Miyako toad

Miyako toad
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Amphibia
Order:	Anura
Family:	Bufonidae
Genus:	Bufo
Species:	B. gargarizans
Subspecies:	B. g. miyakonis
Trinomial name
	Bufo gargarizans miyakonis; Okada, 1931
Synonyms
	Bufo bufo miyakonis (protonym); Bufo japonicus miyakonis; Bufo gargarizans miyakonis

The Miyako toad (Bufo gargarizans miyakonis) is a subspecies of the Asiatic toad that is native to the Miyako Islands, in the Ryūkyū Islands of Japan.^[4]

Taxonomy

In 1927, Japanese zoologist Okada Yaichirō included Bufo bufo miyakonis (Schlegel) in a study of the country's "tailless batrachians"; however, no further details were provided, making this a nomen nudum.^[3]^: 220 The Miyako toad was first described, as Bufo bufo miyakonis, i.e., as a subspecies of the Common toad, by Okada in 1931, with Miyako-jima in the Ryūkyū Islands given as the type locality.^[1]^[5] In 1947, Inger, arguing that Okada did not sufficiently distinguish his new subspecies from the Asiatic toad of China, treated this name as a synonym of Bufo bufo gargarizans.^[6]^: 321 In 1980, Kawamura Toshijirō [ja] et al., based on laboratory crosses, recommended the toad be treated as a subspecies of the Japanese common toad, as Bufo japonicus miyakonis.^[2]^: 123 In 1984, Matsui Masafumi [fr] concluded the Miyako toad was a subspecies of the Asiatic toad, i.e., Bufo gargarizans miyakonis.^[3]^: 417^[5] In its native Japan, the toad's vernacular name is Miyako hiki-gaeru (ミヤコヒキガエル).^[4] Though sometimes thought to have been introduced, a Late Pleistocene fossil bufonid has been identified from Miyako-jima.^[4]^[7]^[8]

Description

The Miyako toad is somewhat warty, but less so than the Japanese common toad.^[9] It has a grey-brown to reddish-brown back with some paler spots and stripes, and a whitish belly with some black spots.^[9] Males have a snout–vent length (SVL) of 61–113 millimetres (2.4–4.4 in), with a mean of 85 millimetres (3.3 in), while females are a little larger, at 77–119 millimetres (3.0–4.7 in), mean of 97 millimetres (3.8 in).^[4] Its width is around 36% of its SVL, its hand and arm length, 44%, the length of its tibia, 35% in males and 33% in females, and its relatively flat parotoid gland, c. 17%.^[4] Males have black nuptial pads.^[4] There is no vocal sac.^[4]

Distribution and habitat

The Miyako toad is native to Miyako-jima and Irabu-jima in the Miyako Islands, where it lives among the grasses and fields of sugarcane, but has also been introduced to Okinawa Island as well as Kitadaitō-jima and Minamidaitō-jima in the Daitō Islands.^[4]^[10]

Ecology

The Miyako toad's diet largely comprises small invertebrates such as ants, beetles, snails, and worms.^[4] The breeding season runs from September to March.^[4] Its mating call includes five distinct notes, lasting in total some 1.5 seconds.^[4] Females lay some twelve to fourteen thousand eggs, some 1.7–2.0 millimetres (0.067–0.079 in) in diameter.^[4] The small dark tadpoles reach a length of around 30 millimetres (1.2 in); the SVL on metamorphosis, which occurs after March, is 11 millimetres (0.43 in).^[4]^[9]

