with intense heat during the day time. In contrast
to the southwest monsoon, there are very few days that are completely overcast. Therefore, calls were not heard on
all days. During the observations, calls started as the rainfall commenced, and the intensity of calling declined as
rain stopped. Calls were recorded close to the ground, from just the entrance (roughly 5¢8 cm deep) of the burrows
which were scattered within less than5mfromthestreamalong the stream banks. We sometimes observed the
male’s vocal sacs when a torch was shone inside the burrow. Generally, the mating chorus started by one or few
individuals, increase in intensity, as many other breeding males join the chorus.
Acoustic characterization
The male advertisement call of both species of Nasikabatrachus showed marked differences (fig. 7). The
advertisement call of N. bhupathi consisted of 25¢27 notes per minute whereas that of N. sahyadrensis consisted of
21¢24 notes per minute. In the case of N. bhupathi, each note was 0.28¢0.466 s in duration (mean = 0.345 fi0.04
s; N = 54); and the time interval between two notes varied from 1.056 to 3.154 s, with a mean of 1.714 fi0.44 s, N
= 43. The frequency ranged from 1.2 to 1.8 kHz. With intensifying rainfall, calling became more intense and
frequent. In N. sahyadrensis, each note was 0.211¢0.417 s in duration with a mean of 0.377 fi0.04 s, N = 49, the
distance between the notes varied from 1.55¢3.44 s with a mean of 2.39 fi0.48 s, N = 42, and the frequency ranged
from 0.6 to 1.4 kHz. The main difference in the call pattern was as follows: in N. bhupathi each note consisted of
four pulses; whereas in N. sahyadrensis each note comprised three pulses, with a distinct pause, of approximately
0.1 s between the second and the third pulse.
Molecular differentiation
The preliminary BLAST results of the amplified partial mitochondrial domains (12S: 824 bp, 16S: 1330 bp)
confirmed that our specimens belong to Nasikabatrachus. The K2P genetic distances at the individual domains
(partial 12S, 16S rRNA gene) between N. bhupathi and all other species of SOOGLOSSOIDEA are presented in Table 3.
There was no intra-specific variation among the holotype and the paratypes of N. bhupathi. The K2P genetic
distance at the partial 16S rRNA gene domain (3’ end of 16S, ∼590 bp), between N. bhupathi and N. sahyadrensis
(from the western slopes) was 3.5 %. This value was greater than the cut-offvalue of 3 percent for species level
delimitation based on genetic distances, proposed by Fouquet et al. (2007b), indicating the species to be candidate
new species. Similarly, the K2P genetic distance at the partial 12S rRNA gene domain (370 bp), between N.
bhupathi and N. sahyadrensis from western slopes ranged from 5.6 to 6.7 %. However, the K2p genetic distance at
a longer fragment of 16S (1330 bp) and 12S (824 bp) rRNA gene between N. bhupathi and N. sahyadrensis was
6.0 % and 5.9 % respectively. These values indicate high level of genetic differentiation between the species.
Molecular phylogeny
All neobatrachian anurans considered in this analysis grouped into three primary subclades: RANOIDEA,
HYLOIDEA and a subclade containing HELEOPHRYNIDAE,MYOBATRACHIDAE and (NASIKABATRACHIDAE +SOOGLOSSIDAE)
(fig. 8). As expected, addition of another species to Nasikabatrachus did not affect its position within SOOGLOSSOI-
DEA.The node that recovered SOOGLOSSOIDEA as sister-taxa to HELEOPHRYNIDAE and MYOBATRACHIDAE was well
supported by Bayesian inference, and moderately supported by ML analysis. A second phylogenetic analysis was
performed to include all the available sequences of N. sahyadrensis,fromdifferent localities in Western slopes of
the Western Ghats (as shown in map, fig. 1), along with other sooglossids and Heleophryne purcelli as outgroup.
The obtained tree resulted differentiating all the individuals of N. sahyadrensis from the western slopes as one
group and N. bhupathi as the other (fig. 9), concordant with the results based on genetic distances.
12 ALYTES 34 (1¢4)
Figure 7. Advertisement calls of Nasikabatrachus, with waveform (above) and sonogram (below). (a) N. sahyadrensis,from
Macaulay Natural Sounds library Catalogue No. 163897; (b) N. bhupathi, recorded from the type locality, with second individual
calling in the background; (c) one note of call of N. sahyadrensis with three pulses; (d) one note of N. bhupathi with four pulses.
Description of the larval characteristics
Observations on the breeding behavior of Nasikabatrachus bhupathi were made over three seasons and
found to be highly monsoon dependent. The peak of monsoon (October to November 2011) resulted in explosive
breeding of this species, as visualized from the tadpole abundance. The tadpoles of N. bhupathi outnumbered
tadpoles of other species in the streams, which is typical of explosive breeders. However, amplexus was not
observed and hence egg clutch characteristics could not be inferred. There were no discernable differences in the
external larval morphology between N. bhupathi and N. sahyadrensis (see the data presented in Raj et al. 2012 and
Zachariah et al. 2012). The tadpoles have large ventral suctorial oral disk (a rheophilic adaptation) and a
funnel-shaped vent tube opening medially. We observed no change in pigmentation on the skin until stages 25¢26,
when the color of the dorsum varied from medium to dark brown and the ventrum was pale whitish. The labial
Janani et al. 13
Figure 8. Phylogenetic tree inferred from concatenated two partial mitochondrial genes (12S rRNA and 16S rRNA). Presented
is here a Bayesian inference tree with support values of the nodes written above each node: Bayesian posterior probabilities,
followed by ML bootstrap values.
