Santa Cecilia Glass Frog

Appearance

"T. midas" is arboreal, meaning that they mainly live in trees. Through their semi-opaque skins, one can see the green bones and if the specimen is female, the humerus spine. Their snout has a truncated shape from the dorsal view leading to an angled appearance around the lateral nostril region. Adult snout-vent length is around 17.4mm to 19.2 mm in males and 20.6mm to 25.6 mm in females. The shape of the finger discs of "T. midas" is rounded and truncated, and all discs are around the same size. The fingers do not bear narrow lateral fringes. Both hands and feet have median levels of webbing. Webbing completely encloses all toes but only encloses the third and fourth fingers. The ground colors of "T. midas" have a darker lavender shade. "T. midas" have bright yellow-colored flecks on the dorsal side, which are similar to the unique fingerprints among humans. Researchers often use these flecks to distinguish between different samples. In preservatives, these yellow flecks turn white. Both hands and feet are dull greenish yellow. The heart is not visible, and the organs are unpigmented. The iris is silvery brown with black reticulation. Teratohyla Midas differs from other species of glass frogs due to their unique internal viscera structures. Their livers are covered by a transparent membrane called the heptadic peritoneum. The normal resting state of "T. midas" is when the frog has four legs closely stuck to the side of its body.

Naming

Its common name "Santa Cecilia" is named after the province of Napo, Ecuador, which had the most historical record of the species. The Latin root for its species name Midas is inspired by a Greek King who has the ability to turn everything he touches into gold. Thus, Teratohyla Midas’ name refers to the golden specks on the specie's dorsal side.

The species "Teratohyla midas" was first recorded in 1973 by Lynch, J. D., & Duellman, W. E.

Though many species of the glass frog, Centrolendidae, are similar in terms of diet and habitats, they vary greatly among limbs and other physiologies. Because of the similarities between "T. midas" and other glass frogs, Centrolendidae, researchers often group "T. midas" together with other species within the same family.

Status

After fertilization has occurred, the male would leave the oviposition site while the female remains to cover the eggs. The egg-laying process only lasts for a few seconds, but the female would continue to keep the eggs under its ventral or belly area for around an hour. Based on observations where the eggs seem more moisturized, one hypothesis the researchers have made is that this attendance action would keep the eggs more hydrated and protect them from future predation or danger. This reproductive behavior is relatively common among other glass frog species. An experiment has proven that female attendance of eggs keeps eggs moisturized in a species called "Ikakogi tayrona", which is in the same family, Centrolenidae, as "T. midas".

Habitat

"T. midas" is mostly found in the lowlands of South America, with highly diverse vegetation, including both humid and dry forests. "T. midas" is mostly found in lowland areas of northern South America, usually at heights between 190 and 1050 m above sea level. The newest record is around twelve hundred kilometers southeast of the Crique, Grand Leblond French Guiana, which is the easternmost record of the species. The wide range of "T. midas" leads researchers to consider "T. midas" may be a possible species complex due to its widespread population.Tadpoles develop in streams. It is locally suffering from habitat loss, but there are large areas of suitable habitat remaining. Though there are records of glass frogs, Centrolenidae, being kept as pets worldwide, there is no specific data on "T. midas" being kept in captivity.