Sclerophrys mauritanica (Schlegel, 1841)

Class: Amphibia > Order: Anura > Family: Bufonidae > Genus: Sclerophrys > Species: Sclerophrys mauritanica

Bufo pantherinus Tschudi, 1838, Classif. Batr.: 88. Nomen nudum coined as a synonym of Bufo arabicus Rüppell and Bufo regularis Ruess. Synonymy with Bufo mauritanicus by Boulenger, 1881 "1880", Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1880: 557, presumably because Bufo pantherinus Duméril and Bibron, 1841, is a synonym of Bufo mauritanicus.

Bufo mauritanicus Schlegel, 1841, in Wagner (ed.), Reisen Regentschaft Algier, 3: 134. Holotype: RMNH 2122, considered the holotype by M.S. Hoogmoed in Grandison, 1985, in Frost (ed.), Amph. Species World: 53. This was considered in error by Beukema and Crochet, 2014, Zootaxa, 3754: 498–500, who noted that several specimens constituted a syntypic series and (p. 499) designated RMNH 2122 as lectotype. Type localities: ". . . in den Umgebungen der Stadt Algier. . . . Sümpfen der Ebene Metidscha; . . . Bona", Algeria. Restricted to "in den Umgebungen der Stadt Algier" (= in the vicinity of the city of Algiers) by the lectotype designation. 

Bufo pantherinus Duméril and Bibron, 1841, Erp. Gen., 6: 687. Types: RMNH by implication. Type locality: "l'occident de l'Asie, ainse que le sud-ouest et le nord de l'Afrique . . . . d'Égypte . . . dans les environs de Bone et d'Alger; enfin nous en avons deux provenant de l'Arabie Pétrée"; restricted by Loveridge, 1957, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., 117: 151–362, to Egypt. Junior homonym of Bufo pantherinus Smith, 1828. Named as a synonym of Bufo arabicus Rüppell, Bufo regularis Ruess, and attributed to Boie. Synonymy by Boulenger, 1881 "1880", Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1880: 563. Includes specimens of Bufo regularis and Bufo mauritanicus according to Boulenger, 1881 "1880", Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1880: 545–574. Considered a synonym of Bufo regularis by Peters, 1882, Naturwiss. Reise Mossambique, Zool. 3: 178, but it is not known if specimens were examined. See discussion in Poynton and Lambiris, 1998, Afr. J. Herpetol., 47: 3–12 (who noted that Bufo pantherinus Smith, 1828, was likely also included in the hypodigm).

"Bufo" mauritanicus — Frost, Grant, Faivovich, Bain, Haas, Haddad, de Sá, Channing, Wilkinson, Donnellan, Raxworthy, Campbell, Blotto, Moler, Drewes, Nussbaum, Lynch, Green, and Wheeler, 2006, Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., 297: 363. Excluded from Bufo and unassigned to genus.

Amietophrynus mauritanicus — Van Bocxlaer, Biju, Loader, and Bossuyt, 2009, BMC Evol. Biol., 9 (e131): 3.

Sclerophrys mauritanica — Ohler and Dubois, 2016, PeerJ, 4(e1553): 9.

Common Names

Pantherine Toad (Gadow, 1901, Amphibia and Reptiles: 184).

Moroccan Toad (Ananjeva, Borkin, Darevsky, and Orlov, 1988, Dict. Amph. Rept. Five Languages: 40; CITES).

Berber Toad (Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 42; Escoriza and Ben Hassine, 2019, Amph. N. Afr.: 168).

Morrish Toad (Géniez, Mateo, Geniez, and Pether, 2004, Amph. Rept. W. Sahara: 35).

Mauritanian Toad (Channing and Rödel, 2019, Field Guide Frogs & Other Amph. Afr.: 56).

Distribution

Mediterranean-climate regions of northern Western Sahara and Morocco, North African Spanish territories of Melilla and Ceuta, northern Algeria, and Tunisia; introduced into the vicinity of Algeciras in southern Spain.

Geographic Occurrence

Natural Resident: Algeria, Morocco, Spain, Tunisia, Western Sahara

Introduced: Spain

Comment

In the Bufo mauritanicus group of Martin, 1972, in Blair (ed.), Evol. Genus Bufo: 61, and Tandy and Keith, 1972, in Blair (ed.), Evol. Genus Bufo: 160. Roussel and Amar, 1985, Alytes, 4: 41–51, detected call differences between Algerian populations that might indicate species distinctiveness. See Salvador, 1996, Smithson. Herpetol. Inform. Serv., 109, for account. Confused with Bufo arabicus Heyden, by Gervais, 1835, Ann. Sci. Nat., Paris, Ser. 2, 6: 312, according to Boulenger, 1881 "1880", Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1880: 545–574, and Boulenger, 1882, Cat. Batr. Sal. Coll. Brit. Mus., Ed. 2: 298. Lever, 2003, Naturalized Rept. Amph. World: 176, reported on an introduced populationin southern Spain. Géniez, Mateo, Geniez, and Pether, 2004, Amph. Rept. W. Sahara: 35, provided a brief account for Western Sahara. Harris and Perera, 2009, Biologia, Bratislava, 64: 356–360, noted that this species fits with species referred to Amietophrynus; Van Bocxlaer, Biju, Loader, and Bossuyt, 2009, BMC Evol. Biol., 9 (e131): 1–10, independently corroborated this and made the taxonomic change. Beukema, de Pous, Donaire-Barroso, Bogaerts, Garcia-Porta, Escoriza, Arribas, El Mouden, and Carranza, 2013, Zootaxa, 3661: 37, provided an account for Morocco. Reques, Pleguezuelos, Busack, and de Pous, 2013, Basic & Appl. Herpetol., 27: 23–50, discussed the range and conservation status in Morocco and Western Sahara. Amor, Kalboussi, and Said, 2013, Basic & Appl. Herpetol., 27: 85–100, discussed the range in Tunisia and its conservation status. Mateo, Géniez, and Pether, 2013, Basic & Appl. Herpetol., 27: 51–83, provided a range map, comments on the range and population status in Algeria, noting that records from southern Algeria are erroneous, based on misidentified Sclerophrys xeros. Mediani, Brito, and Fahd, 2015, Basic & Appl. Herpetol., 29: 81–107, provided a dot map for northern Morocco. See comments on ecology and distribution in Marocco (as Bufo mauritanicus) by Guillon, Le Liard, and Slimani, 2004, Bull. Soc. Herpetol. France, 2004: 37–48. See detailed account by Escoriza and Ben Hassine, 2019, Amph. N. Afr.: 168–178. Channing and Rödel, 2019, Field Guide Frogs & Other Amph. Afr.: 56–57, provided a brief account, photograph, and range map. Mabrouki, Taybi, Skalli, and Sánchez-Vialas, 2019, Basic & Appl. Herpetol., 33: 19–32, commented on and mapped the species in the Mouloua River Basin and adjacent areas in eastern Morocco. See Dufresnes, 2019, Amph. Eur., N. Afr., & Middle East: 83, for brief summary of identifying morphology and biology, a range map, as well as a photograph. Ayoro, Segniagbeto, Hema, Penner, Oueda, Dubois, Rödel, Kabré, and Ohler, 2020, Zoosystema, 42: 547–582, discussed records, identification, and doubted the record for Burkina Faso. Nouira, Blanc, Crochet, Frétey, Géniez, Ineich, De Massary, Ohler, Tlili, and Lescure, 2022, Bull. Soc. Herpetol. France, 180: 12, discussed the species in Tunisia. 

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