Hyperolius marmoratus Rapp, 1842

English Names

Marbled Rush Frog (Hyperolius marmoratus: Rose, 1950, Rep. Amph. S. Afr.: 55; Rose, 1962, Rep. Amph. S. Afr., Ed. 2: 58; Cochran, 1961, Living Amph. World: 168; Van Dijk, 1978, J. Herpetol. Assoc. Afr., 17: 16Passmore and Carruthers, 1978, J. Herpetol. Assoc. Afr., 19: 7).

Painted Reed Frog (Hyperolius marmoratus: Wager, 1965, Frogs S. Afr.: 208; Passmore and Carruthers, 1978, J. Herpetol. Assoc. Afr., 19: 7; Passmore and Carruthers, 1979, S. Afr. Frogs: 254; Du Preez and Carruthers, 2009, Compl. Guide Frogs S. Afr.: 250).

Marbled Reed Frog (Hyperolius marmoratus: Broadley, 1971, Puku, 6: 122; Van Dijk, 1978, J. Herpetol. Assoc. Afr., 17: 16; Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 67; Channing, 2001, Amph. Cent. S. Afr.: 161).

Variegated Rush Frog (Hyperolius marmoratus: Ananjeva, Borkin, Darevsky, and Orlov, 1988, Dict. Amph. Rept. Five Languages: 73).

Black and White Striped Reed Frog (Hyperolius marmoratus: Ananjeva, Borkin, Darevsky, and Orlov, 1988, Dict. Amph. Rept. Five Languages: 73).

Striped Reed Frog (Hyperolius marmoratus taeniatus: Lambiris, 1990 "1989", Monogr. Mus. Reg. Sci. Nat. Torino, 10: 177).

Striped Rush Frog (Hyperolius marginatus taeniatus: Pienaar, 1963, Koedoe, 6: 81).

Ahl's African Reed Frog (Hyperolius albifrons [no longer recognized]: Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 66).

Sangeve Reed Frog (Hyperolius erythromelanus [no longer recognized]: Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 66).

Broadley's Tree Frog (Hyperolius broadleyi: Lambiris, 1990 "1989", Monogr. Mus. Reg. Sci. Nat. Torino, 10: 146).

Broadley's Forest Treefrog (Hyperolius broadleyi [no longer recognized]: Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 69).

Swynnerton's Reed Frog (Hyperolius swynnertoni [no longer recognized]: Lambiris, 1990 "1989", Monogr. Mus. Reg. Sci. Nat. Torino, 10: 179; Du Preez and Carruthers, 2009, Compl. Guide Frogs S. Afr.: 268).

Distribution

Northern Mozambique south though eastern Zimbabwe, Eswatini, eastern and southern South Africa to the vicinity of Cape Town. Likely to be found in southeastern Zambia; records from Tanzania, Kenya, and Namibia have been reassigned to other species (see comment). 

Geographic Occurrence

Natural Resident: Eswatini, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Zimbabwe

