Gavi Night Frog

Diagnosis and Description: Male SVL ranges from 49.5-57.5 mm. In females the SVL ranges from 58.2-60.1 mm. Nyctibatrachus gavi is characterized by a head that is wider than it is long. The outline of the snout is oval. The supratympanic fold is distinct. It is fairly large with a robust body. Its skin is wrinkled on the snout and between the eyes. The dorsal sides of the thigh and shank have spinules. Two femoral glands are present on the ventral side of the thighs. There is a well-developed ridge from the lip over the tip of the snout, which then splits and extends half the distance to the eye. It has longtitudinal folds on the ventral side of the throat. The skin of the chest is rough, and the belly and limbs are smooth. The forearm is shorter than the hand, and the shank is shorter than both the thigh and foot. Fingers in this species have dermal fringes. The third finger disc does not have a groove and is two times wider than the finger. The fourth toe disc has a dorso-terminal groove and is 3.4 times wider than the toe. There is medium webbing reaching the third subarticular tubercle on either side of toe IV. The nuptial pad is well developed (Biju, et al. 2011).Coloration:The dorsum is light brown with a dark stripe between the eyes. Dorsally, the limbs are light brown with blackish cross bands. The ventral side is a lavender-lilac color with light brown patches. Ventrally the thigh is light grey with dark grey marbling, and the hands, feet, and webbing are dark grey. In preservative, the dorsum is dark grey and the limbs have grey cross bands. The ventral side is grayish-white, the throat is light brown, the thigh is light grey with dark grey marbling, and the hands, feet, and webbing are dark grey (Biju, et al. 2011).Etymology: This species is named after Gavi, the area in which it was found. It was first described by S.D. Biju, Ines Van Bocxlaer, Stephen Mahony, K.P. Dinesh, C. Radhakrishnan, Anil Zachariah, Varad Giri, and Franky Bossuyt in 2011.

N. gavi is found in the Western Ghats, India, specifically in Gavi, Panthanamthitta district in Kerala State. This area is at an elevation of about 1000 m. The type specimens were found in a rivulet and a forest flowing stream (Biju, et al. 2011).

Males have femoral glands present in both breeding and non breeding seasons. Females have large eggs of about 2.8 mm in diameter (Biju, et al. 2011).

More research is required to fully understand its conservation status.