''Leptodactylus albilabris'' is a species of frog in the family Leptodactylidae.

Common names

Its local name is ranita de labio blanco or sapito de labio blanco ("white-lipped froglet") and English name either Gunther's white-lipped frog or Hispaniolan ditch frog.

Distribution

It is found in the Dominican Republic on

Hispaniola Hispaniola (, also ; es, La Española; Latin and french: Hispaniola; ht, Ispayola; tnq, Ayiti or Quisqueya) is an island in the Caribbean that is part of the Greater Antilles. Hispaniola is the most populous island in the West Indies, and th ...

, Puerto Rico, the British Virgin Islands, and the

U.S. Virgin Islands The United States Virgin Islands,. Also called the ''American Virgin Islands'' and the ''U.S. Virgin Islands''. officially the Virgin Islands of the United States, are a group of Caribbean islands and an unincorporated and organized territory ...

Description

The white-lipped frog is a terrestrial (living on the ground) smooth-bodied frog (not warty like a toad) which passes through a tadpole stage. The tadpoles are brown colored, reaching about 1.5 inches (13 millimeters) in length. ''L. albilabris'' can be recognized by its white upper lip (hence the name albilabris), webless fingers and toes, black streak between the eyes and the tip of the snout and between eye and shoulder. In general, adults grow to 1.4 inches (3.5 centimeters) in snout-vent length, but like other Puerto Rican frogs the body size increases with elevation and adults of a snout-vent length greater than 2.0 inches (5.0 centimeters) are not rare in the higher regions of the El Yunque National Forest. Individuals have a grayish brown background color with dorsal lines and bands of various shades of brown, cream, and reddish brown. It is white ventrally, and some males have many dark spots on the throat. Its voice is a "pink-pink-pink" sound usually heard from a muddy area.

Habits

The frog's diet includes insects, millipedes and land snails. It lays terrestrial eggs, but they are laid in a foam nest on the ground, usually under a rock or log. Eggs develop into tadpoles, which are washed away by the first rains and finish their development in temporary pools, or bodies of water with low or no water movement.

Habitat

This frog can usually be found in muddy areas near streams, marshes and ditches.

References

*Rivero, Juan A., 1978; The Amphibians and Reptiles of Puerto Rico, Editorial de la Universidad de Puerto Rico {{Taxonbar, from=Q2247965 albilabris Amphibians of the Dominican Republic Amphibians of the United States Virgin Islands Amphibians of Puerto Rico Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Amphibians described in 1859 Taxa named by Albert Günther