Fejervarya multistriata (Hallowell, 1861)

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

Rana gracilis Wiegmann, 1834, in Meyen (ed.), Reise in die Erde K. Preuss. Seehandl., 3(Zool.): 517. Subsequently published by Wiegmann, 1834, Nova Acta Phys. Med. Acad. Caesar Leopold Carol., Halle, 17: 257. Holotype: ZMB 3255, according to Peters, 1863, Monatsber. Preuss. Akad. Wiss. Berlin, 1863: 78. Type locality: "China (bei Cap Syng-more)" [Kap Shui Mun, Lantau Island, Hongkong, China]. Considered a junior synonym of Rana kuhlii by Theobald, 1868, J. Asiat. Soc. Bengal, 37: 80. Peters, 1871, Monatsber. Preuss. Akad. Wiss. Berlin, 1871: 647, considered this a synonym of Rana limnocharis (followed by Boulenger, 1882, Cat. Batr. Sal. Coll. Brit. Mus., Ed. 2: 28, Van Kampen, 1923, Amph. Indo-Austral. Arch.: 167, and Liu, 1950, Fieldiana, Zool. Mem., 2: 315). Dubois, 1984, Alytes, 3: 154, discussed the name and suggested that it was likely in the subgenus Fejervarya, but the name would have to be replaced if it were to be used for a known population of frogs because it is preoccupied by Rana gracilis Gravenhorst, 1829. Considered incertae sedis within Fejervarya by Dubois, 1987 "1986", Alytes, 5: 61; without discussion. Recognized as distinct by Dubois and Ohler, 2000, Alytes, 18: 43. Now an objective senior synonym, and presumably a nomen oblitum, of Rana multistriata Hallowell, 1861, due to sharing their primary type (DRF).

Rana multistriata Hallowell, 1861 "1860", Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, 12: 505. Syntypes: 2 specimens, presumably in ANSP or USNM, considered lost by Dubois and Ohler, 2000, Alytes, 18: 43, who designated ZMB 3255 (the holotype of Rana gracilis Wiegmann) as neotype. Type locality: "Hong-Kong, China". Neotype from "China (bei Cap Syng-more)" (Kap Shui Mun, Lantau Island, Hongkong, China). Considered a nomen dubium by Boulenger, 1882, Cat. Batr. Sal. Coll. Brit. Mus., Ed. 2: 7; this corrected by the neotype designation.

Rana gracilis — Bourret, 1927, Fauna Indochine, Vert., 3: 264.

Fejervarya multistriata — Dubois and Ohler, 2000, Alytes, 18: 35.

English Names

Paddy Frog (Karsen, Lau, and Bogadek, 1986, Hong Kong Amph. Rept.: 20, as Rana limnocharis).

Hong Kong Rice-paddy Frog (Fei, Ye, and Jiang, 2010, Colored Atlas of Chinese Amph.: 350).

Grassfrog (Zug and Mulcahy, 2020 "2019", Amph. Rept. S. Tanintharyi: 34). 

Hong Kong Rice Frog (Poyarkov, Nguyen, Popov, Geissler, Pawangkhanant, Neang, Suwannapoom, and Orlov, 2021, Russ. J. Herpetol., 28 (3A): 22). 

Hong Kong Rice Frog (Dinesh, Radhakrishnan, Deepak, and Kulkarni, 2023, Fauna India Checklist, vers. 5.0 : 3). 

Distribution

Subtropical and tropical China from Yunnan and Guizhou through Guangdong to Hong Kong and Hainan and Taiwan; presumably also including populations in adjacent Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, and Myanmar south to South Tanintharyi, peninsular Myanmar; isolated records from Mizoram and Manipur, India (see comment). 

Geographic Occurrence

Natural Resident: China, People's Republic of, Hong Kong, India, Myanmar, Taiwan, Thailand

