Amphibian Diversity and Distribution in Uttara Kannada District, Karnataka

Amphibian diversity and distribution across Uttara Kannada district: Forty seven species of amphibians were recorded from Uttara Kannada district (Table 3). This is nearly 30% of observed amphibians from the Western Ghats (157 species). These species belonged to two orders, nine families and 20 genera. Two families, namely, Nyctibatrachidae and Micrixalidae are among the oldest frog families found in the Western Ghats and are Gondwanan relicts. Of the 46 species recorded, 67% of them are endemic to the Western Ghats (31 species). Family Dicroglossidae has highest species (15) followed by Rhacophoridae with 10 species. Least species were recorded in Ranixalidae and Ichthyophiidae with two each (Table 4).

Table 3. Species recorded and their ecological status in the four river basins of Uttara Kannada.

Species	Common name	Endemic	IUCN
CLASS: AMPHIBIA Gray ORDER: ANURA Fischer von Waldheim
Family: Bufonidae Gray
Duttaphrynus melanostictus (Schneider 1799)	Common Indian toad	Non endemic	LC
Duttaphrynus scaber (Schneider, 1799)	Ferguson’s toad	Non endemic	LC
Duttaphrynus stomaticus (Lutken, 1862)	Assam toad	Non endemic	LC
Pedostibes tuberculosus Günther 1875	Malabar Tree toad	Western Ghats	EN
Family: Dicroglossidae Anderson
Euphlyctis aloysii Joshy, Alam,Kurabayashi, Sumida and Kuramoto, 2009	Aloys’ skittering frog	Western Ghats	DD
Euphlyctis cyanophlyctis (Schneider, 1799)	Skittering frog	Non endemic	LC
Euphlyctis hexadactylus (Lesson, 1834)	Indian Pond frog	Non endemic	LC
Fejervarya brevipalmata (Peters, 1871)	Peter’s frog	Western Ghats	DD
Fejervarya caperata Kuramoto, Joshy, Kurabayashi And Sumida, 2007	Wrinkled Fejervarya	Western Ghats	DD
Fejervarya granosa Kuramoto, Joshy, Kurabayashi And Sumida, 2007	Granular Fejervarya	Western Ghats	DD
Fejervarya kudremukhensis Kuramoto, Joshy, Kurabayashi and Sumida, 2007	Kudremukha Fejervarya	Western Ghats	DD
Fejervarya mudduraja Kuramoto, Joshy, Kurabayashi And Sumida, 2007	Mudduraja Fejervarya	Western Ghats	DD
Fejervarya rufescens (Jerdon, 1853)	Reddish burrowing frog	Western Ghats	LC
Hoplobatrachus crassus (Jerdon, 1853)	Jerdon’s bull frog	Non-endemic	LC
Hoplobatrachus tigerinus (Daudin, 1803)	Indian bull frog	Non-endemic	LC
Minervarya syhadris Dubois, Ohler and Biju, 2001	Minervarya frog	Western Ghats	EN
Sphaerotheca aff. leucorhychus (Rao, 1937)	Rao’s burrowing frog	Western Ghats	DD
Sphaerotheca breviceps (Schneider, 1799)	Indian Burrowing frog	Non-endemic	LC
Sphaerotheca dobsonii (Boulenger, 1882)	Dobson’s burrowing frog	Western Ghats	LC
Family: Micrixalidae Dubois, Ohler and Biju
Micrixalus aff. elegans (Rao, 1937)	Elegant torrent frog	Western Ghats	DD
Micrixalus saxicola (Jerdon, 1853)	Small torrent frog	Western Ghats	VU
Family: Microhylidae Günther
Kaloula taprobanica Parker, 1934	Painted frog	Non-endemic	LC
Microhyla ornata (Dumeril and Bibron, 1841)	Ornate narrow mouthed frog	Non-endemic	LC
Microhyla rubra (Jerdon, 1854)	Red narrow mouthed frog	Non-endemic	LC
Ramanella aff. Montana (Jerdon, 1854)	Jerdon’s Ramanella	Western Ghats	NT
Family: Nyctibatrachidae Blommers-Schlösser
Nyctibatrachus cf. aliciae Inger, Shaffer, Koshy And Bakde, 1984	Alice’s Night frog	Western Ghats	EN
Nyctibatrachus cf. major Boulenger, 1882	Malabar Night frog	Western Ghats	VU
Nyctibatrachus cf. petraeus Das and Kunte, 2005	Castle rock night frog	Western Ghats	LC
Family: Ranidae Rafinesque
Clinotarsus curtipes (Jerdon, 1853)	Bicoloured frog	Non-endemic	NT
Hylarana aurantiaca (Boulenger, 1904)	Golden frog	Western Ghats	VU
Hylarana malabaricus (Tschudi,1838)	Fungoid frog	Non-endemic	LC
Hylarana temporalis (Günther,1864)	Bronzed frog	Non-endemic	NT
Family: Ranixalidae Dubois
Indirana beddomii (Günther, 1875)	Beddome’s Indian frog	Western Ghats	LC
Indirana semipalmatus (Boulenger,1882)	South Indian frog	Western Ghats	LC
Family: Rhacophoridae Hoffman
Polypedates maculatus (Gray, 1834)	Chunam frog	Non-endemic	LC
Polypedates occidentalis Das and Dutta, 2006	Charpa tree frog	Western Ghats	DD
Polypedates pseudocruciger Das and Ravichandran, 1998	False hour glass tree frog	Western Ghats	LC
Pseudophilautus amboli (Biju and Bossuyt, 2009)	Amboli bush frog	Western Ghats	DD
Pseudophilautus wynaadensis (Jerdon, 1853)	Wynaad bush frog	Western Ghats	EN
Raorchestes bombayensis (Annandale, 1919)	Maharashtra bush frog	Western Ghats	VU
Raorchestes luteolus (Kuramoto and Joshy, 2003)	Coorg yellow bush frog	Western Ghats	DD
Raorchestes ponmudi (Biju and Bossuyt, 2005)	Large Ponmudi bush frog	Western Ghats	CE
Raorchestes tuberohumerus (Kuramoto and Joshy, 2003)	Kudremukh bush frog	Western Ghats	DD
Rhacophorus malabaricus Jerdon, 1870	Malabar gliding frog	Western Ghats	LC
ORDER: GYMNOPHIONA Müller
Family: Ichthyophiidae Taylor
Ichthyophis beddomi Peters, 1879	Beddome’s caecilian	Western Ghats	LC
Ichthyophis bombayensis Taylor, 1960	Bombay caecilian	Western Ghats	DD
Note: E-endemic; NE-non-endemic; GAA-GlobalAmphibian Assessment; EX-Extinct from type locality; EN-Endangered; Vu-Vulnerable; NT-Near threatened; LC-Least concerned, DD-Data deficient