Figure 9. Phylogenetic tree based on reduced number of taxa (representing only SOOGLOSSOIDEA), inferred from concatenated
partial 12S and 16S rRNA genes; presented is a Bayesian inference tree with support values written above each node: Bayesian
posterior probabilities, followed by ML bootstrap values. 1, 2, 3 represent the locations given in fig. 1, which represents
populations from the western slope of the Western Ghats.
14 ALYTES 34 (1¢4)
Figure 10. External morphology of tadpoles of Nasikabatrachus bhupathi. (a) dorsal view; (b) ventral view at stage 36, with
developing hind limbs, vent tube still present; (c) dorsal view at stage 41, with completely developed hind limbs and visible
forelimb bud; (d) dorsal view at stage 42, with both forelimbs erupted; (e) ventral view at stage 42, where one of the forelimbs had
erupted completely and the other is yet to erupt, absence of vent tube; (f) dorsal view at stage 43, with transforming snout; (g¢i)
stage 44¢45, showing ventral and dorsal side, transforming oral disc and tail stub; (j) developed imago showing pigmentation
pattern of brown and black mottles.
tooth row formula (LTRF) is 2/3(1). Images of various larval stages are presented in fig. 10 and the larval
measurements in Table 4. The spiracle remains visible until stage 37, after which the ventral skin becomes opaque
and pale white. The re-absorption of the tail occurs from stage 41 until metamorphosis is complete. The oral disc
narrowed in width to a minimum in stage 45, when the specimens still had tail vestiges. The completely
metamorphosed individuals showed pigmentation pattern of brown and black mottles. Developmental asyn-
chrony with respect to disappearance of oral disc and complete re-absorption of the tail was observed in N.
bhupathi like described in N. sahyadrensis by Senevirathne et al. (2016).
Janani et al. 15
Table 4. Morphometrics of tadpoles of Nasikabatrachus bhupathi.
Discussion
Cryptic species are a window to biodiversity that can inform on phylogeography and help for the
designation of conservation units (Bickford et al. 2007; Pfenninger & Schwenk 2007; Trontelj & Fisˇer 2009);
Among recent studies, amphibians show the largest number of cryptic species identified through molecular data,
across different biomes, particularly in the tropics where they show high species richness (Wynn & Heyer 2001;
Camargo et al. 2006; Stuart et al. 2006; Elmer et al. 2007; Fouquet et al. 2007a¢b; Vieites et al. 2009; Funk et al.
2012). Between cryptic sister-species, acoustic signals might be much more differentiated than external morpho-
logical characters due to higher selection pressure in species recognition during reproduction (Funk et al. 2012).
Many identifications of cryptic speciation have been recorded among the widespread ‘‘species’’, prompting Stuart
et al. (2006) to suggest that there may not be any single widespread species of forest-dwelling anuran and that
cryptic lineages occurring in sympatry might be the rule rather than the exception in Southeast Asia. Here, we
describe one such cryptic speciation event within Nasikabatrachus, using distinct acoustic, skeletal and molecular
data, all of which validate the new species.
The evolution and diversification of the two species of Nasikabatrachus, both endemic to the Western
Ghats, is an example of external morphological stasis. Both taxa are obligate hypogean species and morphological
stasis is generally observed in species occupying caves and subterranean biomes (Porter 2007; Juan et al. 2010).
Nasikabatrachus is highly adapted for fossoriality (Senevirathne et al. 2016). Regarding the relative role of
dispersal and colonization versus vicariance events influencing the speciation of this lineage, we consider vica-
riance to be much more plausible for this subterranean specialist, which is not expected to be highly vagile. Further,
the rheophilic specialization of the tadpole to river cascades, and the reproduction timed co-incidentally with
disparate monsoon seasons, could further facilitate vicariance. The distribution is expected to be confined to moist
soil near the streams, or with significant groundwater. Nasikabatrachus lives and feeds underground, therefore
hard, dry soil and rock (from mountain uplift) is expected to present an insurmountable barrier to burrowing and
feeding, preventing this species from dispersing far.
Our knowledge about the distribution pattern of Nasikabatrachus bhupathi is currently limited; further
surveys and detailed studies on the geographic range and population size in the Western Ghats are required. We
expect the distribution to be narrow and likely confined to the foothills of the eastern slopes of the Western Ghats,
16 ALYTES 34 (1¢4)
roughly between 8° and 10°N. However, it is evident that the population of N. bhupathi at its type locality needs to
be protected. Within the Watrap Range, one of the three second-order streams (where breeding populations were
observed) is disturbed and polluted, as it falls in a pilgrimage route. Measures need to be taken to stop degradation
and restore the stream habitat for this unique and rare species of frog.
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank: the CSIR-CCMB, Hyderabad for providing the lab facilities and other logistic
support for carrying out the research; Sivasooria Perumal for financial support, guidance and assistance during all
field trips; P. O. Nameer for sharing the specimens and allowing access to collections at Kerala Agricultural
University; Prabhat Munshi for use of micro X-ray CT installed at IIT Kanpur; Shubhabrata Sarkar at IIT
Kanpur, for performing CT scans; Kaushik Deuti (ZSI-Kolkata) for facilitating examination of the collections;
Scott Schaeffer (AMNH) for facilitating use of CT software at AMNH; Morgan Hill and Henry Towbin (MIF,
AMNH) for assistance with CT scan processing; H. S. Sushma for improving readability of the manuscript;
Reviewers of our manuscript for their comments. This research was supported by CSIR-CCMB in-house support
to K. Vasudevan and R. K. Aggarwal, Department of Biotechnology grant BT/PR5070/BCE/8/906/2012 to K.
Vasudevan and R. K. Aggarwal; National Science Foundation BIO-DEB grants 1021247 to E. Scott-Prendini and
C. J. Raxworthy, 1021299 to K. M. Kjer.
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Corresponding editor: Annemarie Ohler.
© ISSCA 2017
Janani et al. 19
