Hyloscirtus dispersus Varela-Jaramillo, Streicher, Venegas & Ron, 2025, sp. nov.

Hyloscirtus dispersus sp. nov. Figs 5, 7, 9, 10, 11, 20, 21, 22 Common name: Proposed standard English name: Dispersed stream frog Proposed standard Spanish name: Rana de Torrente dispersa Type material. Holotype. • QCAZ 52006 (Figs 20 – 22), field no. SC 38765, adult male from Ecuador, Provincia Tungurahua, Caserío Machay, 3 km E of Río Verde on the road to Puyo, (1.3923 ° S, 78.2801 ° W), 1349 m above sea level, collected by SRR, F. Ayala, T. Camacho, M. Yánez, D. Rivadeneira, S. Aldás and D. Pareja on 19 September 2011. A 3 D model of the holotype is available at Sketchfab platform (https://skfb.ly/oSqqI). Paratypes. • All collected in Ecuador. Provincia Sucumbíos: Río Azuela, Hostería El Reventador (0.0752 ° S, 77.5921 ° W), 1680 m, QCAZ 66709 –10, adult males, collected by G. Vaca, M. Mejía and D. Escobar on 26 February 2017; • Provincia Napo: Cocodrilos, on Baeza – Archidona road (0.6710 ° S, 77.7928 ° W), 1575 m, QCAZ 63488, adult male, collected by SRR, S. Guamán, M. J. Navarrete, B. Proaño and A. Achig on 23 June 2016; • Provincia Tungurahua: same locality, date, and collectors as for the holotype, (1.4002 ° S, 78.2807 ° W), 1244 m, QCAZ 52007, adult male; • Reserva Río Zuñac (1.3765 ° S, 78.1540 ° W), 1594 m, QCAZ 52458, 52462, adult males, collected by F. Ayala, D. Paucar, Y. Sagredo, J. P. Reyes, F. Recalde, L. Recalde and S. Recalde on 16 January 2011; • Provincia Pastaza: Reserva Comunitaria Ankaku, on Puyo – Tena road (1.2676 ° S, 78.0479 ° W), 1668 m, QCAZ 46297, adult male, collected by E. Tapia on 15 October 2009; • Parque Nacional Llanganates, Comunidad Zarentza (0.3524 ° S, 78.072 ° W), 1419 m, QCAZ 59819–21, adult males, collected by D. Rivadeneira, F. Mora, J. C. Sánchez, D. Velalcázar, D. Núñez and J. Pinto; • Provincia Morona Santiago: Chiguinda (3.2278 ° S, 78.7200 ° W), 1741, QCAZ 18275, collected by Í. Tapia and G. Onore on 27 December 2001; • 16 km N El Ideal, on the road to Cuenca from Gualaquiza (3.2425 ° S, 78.6725 ° W), 1600 m, QCAZ 23936, metamorph, QCAZ 23937, 23945, adult males, collected by SRR and G. Romero on 09 April 2003; • 8.6 km E 9 de Octubre, Guamote – Macas road (2.24774 ° S, 78.2069 ° W), 1671 m, QCAZ 32267, adult male, collected by M. Bustamante, J. Guayasamin, E. Bonaccorso and J. F. Freile on 19 July 2006; • 4 km from Limón (Leonidas Plaza Gutiérrez), on the road to Plan de Milagro (2.9969 ° S, 78.4550 ° W), 1373–1409 m, QCAZ 40878, adult male, collected by I. Tapia, D. Salazar, L. Coloma and SRR on 07 June 2008, QCAZ 41901 adult female, collected by D. Salazar, E. Lemmon and A. Lemmon on 06 August 2008; • Limón (Leonidas Plaza Gutiérrez), Río Napinaza (2.9230 ° S, 78.4080 ° W), 1430 m, QCAZ 42002, adult male, collected by D. Salazar, E. Lemmon and A. Lemmon on 13 August 2008, QCAZ 42047, adult male, collected by D. Salazar and N. Peñafiel on 28 February 2008; • Bosque Protector Abanico (2.2448 ° S, 78.2053 ° W), 1646, QCAZ 49032, adult male, collected by Y. Sagredo and R. Jarrín on 26 July 2010; • 9 de Octubre – Macas road (2.2351 ° S, 78.2167 ° W), 1683 m, QCAZ 57014–16, adult males, collected by F. Ayala, Y. Sagredo, S. Arroyo, S. Valverde and L. Cedeño on 02 March 2014; • Parque Nacional Sangay, Sardinayacu (2.0928 ° S, 78.1687 ° W), 1475–1735 m, QCAZ 58732–3, 58735, adult