Description of the tadpole of Hylarana aurantiaca (Anura:Ranidae) from Sri Lanka

Abstract

<jats:p>Presently 105 species of amphibians are known from Sri Lanka and the family Ranidae is represented by three species (Meegaskumbura and Manamendraarachchi, 2007). The genus Hylarana is represented by three species: the endemic H. gracilis, and H. aurantiaca and H. temporalis which also occur in South India (Pethiyagoda et al. 2006). Despite Hylarana aurantiaca being a common frog species in the low and mid elevations of the wet regions in Sri Lanka and India, its tadpole stages are poorly known. In this paper the tadpole of H. aurantiaca is described from specimens reared from spawn collected from central Sri Lanka.</jats:p>