The Golfodulcean poison frog or Golfodulcean poison-arrow frog (''Phyllobates vittatus'') is a species of

frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely Carnivore, carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order (biology), order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest fossil "proto-f ...

in the family

Dendrobatidae Poison dart frog (also known as dart-poison frog, poison frog or formerly known as poison arrow frog) is the common name of a group of frogs in the Family (biology), family Dendrobatidae which are native to tropical Central and South America. T ...

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

Poison

Like all members of the genus ''

Phyllobates ''Phyllobates'' is a genus of poison dart frogs native to Central and South America, from Nicaragua to Colombia. There are 3 different Colombian species of ''Phyllobates'', considered highly toxic species due to the poison they contain in the wil ...

'', Golfodulcean poison frogs have highly potent

neurotoxic Neurotoxicity is a form of toxicity in which a biological, chemical, or physical agent produces an adverse effect on the structure or function of the central and/or peripheral nervous system. It occurs when exposure to a substance – specificall ...

alkaloid Alkaloids are a class of basic, naturally occurring organic compounds that contain at least one nitrogen atom. This group also includes some related compounds with neutral and even weakly acidic properties. Some synthetic compounds of similar ...

poisons in their skin. While it is only the fourth-most toxic of the genus, the Golfodulcean poison frog is still a highly toxic animal. Its poison causes severe pain, followed by tonic-clonic seizures and paralysis if a large enough dose of the toxin is administered. The frog, for protection, advertises its toxin with its multi-coloured body. Because it is of comparatively large size for a poison dart frog, the Golfodulcean poison frog can store a large amount of poison in its skin. Captive examples lack the toxin, which suggests they do not manufacture the poison themselves, but instead acquire it from a species of insect or other small

invertebrate Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chordate ...

on which they feed. Scientists have not determined the batrachotoxin source for any species of the genus ''

'', although toxic birds from New Guinea likely get batrachotoxin from a small

beetle Beetles are insects that form the order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Endopterygota. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 describ ...

of the family

Melyridae Melyridae (common name: soft-winged flower beetles) are a family of beetles of the superfamily Cleroidea. Description Most are elongate-oval, soft-bodied beetles 10 mm long or less. Many are brightly patterned in black and brown, yellow, ...

Description

''P. vittatus'' is a fairly large poison frog, reaching a length of 3.5 cm in adulthood, with females typically being larger than males. They are more smooth-bodied than other species of the genus, having almost perfectly sloping backs. Unlike the related ''P. bicolor'' and ''P. terribilis'', their shoulder blades are usually not visible beneath their skin, giving the frogs the appearance of being overweight. The frog's color is black, but it may appear to glitter due to chemical pigments in the skin. Its legs are mottled blue, and the sides often have a marble pattern of blue or green. One of the most distinctive features of ''P. vittatus'' are the two stripes running down its back for which it was named. These stripes are usually fire orange, but they may also be golden, yellow, or green, and extend from just above the

cloaca In animal anatomy, a cloaca ( ), plural cloacae ( or ), is the posterior orifice that serves as the only opening for the digestive, reproductive, and urinary tracts (if present) of many vertebrate animals. All amphibians, reptiles and birds, a ...

to the end of the frog's nose.

Habitats

Its natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

s are primary lowland moist and wet forests at elevations of

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as ''orthometric heights''. The comb ...

. It is diurnal and terrestrial species associated with streams. Eggs are usually laid on leaves above the ground. The hatching

tadpole A tadpole is the larval stage in the biological life cycle of an amphibian. Most tadpoles are fully aquatic, though some species of amphibians have tadpoles that are terrestrial. Tadpoles have some fish-like features that may not be found i ...

s are transported by males to forest streams where they complete the larval development.

As pets

Golfodulcean poison frogs are communal animals, and have recently become available in the pet trade. They can be kept in a vivarium measuring about 100x60x60 cm, to grant the frogs both space to move around on the ground and space to climb. A clean, mossy substrate should be provided and, optionally, a carpet of leaves. However, care must be taken to ensure that the leaves are completely unblemished, as many parasitic fungi are lethal to amphibians. ''Phyllobates'' frogs climb by sticking to leaves with their adhesive toe pads, in a similar manner to

gecko Geckos are small, mostly carnivorous lizards that have a wide distribution, found on every continent except Antarctica. Belonging to the infraorder Gekkota, geckos are found in warm climates throughout the world. They range from . Geckos ar ...

s, and the climbing space must be smooth and vertical. ''Phyllobates'' frogs are more than capable of climbing out of unsecured

vivaria A vivarium (Latin, literally for "place of life"; plural: ''vivaria'' or ''vivariums'') is an area, usually enclosed, for keeping and raising animals or plants for observation or research. Water-based vivaria may have open tops providing they a ...

, so their vivaria must be completely sealed.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1519617 Phyllobates Endemic fauna of Costa Rica Amphibians of Costa Rica Taxa named by Edward Drinker Cope Amphibians described in 1893 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Isthmian–Pacific moist forests