males, collected by D. Rivadeneira, D. Velalcázar, J. Pinto, F. Mora, D. Núñez, J. C. Sanchez and A. Correa between 16 January 2015 and 26 January 2015, QCAZ 59099, adult female, collected by SRR, D. Paucar, PJV, P. Baldeón, M. Caminer and K. Nusirquia on 28 February 2015; • Puchimi (2.7774 ° S, 78.1595 ° W), 1365–1450 m, QCAZ 69548, 69550, 69555, 69561–63, adult males, collected by D. Almeida, D. Núñez, K. Nusirquia and J. Mora on 09 July 2017; • Comunidad Shuar Kunkuk, base of Cordillera del Cóndor mountain range (3.3302 ° S, 78.1972 ° W), 1521 m, QCAZ 71029, adult female, collected by D. Almeida, D. Núñez, K. Nusirquia and R. Gavilanes on 01 March 2018; • Cordillera de Cutucú, Carlos Hurtado’s house surroundings (2.7818 ° S, 78.1604 ° W), 1380 m, QCAZ 71428, adult male, collected by D. Almeida, D. Paucar, D. Núñez, K. Nusirquia and R. Gavilanes on 29 January 2018; • Provincia Zamora Chinchipe: Miazi Alto (4.2502 ° S, 78.6174 ° W), 1250 m, QCAZ 41031, adult female, 41032, male, collected by E. Tapia and J. Guayasamín on 12 April 2009, QCAZ 41554, adult male, collected by J. Guayasamín, E. Tapia and H. Braun on 07 April 2009, QCAZ 41649, adult female, collected by S. Aldás, J. Guayasamín and E. Tapia on 12 April 2009; • Los Encuentros (3.7568 ° S, 78.6457 ° W), QCAZ 47074, juvenile, 47110 female, collected by A. Almendáriz on 23 June 2009; Nuevo Paraíso, 700 m NO on the road to Las Tres Aguas (4.8710 ° S, 78.9757 ° W), 1742 m, QCAZ 57099–100, adult females, collected by D. Paucar, D. Almeida, G. Galarza and D. Pareja on 10 April 2014; • Reserva Numbami, 18 km on Zamora-Romerillos road (4.1760 ° S, 78.9561 ° W), 1434–1583 m, QCAZ 57664, 57667, adult males, 57665–66, adult females, collected by SRR, D. Paucar, PJV, D. Almeida, D. Velalcázar, M. J. Navarrete, S. Arroyo, N. Páez and Z. Lange on 11 July 2014; • Parque Nacional Podocarpus, Bombuscaro (4.1344 ° S, 78.9938 ° W), 1443 m, QCAZ 60688, 60692, adult males, 60694–95, adult females, collected by D. Rivadeneira, F. Mora, J. C. Sánchez, D. Velalcázar, D. Núñez, J. Pinto, K. Cruz and L. Tipantiza on 24 March 2015; • Concesión Mirador ECSA, Río Wawayme basin, towards Canales (3.59145 ° S, 78.4212 ° W), 1637 m, QCAZ 66050–52, adult males, collected by R. Betancourt, M. Cajamarca and L. Pandiguana on 23 November 2016; • Nuevo Paraíso, Ciudad Perdida (4.4803 ° S, 78.8294 ° W), 1334 m, QCAZ 68056, adult female, collected by F. Ayala, K. Nusirquia, D. Núñez and A. Calispa on 13 May 2017. Definition. In this section, coloration and characters refer to preserved specimens unless otherwise mentioned. The Definition and Diagnosis are based on 11 adult females and 36 adult males. Hyloscirtus dispersus sp. nov. can be diagnosed by the combination of the following characters: (1) mean SVL 34.1 mm in adult males (range 31.3–38.7; n = 36) and mean SVL 41.1 mm in adult females (range 35.4–45.2; n = 11; Suppl. material 1: table S 5, Fig. 7); (2) white supralabial stripe present or absent; (3) tympanum rounded, inconspicuous to conspicuous in males and conspicuous in females; supratympanic fold present and unpigmented; (4) white ulnar and tarsal folds; (5) subarticular tubercles conspicuous in hands and feet; (6) supernumerary tubercles inconspicuous in feet and conspicuous in hands: (7) calcar tubercle present; (8) pericloacal spots well-defined; (9) all surfaces plain cream