Miniature Robber Frog

Eleutherodactylus dimidiatus reaches 45 mm in SVL in adult females, with the males being smaller. Digital discs are absent. There is no webbing between the toes. The vomerine teeth, behind the choanae, are in an abruptly curved series (Cope 1862; Ruiz 1987; Schwartz and Henderson 1985; Schwartz and Henderson 1991). These frogs are brown to golden tan, sometimes with a mid-dorsal pale hairline. The dorsal color is bordered laterally by a wide black band that is the posterior extension of a black canthal band. A bold straight cream line extends from the nares to the forelimb insertion, which is margined above by the dark canthal line and below by a dark labial line. A large, black groin spot may be present. The concealed surfaces of thighs are sometimes pinkish or reddish. The venter is pearly white (Cope 1862; Ruiz 1987; Schwartz and Henderson 1985; Schwartz and Henderson 1991).Eleutherodactylus dimidiatus is a member of the Eleutherodactylus dimidiatus group (subgenus Euhyas). Related species include Eleutherodactylus emiliae, E. maestrensis, and E. albipes (Heinicke et al. 2007). The chromosome number is 30 (Bogart 1981). Synonyms include Hylodes dimidiatus (Cope 1862).

This species is endemic to Cuba and it is found island-wide. It occurs in woods (sometimes in pinewoods) at elevations up to 1400 m (Schwartz and Henderson 1991).

This is a terrestrial species found in the leaf litter and taking refuge under rocks, logs and other objects. Males vocalize from the ground, emitting a very soft, insect-like whisper. It is a direct developing species, ovipositing in small depressions in humid leaf litter, under fallen trunks and palm trash. The clutches are composed of spherical, yellow-orange or white, semitransparent eggs, 3.3-4.4 mm in diameter. The incubation period is about 25 days (Estrada 1987; Ruiz 1987; Fong unpublished). This species is parasitized by nematodes: Aplectana cubana, Neyraplectana sp., Oswaldocruzia lenteixerai, Porrocaecum sp. (Coy and Lorenzo 1982; Schwartz and Henderson 1991).

The main threat to this species is habitat destruction as a result of deforestation due to agricultural development for crop cultivation and subsistence farming, charcoal manufacture, and infrastructure development for human settlement and tourism. Agricultural pollution is also a threat (Hedges and Diaz 2004). Some natural areas in Eastern Cuba have been degraded and substituted by pastures, inducing the extinction of this species from its original habitat. Nevertheless, it is able to survive in areas where timber plantations have substituted natural vegetation (Fong 1999).

Eleutherodactylus dimidiatus is a rare species of frog in the family Eleutherodactylidae endemic to Cuba. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest and subtropical or tropical moist montane forest. It is threatened by habitat loss.