River basin wise diversity of Amphibians: Amphibian species recorded in each of the river basin in given in Table 5. There were 45 species from Sharavathi, 32 from Aghanashini, 29 each from Bedti and Kali river basins and five species in Venkatapura river.

Sharavathi river basin: Forty five species were recorded from Sharavathi river basin listed in Table 5. Majority of the species recorded for the entire Uttara Kannada district is known from Sharavathi river basin, except for Raorchestes bombayensis. Sharavathi harbours nearly 69% of endemic species of the Western Ghats. The species rich sites (> 10 species) are Kathalekan (34 species), Watehalla and Muppane (14 species each), Hurli (12 species) and Niluvase (11 species). Kathalekan is a well known Myristica swamp having ancient origin (Chandran et al 2010), and provides habitat for uniquely breeding species (Gururaja, 2010). It also has highest number of endemic species (24). Raorchestes ponmudi, an endangered species is also recorded from this site.Aghanashini river basin: Thirty two species are recorded from Aghanashini river basin (Table 5). None of the caecilians were recorded in this river basin. Kathagal with 17 species is species rich site in Aghanashini followed by Sapurthi (15 species) and Baillalli (13 species). Sapurthi harbours higher endemic species in the entire river basin.Bedti river basin: Twenty nine species were recorded from Bedti river basin. Species rich regions are Makkigadde (13 species), Devnalli (12 species), Kelginkeri and Daanandi (10 species each). Endemism is highest is Makkigadde and Devnalli (8 species each). It is interesting note that Yerebail has no endemic species despite having 6 species.

Kali river basin: Kali river basin has 29 species (Listed in Table 5). Castle rock, Virnolli and Ulvi are species rich (13 species each) followed Gowliwada (10 species). Castle rock leads with higher endemism than Ulvi (6 endmic species) Virnolli (9 endemic species). The species recorded from Deriye were all endemic to Western Ghats.