Conservation

The Miyako toad is classed as Near Threatened on the Ministry of the Environment Red List.^[11]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Okada, Y. (1931). The Tailless Batrachians of the Japanese Empire. Tokyo: Imperial Agricultural Experiment Station. p. 47.
^ ^a ^b Kawamura, T.; Nishioka, M.; Ueda, H. (1980). "Inter- and intraspecific hybrids among Japanese, European and American toads". Scientific Report of the Laboratory for Amphibian Biology, Hiroshima University. 4: 1–125. doi:10.15027/333. ISSN 0386-3166.
^ ^a ^b ^c Matsui Masafumi [in French] (1984). "Morphometric variation analyses and revision of the Japanese toads (Genus Bufo, Bufonidae)". Contributions from the Biological Laboratory, Kyoto University. 26 (3–4): 209–428. hdl:2433/156031. ISSN 0452-9987.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m Matsui, Masafumi; Maeda, Norio, eds. (2018). 日本産カエル大鑑 [Encyclopaedia of Japanese Frogs] (in Japanese and English). Tokyo: Bun-Ichi Sogo Shuppan. pp. 40–43. ISBN 978-4-8299-8843-5.
^ ^a ^b "Bufo gargarizans Cantor, 1842". Amphibian Species of the World. Retrieved 11 May 2022.
^ Inger, R.F. (8 December 1947). "Preliminary survey of the amphibians of the Riukiu Islands". Fieldiana: Zoology. 32 (5): 295–352. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.2991. ISSN 0015-0754.
^ 新日本両生爬虫類図鑑 [Amphibians and Reptiles of Japan] (in Japanese). Herpetological Society of Japan. 2021. pp. 39–41. ISBN 978-4-88325-734-8.
^ Nokariya, H; Hasegawa, Y. [in Japanese] (1985). "Fossil frogs from Pinza-Abu Cave, Miyako Island, Okinawa, Japan". ピンザアブ：ピンザアブ洞穴発掘調査報告 [Pinza-Abu: Reports on Excavation of the Pinza-Abu Cave] (in Japanese). Naha: Okinawa Prefectural Board of Education. pp. 151–159.
^ ^a ^b ^c Goris, Richard C.; Maeda, Norio (2004). Guide to the Amphibians and Reptiles of Japan. Malabar: Krieger Publishing Company. pp. 46–48. ISBN 1-57524-085-8.
^ Ministry of the Environment, ed. (2014). レッドデータブック2014 —日本の絶滅のおそれのある野生生物— 3 爬虫類・両生類 [Red Data Book 2014 — Threatened Wildlife of Japan — Volume 3, Reptilia / Amphibia] (in Japanese). Gyōsei Corporation. p. 145. ISBN 978-4-324-09897-4.
^ 両生類 [Amphibians] (in Japanese). Ministry of the Environment. 27 March 2020. Retrieved 11 May 2022.

[Okada-1] Okada, Y. (1931). The Tailless Batrachians of the Japanese Empire. Tokyo: Imperial Agricultural Experiment Station. p. 47.

[Kawamura-2] Kawamura, T.; Nishioka, M.; Ueda, H. (1980). "Inter- and intraspecific hybrids among Japanese, European and American toads". Scientific Report of the Laboratory for Amphibian Biology, Hiroshima University. 4: 1–125. doi:10.15027/333. ISSN 0386-3166.

[Matsui-3] Matsui Masafumi [in French] (1984). "Morphometric variation analyses and revision of the Japanese toads (Genus Bufo, Bufonidae)". Contributions from the Biological Laboratory, Kyoto University. 26 (3–4): 209–428. hdl:2433/156031. ISSN 0452-9987.

[Frogs-4] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m Matsui, Masafumi; Maeda, Norio, eds. (2018). 日本産カエル大鑑 [Encyclopaedia of Japanese Frogs] (in Japanese and English). Tokyo: Bun-Ichi Sogo Shuppan. pp. 40–43. ISBN 978-4-8299-8843-5.

[ASW-5] "Bufo gargarizans Cantor, 1842". Amphibian Species of the World. Retrieved 11 May 2022.

[Inger-6] Inger, R.F. (8 December 1947). "Preliminary survey of the amphibians of the Riukiu Islands". Fieldiana: Zoology. 32 (5): 295–352. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.2991. ISSN 0015-0754.

[7] 新日本両生爬虫類図鑑 [Amphibians and Reptiles of Japan] (in Japanese). Herpetological Society of Japan. 2021. pp. 39–41. ISBN 978-4-88325-734-8.

[8] Nokariya, H; Hasegawa, Y. [in Japanese] (1985). "Fossil frogs from Pinza-Abu Cave, Miyako Island, Okinawa, Japan". ピンザアブ：ピンザアブ洞穴発掘調査報告 [Pinza-Abu: Reports on Excavation of the Pinza-Abu Cave] (in Japanese). Naha: Okinawa Prefectural Board of Education. pp. 151–159.

[Guide-9] Goris, Richard C.; Maeda, Norio (2004). Guide to the Amphibians and Reptiles of Japan. Malabar: Krieger Publishing Company. pp. 46–48. ISBN 1-57524-085-8.

[Data-10] Ministry of the Environment, ed. (2014). レッドデータブック2014 —日本の絶滅のおそれのある野生生物— 3 爬虫類・両生類 [Red Data Book 2014 — Threatened Wildlife of Japan — Volume 3, Reptilia / Amphibia] (in Japanese). Gyōsei Corporation. p. 145. ISBN 978-4-324-09897-4.

[11] 両生類 [Amphibians] (in Japanese). Ministry of the Environment. 27 March 2020. Retrieved 11 May 2022.

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