Comment

See Dubois and Ohler, 2000, Alytes, 18: 45, for nomenclatural discussion. The name Rana gracilis was published twice: first in 1834 (Wiegmann, 1834, in Meyen (ed.), Reise in die Erde K. Preuss. Seehandl., 3(Zool.)), and then in early 1835 (Wiegmann, 1834, Nova Acta Phys. Med. Acad. Caesar Leopold Carol., Halle, 17: 185–268). For additional discussion see Lavilla, 1997, Cuad. Herpetol., 11: 75–80, Anonymous, 1910, Cat. Books Mss Maps Brit. Mus., Vol. 3, and Bauer and Adler, 2001, Arch. Nat. Hist., London, 28: 313–326. Heyer, 1971, Fieldiana, Zool., 58: 61–82, reported on the call from Thailand (this identification to be used with caution). Fei, Ye, Jiang, and Xie, 2002, Herpetol. Sinica, 9: 88–96, and Kuramoto, Joshy, Kurabayashi, and Sumida, 2008 "2007", Curr. Herpetol., Kyoto, 26: 81–105, suggested that the name Fejervarya multistriata applies to populations in China formerly referred to Fejervarya limnocharis. Zhong, Liu, and Wang, 2008, Zool. Sci., Tokyo, 25: 811–820, reported on molecular phylogeographics and noted two geographically isolated lineages of nominal Fejervarya multistriata, a northern one associated with the Yangtze drainage (now associated with Fejervarya kawamurai) and another in southern China (and likely into Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, and Myanmar), now considered Fejervarya multistriata sensu stricto. Tjong, Matsui, Kuramoto, Nishioka, and Sumida, 2011, Zool. Sci., Tokyo, 28: 922–929, referred all specimens from subtropical China from Yunnan, through Guangdong to Hong Kong and Hainan to Fejervarya multistriata, and all records from central and northern China to Fejervarya kawamurai. Yang, 1991, Amph. Fauna of Yunnan: 131–133, provided an account for Yunnan, China (as Rana limnocharis). Lue, Tu, and Hsiang, 1999, Atlas Taiwan Amph. Rept.: 72–73, provided a brief account as Fejervarya limnocharis for Taiwan (presumably based on Fejervarya multistriata and Fejervarya sakishimensis). 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. Zhang and Wen, 2000, Amph. Guangxi: 95, provided an account (as Rana limnocharis) for Guangxi, presumably addressing Fejervarya multistriata. Song, Jang, Zou, and Shi, 2002, Herpetol. Sinica, 9: 70, reported this species (as Rana limnocharis) for Hainan, China. Fei, Ye, Jiang, and Xie, 2002, Herpetol. Sinica, 9: 88–96, recognized several species in this complex, including Fejervarya multistriata for Chinese populations, but did not sufficiently diagnose the taxa. 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. Shi, 2011, Amph. Rept. Fauna Hainan: 109–113, provided an account for Hainan as Rana limnocharis, although this population is now referred to Fejervarya multistriata. Fei, Ye, and Jiang, 2012, Colored Atlas Chinese Amph. Distr.: 422–423, provided an account, photographs, and a range map for China, in the sense of including Fejervarya kawamurari as conspecific with Fejervarya multistriata. Zhou, Qiu, Fang, Yang, Zhao, Fang, Zheng, and Liu, 2014, Zool. Res., Kunming, 35: 42–50, reported on call characteristics in China (as Fejervarya limnocharis). Huang and Tu, 2016, Genet. Mol. Res., 15 (3, gmr.15038302): 1–9, reported on a mitogenome of this species with comments on its phylogenetic placement, including the possibility that this nominal species is a synonym of Fejervarya limnocharis. Yang, Peng, Xu, and Huang, 2017, Asian Herpetol. Res., 8: 22–26, reported on color pattern polymorphism in a population in Lingnan, Huangshan, China. Shen, 2014, Fauna Hunan, Amph.: 263–267, provided an account for Hunan, China, although the identification of this population requires verification. Kotaki, Kurabayashi, Matsui, Kuramoto, Tjong, and Sumida, 2010, Zool. Sci., Tokyo, 27: 386–395, suggested that some, possibly all, populations of this species are conspecific with Fejervarya limnocharis. Li, 2011, Amph. Rept. Guangdong: 55, provided a brief account for Guangdong, China, and photograph. Zhang, 2017, Amph. Rept. Fanjing Mts.: 143–149, provided taxonomic and natural history information for the Fanjing Mountains population in northeastern Guizhou, China. Wu, Ee, Ran, Wang, and Yang, 2019, Pakistan J. Zool., 51: 1011–1016, reported on mtDNA D-loop geographic variation in Guizhou Province, China. Lalbiakzuala and Lalremsanga, 2019, Herpetol. Rev., 50: 321, provided a record distant from the main range at the state of Mizoram, India, which should be verified. Jiang, Lv, Liu, Wu, Xu, and Li, 2020, MtDNA, Part B, 5: 2348–2359, reported on the complete mtDNA genome along with a minimal phylogenetic analysis that established that Fejervarya multistriata is a member of Fejervarya. Zug and Mulcahy, 2020 "2019", Amph. Rept. S. Tanintharyi: 33–34, provided a brief account for South Tanintharyi, peninsular Myanmar. Lin, Chen, Tang, Chen, Ding, Lin, and Ji, 2020, Animal Biol., 70: 459–481, reported on variation in advertisement call in Lishui City, Zhejiang, China. Chandramouli, Ankaiah, Prasad, and Arul, 2020, Taprobanica, 9: 194–204, questioned the distinctiveness of this nominal species from Fejervarya limnocharis, noting that dense sampling has yet to be addressed. Decemson, Gouda, Lalbiakzuala, Lalmuansanga, Hmar, Mathipi, and Lalremsanga, 2021, J. Threatened Taxa, 13: 17918–17929, provided the genetically confirmed record for Dampa Tiger Reserve, Mamit District, Mizoram, India. Decemson, Vanlalsiammawii, and Lalremsanga, 2021, Herpetol. Rev., 52: 342, provided a record from Manipur, northeastern India. Laos not included in list of countries of occurrence by Poyarkov, Nguyen, Popov, Geissler, Pawangkhanant, Neang, Suwannapoom, and Orlov, 2021, Russ. J. Herpetol., 28 (3A): 22. Decemson, Mathipi, Vanlalsiammawii, Biakzuala, Sailo, and Lalremsanga, 2021, Reptiles & Amphibians, 28: 250–254, provided genetically confirmed records from Mizoram and Manipur, northeastern India. Liu, Zhong, Wang, Li, Wei, Zou, Zhao, and Li, 2022, Diversity, 14 (550): 1–12, reported on call variation on a rural/urban gradient. Lei, Yan, Jin, Li, Yan, and Liao, 2023, Diversity & Distributions, 30 (e13796): 1–14, reported on molecular phylogeography and adaptation to climate in southern China.       

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