Likely/Controversially Present: Zambia

Comment

The status of Hyperolius parallelus Günther, 1859 "1858", is controversial according to R.C. Drewes in Laurent, 1985, in Frost (ed.), Amph. Species World: 213. Laurent, 1950, Explor. Parc Natl. Albert, Miss. G.F. de Witte (1933–1935), 64: 81, considered it a synonym of Hyperolius marmoratus. Schiøtz, 1971, Vidensk. Medd. Dansk Naturhist. Foren., 134: 28, considered Hyperolius parallelus to be a distinct species, and Hyperolius marmoratus to be a subspecies of Hyperolius viridiflavus. Laurent, 1976, Ann. Mus. R. Afr. Cent., Tervuren, Ser. Octavo, Sci. Zool., 213: 90, considered Hyperolius parallelus to be a subspecies of Hyperolius marginatus. Drewes, 1984, Occas. Pap. California Acad. Sci., 139: 52, regarded Hyperolius parallelus as a distinct species; without discussion. According to Poynton, 1985, S. Afr. J. Sci., 81: 179–181, all southern African forms treated variously in the literature as subspecies of Hyperolius marmoratus, Hyperolius viridiflavus, Hyperolius marginatus, and Hyperolius parallelus, are subspecies of Hyperolius marmoratus. Laurent, 1983, Monit. Zool. Ital., N.S., Suppl., 18: 1–93, recognized three species in the Hyperolius viridiflavus superspecies: Hyperolius viridiflavus (in northern savannas), Hyperolius marmoratus (in southern savannas), and Hyperolius tuberculatus (in the rainforest). See comments under Hyperolius protchei and Hyperolius maestus. Poynton and Broadley, 1987, Ann. Natal Mus., 28: 212–227, recognized 15 subspecies of which they provided accounts. See brief account (as Hyperolius broadleyi) by Poynton and Broadley, 1987, Ann. Natal Mus., 28: 176-177.  Hess, Channing, and Hendricks, 1996 "1995", Madoqua, Windhoek, 19: 33–36, compared Hyperolius marmoratus broadleyi and Hyperolius marmoratus verrucosus in South Africa and found restriction site data to suggest species recognition of these taxa, and which confirmed the specific status of Hyperolius angolensis. Wieczorek and Channing, 1997, Afr. J. Herpetol., 46: 110–116, presented evidence for the species distinctiveness of Hyperolius marmoratus broadleyi from Hyperolius marmoratus marmoratus, Hyperolius marmoratus verrucosus, Hyperolius marmoratus taeniatus. A. Schiøtz (pers. comm.) suggests that Hyperolius angolensis, Hyperolius parallelus, Hyperolius marginatus, Hyperolius viridiflavus, and Hyperolius reesi, likely all deserve recognition as binominals. Bishop, 2004, in Minter et al. (eds.), Atlas Frogs S. Afr. Lesotho and Swaziland: 141–143, provided an account for Rep. South Africa. Pauwels and Rödel, 2007, Herpetozoa, Wien, 19: 135–148, recorded the species in Gabon, apparently in error or due to subscription to an alternative taxonomic arrangement.See comment on Hyperolius albofasciatus by Broadley, 2007, Afr. J. Herpetol., 56: 175–177. Pickersgill, 2007, Frog Search: 386–388, 390–391 (marmoratus), 392–394 (verrucosus), 394–397 (taeniatus ), 397–399 (fumosus), 399–400 (broadleyi [retained in this catalog as Hyperolius swynnertoni]), 401–402 (swynnertoni), 405-406 (alborufus), 407-408 (marginatus [retained in this catalog as Hyperolius marginatus), 409–410 (albofasciatus), 410–414 (nyassae), 415–416 (goetzei), 417 (ommatostictus [retained in this catalog as a synonym of Hyperolius glandicolor), 418–419 (mwanzae, retained in this catalog as a synonym of Hyperolius viridiflavus), 419 (sheldricki: retained in this catalog as a distinct species), 420 (ferniquei [retained in this catalog as a synonym of Hyperolius glandicolor]), 421 (pantherinus: retained in this catalog as a synonym of Hyperolius glandicolor), 422 (variabilis: retained in this catalog as a synonym of Hyperolius viridiflavus), 423 (pitmani: retained in this catalog as a synonym of Hyperolius glandicolor), 425 (bayoni: retained in this catalog as a synonym of Hyperolius viridiflavus), 425–426 (mariae: retained in this catalog as Hyperolius mariae), and 427 (renschi: retained in this catalog as a synonym of Hyperolius mariae) discussed the ambiguities of the Hyperolius marmoratus/Hyperolius viridiflavus complex. He reported that Hyperolius marmoratus marmoratus intergrades with Hyperolius marmoratus taeniatus on the northern part of its range and Hyperolius marmoratus verrucosus on the southern part of its range. Broadley, 2007, Afr. J. Herpetol., 56: 175–177, commented on the status of Hyperolius fumosus. Du Preez and Carruthers, 2009, Compl. Guide Frogs S. Afr.: 250–251, provided a brief account for southern Africa. Mercurio, 2011, Amph. Malawi: 166–167 (as Hyperolius marmoratus taeniatus), pages 200–205 (as Hyperolius viridiflavus albofasciatus) and page 206–211 (as Hyperolius viridiflavus nyassae) provided accounts for Malawi. Channing, Rödel, and Channing, 2012, Tadpoles of Africa: 214, reported on comparative tadpole morphology. See general discussion of the Hyperolius viridiflavus–parallelus–marginatus group by Schiøtz, 1999, Treefrogs Afr.: 206–228, and specifically (p. 206) of the form he treats under the vernaculars as Braodleyi, Nyassae, Swynnertoni, Taeniatus, Marmoratus, Verrucosus, and Aposematicus). Portik, Mulungu, Sequeira, and McEntee, 2013, Herpetol. Rev., 44: 395, provided a record for Zambézia Province, Mozambique. Ohler and Frétey, 2014, J. E. Afr. Nat. Hist., 103: 85–86, provided a brief discussion of a collection from northern Mozambique. Dewynter and Frétey, 2019, Cah. Fondation Biotope, 27: 25, noted a literature error for Gabon. Conradie, Bittencourt-Silva, Engelbrecht, Loader, Menegon, Nanvonamuquitxo, Scott, and Tolley, 2016, Zoosyst. Evol., Berlin, 92: 163–180, reported a population (as Hyperolius marmoratus albofasciatus)  from Mount Namuli (Zambezia Province), Mozambique. Phaka, Netherlands, Kruger, and Du Preez, 2017, Bilingual Field Guide Frogs Zululand: 41, provided a photograph, Zululand regional map, and a brief account of life history and identification. See (1) Hyperolius bicolor, which is a likely synonym of Hyperolius marmoratus insignis, (2) Hyperolius gularis, likely a synonym; (3) Hyperolius maestus, likely a synonym; (4) Hyperolius protchei, likely a synonym. Portik, Bell, Blackburn, Bauer, Barratt, Branch, Burger, Channing, Colston, Conradie, Dehling, Drewes, Ernst, Greenbaum, Gvoždík, Harvey, Hillers, Hirschfeld, Jongsma, Kielgast, Kouete, Lawson, Leaché, Loader, Lötters, van der Meijden, Menegon, Müller, Nagy, Ofori-Boateng, Ohler, Papenfuss, Rößler, Sinsch, Rödel, Veith, Vindum, Zassi-Boulou, and McGuire, 2019, Syst. Biol., 68: 859–875, implied in a supplemental figure that this nominal species is a complex with both Hyperolius mariae and Hyperolius reesi imbedded within. Tillack, de Ruiter, and Rödel, 2021, Zoosyst. Evol., Berlin, 97: 407–450, briefly discussed the types, collectors, and collections of Hyperolius albifrons, Hyperolius breviceps, Hyperolius dermatus, Hyperolius granulosus, Hyperolius guttolineatus, Hyperolius nyassae, Hyperolius taeniatus, and Hyperolius variegatus. Channing, 2022, Zootaxa, 5134: 301–354, discussed the systematics, reidentified a number of GenBank sequences, restricted the range by excluding a number of populations, provided a range map, molecular tree, and a summary of the color patterns for all of the named taxa in the synonymy, and characterized the advertisement call. 

  

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