	Sharavathi	Aghanashini	Bedti	Kali	Venkatapura
Family: Bufonidae
Duttaphrynus melanostictus	+	+	+	+
Duttaphrynus scaber	+	+	+	+
Duttaphrynus stomaticus	+		+
Pedostibes tuberculosus	+	+	+	+
Family: Dicroglossidae
Euphlyctis aloysii	+			+
Euphlyctis cyanophlyctis	+	+	+	+	+
Euphlyctis hexadactylus	+	+
Fejervarya brevipalmatus	+				+
Fejervarya caperata	+	+	+	+
Fejervarya granosa	+	+	+
Fejervarya kudremukhensis	+		+	+
Fejervarya mudduraja	+	+
Fejervarya rufescens	+	+	+	+
Hoplobatrachus crassus	+	+
Hoplobatrachus tigerinus	+	+	+	+
Minervarya syhadris	+	+	+	+	+
Sphaerotheca aff. leucorhychus	+	+		+
Sphaerotheca breviceps	+	+	+	+
Sphaerotheca dobsonii	+
Family: Micrixalidae
Micrixalus aff. Elegans	+
Micrixalus saxicola	+	+	+
Family: Microhylidae
Kaloula pulchra	+			+
Microhyla ornata	+	+	+	+
Microhyla rubra	+	+	+	+
Ramanella aff. Montana	+			+
Family: Nyctibatrachidae
Nyctibatrachus cf. aliciae	+	+	+		+
Nyctibatrachus cf. major	+	+
Nyctibatrachus cf. petraeus	+	+	+	+
Family: Ranidae
Clinotarsus curtipes	+	+	+	+
Hylarana aurantiaca	+	+	+	+
Hylarana malabaricus	+	+	+	+
Hylarana temporalis	+	+	+	+
Family: Ranixalidae
Indirana beddomii	+	+	+	+
Indirana semipalmatus	+	+	+	+	+
Family: Rhacophoridae
Polypedates maculatus	+	+	+	+
Polypedates occidentalis	+	+
Polypedates pseudocruciger	+
Pseudophilautus amboli	+		+	+
Pseudophilautus wynaadensis	+	+		+
Raorchestes bombayensis			+	+
Raorchestes luteolus	+	+	+
Raorchestes ponmudi	+
Raorchestes tuberohumerus	+	+		+
Rhacophorus malabaricus	+	+	+	+
Family: Ichthyophiidae
Ichthyophis beddomi	+
Ichthyophis malabaricus	+		+
Species richness	45	32	29	29	5

Cluster analysis based on species richness and endemics using Bray-curtis distance measure is given in Figure 7. There are four clear groups with Kathalekan standing out exceptionally. Group I is species poor, while Group IV is species rich. Non-metric multidimensional scaling analysis based on habitat variables and species parameters are given in Figure 8. All the 83 sampling sites can be categorically grouped into four. Each quadrant in the graph are representing a unique group. First quadrant carries species rich but endemic poor group, II Quadrant having both richness and endemism very poor, III Quadrant with species poor but endemic rich and IV Quadrant with species rich and endemic rich sites. Kathalekan, Watehalla and Muppanne in Sharavathi, Baillalli in Aghanashini, Kelginkeri in Bedti are in Quadrant IV, needing immediate conservation measures. These sites were also influenced by arboreal species richness, direct developing species, critically endangered and endangered species.

Figure 8. Non-metric multidimensional analysis of amphibians of Uttara Kannada.

Krigging based on species endemism is given in Figure 9. Kathalekan is being deliberately removed from the analysis to know other sites in the Uttara Kannada district with higher endemism. The warm coloration and contours joining them indicates the endemism value. Sites like Castle rock in Kali, Makkigadde in Bedti, Kathagal, Sapurthi and Bailalli in Aghanashini and Maleman, Nagodi and Hurli in Sharavathi river basin along with Kathalekan are species rich and endemics rich

Family	Genera	Species
Bufonidae	2	4
Dicroglossidae	5	15
Micrixalidae	1	3
Microhylidae	3	4
Nyctibatrachidae	1	3
Ranidae	2	4
Ranixalidae	1	2
Rhacophoridae	4	10
Ichthyophiidae	1	2