with a combination of scattered large or minute black spots and with white spots or flecks varying from ill-defined to large on the dorsum; (10) in life, dorsal surfaces and flanks yellowish green, olive green, dull green, brownish green or greyish green, with barely visible to thick white spots and minute or thick black spots or flecks, scattered throughout the body; venter yellow, gold, whitish, brownish green, grayish green, or dark pinkish; axillar and inguinal regions and ventral surfaces yellow, blueish, greenish, silver, brownish green or dark pinkish; pericloacal spots yellow, white or unpigmented; webbing yellow, yellow orange, whitish or dark pinkish; iris pearl or pinkish with leather reticulations; (11) the advertisement call consist of a single note, with a mean duration of 0.11 ± 0.015 s and a mean dominant frequency of 2795.4 ± 138.68 Hz and a fundamental frequency of 2700.63 ± 195.66 Hz. The call can be repeated in a series of 1 to 8 calls. Diagnosis. Characters in this section pertain to preserved specimens unless otherwise noticed. Coloration refers to life specimens. The most similar species to Hyloscirtus dispersus sp. nov. living in the Amazon basin are Hyloscirtus albopunctulatus (sympatrically distributed, Fig. 5), H. maycu sp. nov., H. elbakyanae sp. nov., H. phyllognathus, and H. torrenticola. Hyloscirtus dispersus sp. nov. differs by having a supratympanic fold (absent in H. maycu sp. nov., H. elbakyanae sp. nov., H. phyllognathus, and H. torrenticola), an inconspicuous tarsal fold (thick in H. albopunctulatus, H. phyllognathus, and H. torrenticola), conspicuous subarticular tubercles in hands and fee (inconspicuous in hands and feet in H. albopunctulatus, Fig. 11), conspicuous supernumerary tubercles in hands (inconspicuous in hands and feet in H. albopunctulatus, H. maycu sp. nov., and H. elbakyanae sp. nov.), well-defined pericloacal spots (ill-defined or absent in H. maycu sp. nov. and H. elbakyanae sp. nov.), a calcar tubercle present (absent in all species except for H. phyllognathus), and an iris pearl or pinkish with leather-colored reticulations (clam shell with black or sand dune reticulations in H. albopunctulatus and a bronze iris in H. torrenticola, Fig. 12). The advertisement call of Hyloscirtus dispersus sp. nov. differs by having a call duration of 0.11 ± 0.015 s (shorter in H. albopunctulatus with 0.051 ± 0.005 s and in H. torrenticola with 0.03 ± 0.001 s), a dominant frequency of 2743.79 ± 48.22 Hz (lower in H. albopunctulatus with 2149.84 ± 137.36 Hz and in H. elbakyanae sp. nov. with 2321.29 ± 127.86 Hz) and a fundamental frequency of 2700.63 ± 195.66 Hz (lower in H. albopunctulatus with 1214.12 ± 184.71 Hz and in H. elbakyanae sp. nov. with 1184.35 ± 30.48 Hz). Hyloscirtus dispersus sp. nov. has an intercall duration of 0.33 ± 0.044 s (shorter in H. phyllognathus with 0.06 s and in H. torrenticola with 0.07 ± 0.007 s) (Table 4, Fig. 9; Melin 1941; Duellman and Altig 1978; Rivera-Correa 2016). Moreover, all males of H. dispersus sp. nov. have been found calling while perching on vegetation over streams (n = 14; Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador 2024), while all males of H. albopunctulatus were registered calling from under the rocks next to streams (n = 5; Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador 2024). Finally, H. dispersus s