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During mating in anurans, external fertilization is
facilitated by amplexus, a behaviour in which an adult
male grasps a conspecic adult female to prompt external
fertilization and egg deposition (Wells, 2007; Mollov
et al., 2010; Carvajal-Castro et al., 2020; Decemson
et al., 2020). However, in unusual circumstances, a
male may initiate or attempt amplexus with a female
of different species. Known as interspecic amplexus,
this phenomenon occurs among sympatric species
with overlapping breeding seasons when males fail to
recognize their conspecics (Pearl et al., 2015; Theis and
Caldart, 2015). Mistakes in mate acquisition can happen
during explosive breeding (Machado and Bernarde, 2011)
or when males fail to determine the sex or species of other
individuals and clasp them (Wells, 2007). Observations
of such indiscriminate behaviour have been reported in
many frog species (e.g., Sodre et al., 2014; Vivek et al.,
2014; Rocha et al., 2015; Shahrudin, 2016; Groffen et
al., 2019; Decemson et al., 2020; Pedro and Nali, 2020;
Muansanga et al., 2021) but among Philippine anurans,
published accounts are generally sparse (Lorenzo and
Realubit, 2019).
To the best of our knowledge, this note provides the
rst documentation of interspecic amplexus between
Kalophrynus sinensis Peters, 1867 and Occidozyga
laevis (Günther, 1858). Kalophrynus sinensis occurs on
the Philippine islands of Basilan, Bohol, Camiguin Sur,
Culion, Dinagat, Leyte, Mindanao, and Samar (Diesmos
et al., 2015). In contrast, Occidozyga laevis is a common
and widely distributed species in some Southeast Asian
countries, including the Philippine archipelago (IUCN
SSC Amphibian Specialist Group, 2014; Diesmos
et al., 2015). Recent studies have suggested that both
species are part of large, historically misunderstood
species complexes (Zug, 2015; Chan et al., 2020,
2021; Flury et al., 2021). Both species can be found in
various local environments, such as open agricultural
lands and secondary forests, where they inhabit shallow
temporary pools, articial ponds, ooded rice elds,
and other freshwater habitats (Diesmos et al., 2015;
Maglangit et al., 2015; Sanguila et al., 2016; Mugot and
Binaday, 2020). Although both species are generally
considered nocturnal, pairs of amplectant K. sinensis
have also been observed in small ponds during the
morning (Mugot and Binaday, 2020).
At 07:43 h on 12 June 2021, we opportunistically
observed interspecic inguinal amplexus between K.
sinensis and O. laevis during a eld survey in New
Israel, Makilala, North Cotabato, Philippines (6.9236°N,
125.1985°E, elevation 1000 m). During this interaction,
a male K. sinensis used its forelimbs to clasp and encircle
the inguinal region of an O. laevis of indetermined sex
(Fig. 1). Species were identied based on diagnostic
morphological characteristics (K. sinensis: acutely
pointed snout, presence of sharp dorsolateral ridges,
and a bifurcating middorsal stripe; Zug, 2015; O. laevis:
rounded snout, a stout body, dorsally oriented eyes).
When rst observed, the amplectant pair was partially
submerged in a shallow, turbid, temporary pond
(approximately 1 m
2
in area) next to an unpaved road,
in an ‘agroforest’ area, characterized by a mixture of
regenerating forest patches and agricultural plots of
rubber plantation, intercropped with Musa × paradisiaca
(banana), Manihot esculenta (cassava), Colocasia
esculenta (taro), Artocarpus heterophyllus (langka),
Herpetology Notes, volume 15: 467-469 (2022) (published online on 2 July 2022)
Interspecic amplexus between Kalophrynus sinensis
Peters, 1867 and Occidozyga laevis (Günther, 1858) on
Mindanao Island, Philippines
Brian T. Sabanal1, Marion John Michael M. Achondo1,2, Jay T. Torreel3, and Lief Erikson D. Gamalo1,2,*
1 Department of Biological Sciences and Environmental
Studies, College of Science and Mathematics, University
of the Philippines Mindanao, Mintal, Davao City 8000
Philippines; and Wildlife-Human Interaction Studies,
Ecological Research, and Biodiversity Conservation
Laboratory, University of the Philippines Mindanao, Mintal,
Davao City 8000 Philippines.
2 National Research Council of the Philippines, Department of
Science and Technology, Taguig City 1630 Philippines.
3 Division of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, University
of the Philippines Visayas Tacloban College, Tacloban City
6500 Philippines.
* Corresponding author. E-mail: ldgamalo@up.edu.ph
© 2022 by Herpetology Notes. Open Access by CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.
Brian T. Sabanal et al.
468
Artocarpus odoratissimus (marang), and Artocarpus
blancoi (antipolo). The duration of interspecic
amplexus was approximately 8 min, and no vocalizations
of either species were heard during this period in the
area. Although we had previously noted deposited eggs
in the pond, oviposition by the clasped O. laevis was not
observed during the period of our direct observation.
Moreover, although it seems reasonable to assume the
K. sinensis individual was male, the sex of the O. laevis
subject was undetermined.
Acknowledgments. We are grateful to the National Research
Council of the Philippines, Department of Environment and
Natural Resources XII, National Commission on Indigenous
Peoples XII, Mt. Apo Natural Park – Protected Area Management
Board of Cotabato, and the Local Government Unit of Barangay
New Israel, Makilala, North Cotabato for their immense support.
Special thanks to Kristian James Suetos for the conrmation of
species identity, and to Emerson Sy and the reviewers for their
comments and suggestions on the manuscript. We also thank
Joemarie Lanutan, Jellordy Manco, Andy Tumaclas, Jehdu Paraiso,
Dwight Ralph Arsolon, Christines Sia, Fritzie Sia, and Lovely G.
Paraiso for their invaluable assistance during our eld research.
Figure 1. (A) Interspecic amplexus between Kalophrynus sinensis Peters, 1868 (the frog on the left) and Occidozyga laevis
(Günther, 1858), observed in New Israel, Makilala, North Cotabato, Mindanao Island, Philippines. (B) Frontal view of the same
interaction. Photos by Lief Erikson D. Gamalo.
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Interspecic Amplexus Between Kalophrynus sinensis and Occidozyga laevis 469
Accepted by Jin-Min Chen
