''Hyperolius ocellatus'' is a species of tropical West African

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

in the family Hyperoliidae, that is split into the subspecies ''H. o. ocellatus'' and ''H. o. purpurescens''. It is found in

Angola , national_anthem = "Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west- central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; th ...

Central African Republic The Central African Republic (CAR; ; , RCA; , or , ) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to the north, Sudan to the northeast, South Sudan to the southeast, the DR Congo to the south, the Republic of the C ...

, Republic of the Congo,

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

, Equatorial Guinea,

Gabon Gabon (; ; snq, Ngabu), officially the Gabonese Republic (french: République gabonaise), is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. Located on the equator, it is bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north ...

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of G ...

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The south ...

, and possibly Rwanda. 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 subtropical or tropical moist lowland

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the ...

s, intermittent freshwater

marsh A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found a ...

es, freshwater springs, rural gardens, heavily degraded former forest,

pond A pond is an area filled with water, either natural or Artificiality, artificial, that is smaller than a lake. Defining them to be less than in area, less than deep, and with less than 30% Aquatic plant, emergent vegetation helps in disting ...

s, and

canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface fl ...

s and ditches.

Distribution and habitat

''Hyperolius ocellatus ocellatus'' is from areas west of the Sanaga River in Cameroon, and ''H. o. purpurescens'' is found south and east of the river. Due to the high population of the species and the extended area in which it can be found, the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natur ...

have classed ''Hyperolius ocellatus'' as Least Concern, as its population is thought to be stable. It is unlikely that the population is declining fast enough for the species to be classed as threatened. At the highest elevations, it is found at above sea level.

Description

The species is one of the smallest in the genus '' Hyperolius'', with females being the larger gender at and males being . The

abdomen The abdomen (colloquially called the belly, tummy, midriff, tucky or stomach) is the part of the body between the thorax (chest) and pelvis, in humans and in other vertebrates. The abdomen is the front part of the abdominal segment of the tors ...

is yellow. Juveniles are green with a faint triangle on their snout with silver stripes, and mature females along with some mature males are silver-grey with black spots. Mature females and juveniles show a reddish ground colour. ''H. o. ocellatus'' specimens are sometimes silver-grey with a yellow ventrum and small black spots, and females have small unocellated spots. ''H. o. purpurescens'' male specimens have dorsolateral lines, and a faint triangle on their snout. Females have fewer spots and are larger, green-blue in colour, and have no spots on their ventrum. The frogs breed in small forest swamps, small pools and streams. It is found in freshwater and terrestrial systems, and in many protected areas.

Taxonomy

It was first described by

Albert Günther Albert Karl Ludwig Gotthilf Günther Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS, also Albert Charles Lewis Gotthilf Günther (3 October 1830 – 1 February 1914), was a German-born British zoologist, ichthyologist, and herpetologist. Günther is ranked th ...

in 1858, and synonyms include ''Hyperolius guttatus'', ''Rappia ocellata'', ''Rappia guttata'', among others.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1942735 ocellatus Amphibians described in 1858 Taxa named by Albert Günther Taxonomy articles created by Polbot