Fejervarya kawamurai Tjong, Matsui, Kuramoto, Nishioka, and Sumida, 2011

Class: Amphibia > Order: Anura > Family: Dicroglossidae > Subfamily: Dicroglossinae > Genus: Fejervarya > Species: Fejervarya kawamurai

Fejervarya kawamurai Tjong, Matsui, Kuramoto, Nishioka, and Sumida, 2011, Zool. Sci., Tokyo, 28: 923. Holotype: IABHU - F2184, by original designation. Type locality: "paddy field around 2 km from Hiroshima University, Higashihiroshima-shi, Hiroshima Prefecture, western Honshu, Japan (34° 23′ N, 132° 42′ E, alt. 200 m a.s.l)".

English Names

Marsh Frog (Goris and Maeda, 2004, Guide Amph. Rept. Japan: 72, as Fejervarya limnocharis).

Distribution

Japan: Honshu, from Kanagawa Prefecture and westwards, Shikoku, Kyushu, Amami and Okinawa Island groups of the central Ryukyus; provisionally throughout northern and central China to at least Yunnan, Guangdong, Zhejiang, and western Taiwan; apparently introduced into Kanto District of Honshu and Tsushima Island, Japan. See comment. 

Geographic Occurrence

Natural Resident: China, People's Republic of, Japan, Taiwan

Introduced: Japan

Comment

Most closely related to Fejervarya sakishimensis according to the original publication and previously referred to Fejervarya limnocharis, a species, with the description of Fejervarya kawamurai, does not occur in Japan. The assignments of the populations of Taiwan and northern and central China was discussed in the original publication. Maeda and Matsui, 1990, Frogs Toads Japan, Ed. 2: 108-111, provided account for Japan as Fejevarya limnocharis. Sumida, Kondo, Kanamori, and Nishioka, 2002, Mol. Phylogenet. Evol., 25: 293-305, reported on mtDNA phylogenetic study of populations within Japan and Taiwan (as Fejervarya limnocharis). Goris and Maeda, 2004, Guide Amph. Rept. Japan: 72-74, provided an account for Japan, map, and photograph, as Fejervarya limnocharis. Tjong, Matsui, Kuramoto, Belabut, Sen, Nishioka, and Sumida, 2007, Zool. Sci., Tokyo, 24: 1197-1212, had suggested on the basis of morphological similarity that Fejervarya multistriata is conspecific (albeit a distinct subspecies; but see account under that species) of nominal Fejervarya limnocharis and that the Japanese population (now Fejervarya kawamurai) represents a distinct species. Chinese population (as Rana limnocharis; presumably representing both Fejervarya multistriata and Fejervarya kawamurai) reviewed by Liu, 1950, Fieldiana, Zool. Mem., 2: 315-318, and Pope, 1931, Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., 61: 491-495. See account by Ye, Fei, and Hu, 1993, Rare and Economic Amph. China: 249. Fei, 1999, Atlas Amph. China: 182-183, provided a brief account of China population, map, and figure, covering both Fejervarya multistriata and Fejervarya kawamurai as Rana limnocharis. Fei and Ye, 2001, Color Handbook Amph. Sichuan: 179, provided a brief account and illustration, covering both Fejervarya multistriata and Fejervarya kawamurai as Rana limnocharis. Fei, Hu, Ye, and Huang, 2009, Fauna Sinica, Amph. 3: 1310-1319, provided an account as Fejervarya limnocharis for China, figures, and map, presumably covering both Fejervarya kawamurai and Fejervarya multistriata. Fei, Ye, and Jiang, 2010, Colored Atlas of Chinese Amph.: 350-351 (as Fejervarya multistriata, but presumably covering Chinese populations of Fejervarya kawamurai as well), provided a brief account including photographs of specimens and habitat. Li, Zhao, and Dong, 2010, Amph. Rept. Tibet: 47-48, provided an account as Fejervarya limnocharis for Xizang, China, presumably assignable to this species. Yang, Wo, Shao, Liao, Tong, Brown, and Jin, 2022, Asian Herpetol. Res., 13: 232–241, suggested on the basis of two mtDNA loci and 8 nuDNA loci that nominal Fejervarya kawamurai is composed of two lineages, (1) one corresponding to the Zhoushan Archipelago, Zhejiang, China and Japan, and the other (2) from most parts of Chinese mainland. Takahashi and Sakyo, 2024, Nat. Hist. Rep. Kanagawa, 45: 31–37, discussed the possible introduction to various sites in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. 

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