First record of Metapolystoma (Monogenea: Polystomatidae) from Boophis tree frogs in Madagascar, with the description of five new species.

Although Madagascar has more than 350 frog species of which all but two are endemic to the island, the known polystome (Monogenea: Polystomatidae) diversity parasitizing Malagasy frogs is low, encompassing five species of Madapolystoma, one species of Kankana and one Metapolystoma. Investigating the parasite diversity of frog parasites at selected Malagasy localities led to the discovery of undescribed polystomes. Five treefrogs, Boophis albilabris, Boophis doulioti, Boophis luteus, Boophis madagascariensis and Boophis occidentalis were found to be infected and are reported here as hosts for new Metapolystoma species. Morphological investigation, combining examination of body length, haptor length, genital bulb width, genital crown diameter, genital spine number, genital spine length, ovary length, egg length, hamulus length, hamulus guard length and hamulus hook length, revealed five distinct morphotypes. Phylogenetic analysis and genetic divergences obtained for three of the five morphotypes, support the distinction of new species. Metapolystoma ansuanum n. sp. is described from B. luteus, Metapolystoma falcatum n. sp. from B. doulioti, Metapolystoma multiova n. sp. from B. occidentalis, Metapolystoma theroni n. sp. from B. madagascareniensis and Metapolystoma vencesi n. sp. from B. albilabris. Finally, although the validity of Metapolystoma as taxon is not fully resolved yet, the phylogenetic position of the described species and their morphology provide clear evidence for new metapolystome taxa.

A new species of the Boophis rappiodes group (Anura, Mantellidae) from the Sahamalaza Peninsula, northwest Madagascar, with acoustic monitoring of its nocturnal calling activity.

A new species of treefrog of the Boophis rappiodes group (Anura, Mantellidae) is described from the Sahamalaza - Iles Radama National Park in northwest Madagascar. This new species is green in colour with bright red speckling across its head and dorsum; similar in morphology to other species of this group including: B. bottae, B. rappiodes, B. erythrodactylus and B. tasymena. The new species can be distinguished by its advertisement call and by a genetic divergence of more than 4.9% in the analysed mitochondrial 16S rRNA gene fragment. Its call consists of two note types: a trill and a click; although similar sounding to B. bottae, the trill note of the new species has a faster pulse rate while the click note is predominantly two-pulsed rather than three. All individuals were detected from the banks of two streams in Ankarafa Forest. The new species represents the only member of the B. rappiodes group endemic to Madagascar's western coast, with the majority of other members known from the eastern rainforest belt. Despite its conspicuous call, it has not been detected from other surveys of northwest Madagascar and it is likely to be a local endemic to the peninsula. The ranges of two other amphibian species also appear restricted to Sahamalaza, and so the area seems to support a high level of endemicity. Although occurring inside a National Park, this species is highly threatened by the continuing decline in the quality and extent of its habitat. Due to these threats it is proposed that this species should be classified as Critically Endangered according to the IUCN Red List criteria.

Diversity of the strongly rheophilous tadpoles of Malagasy tree frogs, genus Boophis (Anura, Mantellidae), and identification of new candidate species via larval DNA sequence and morphology.

This study provides detailed morphological descriptions of previously unknown tadpoles of the treefrog genus Boophis Tschudi and analyses of habitat preferences of several of these tadpoles in Ranomafana National Park. A total of twenty-two tadpoles determined via DNA barcoding are characterized morphologically herein, fourteen of them for the first time. Twelve of these tadpoles belong to taxonomically undescribed candidate species which in several cases are so far only known from their larval stages. Our data show that the larvae of some of these candidate species occur syntopically yet maintaining a clearly correlated genetic and morphological identity, suggesting that they indeed are true biological and evolutionary species. Tadpoles considered to belong to the "adherent" ecomorphological guild inhabit fast-running waters and their oral disc is commonly to continuously attached to the rocky substrate, supposedly to keep their position in the water current. Some of these species are characterized by the presence of a dorsal gap of papillae and the absence of an upper jaw sheath. This guild includes the tadpoles of the Boophis albipuncatus group (Boophis ankaratra, Boophis schuboeae, Boophis albipunctatus, Boophis sibilans, Boophis luciae), and of the Boophis mandraka group (Boophis sambirano and six candidate species related to this species and to Boophis mandraka). Tadpoles considered belonging to the "suctorial" guild inhabit fast-running waters where they use frequently their oral disc to attach to the substrate. They have an enlarged oral disc without any dorsal gap, including two nominal species (Boophis marojezensis, Boophis vittatus), and five candidate species related to Boophis marojezensis. An ecological analysis of the tadpoles of Boophis luciae, Boophis schuboeae and Boophis marojezensis [Ca51 JQ518198] from Ranomafana National Park did not provide evidence for a clear preference of these tadpoles to the fast flowing microhabitat sections of the stream, although the tadpoles discussed in this study are typically caught in this habitat.