Boophis mandraka Blommers-Schlösser 1979

A small, green treefrog, males 21-26 mm; females unknown. Bright green with scattered brown spots, sometimes with a few large yellow spots on the dorsum. Upper eyelids yellow with brown. A moderately wide yellow line, bordered with brown spots, runs from the tip of the snout over the nostrils to the anterior corner of the eye. Venter pale green. Skin smooth. Iris silvery grey with brown reticulations. Nostrils slighly nearer to eye than to tip of snout. Tympanum rather indistinct, about 1/3 of eye diameter. Ratio of hand length/body length is 0.3-0.36. Tibiotarsal articulation reaches beyond tip of snout. Webbing of the hand 1(1), 2i/e(1), 3i(2), 3e(1), 4(1-1.5); webbing of the foot 1(0), 2i/e(0), 3i(1), 3e(0-0.5), 4i/e(1), 5(0). Males with small unpigmented nuptial pads and a single subgular, moderately distensible vocal sac.Similar species: In contrast to the other three species of the B. rappiodes-group, B. mandraka has no blue ring on the outer iris area. In B. ankaratra the tibiotarsal articulation does not reach beyond tip of snout.Taken with permission from Glaw and Vences (2007).

Mandraka. It occurs at 1,200m asl in secondary vegetation at the edge of streams near degraded rainforest (Vallan et al. 2008).

Calling males sit on shrubbery alongside rapids, about 2 m high, on rainy nights. Adults and tadpoles are often associated with those of B. erythrodactylus.Calls: Single short melodious whistling and clicking notes, emitted after irregular intervals. Call (from the terra typica): Three loud melodious clicks, followed by a very soft click. Call duration is 750 ms, frequency ranges from 2 to 5 kHz, with a dominant frequency of about 3.5 kHz. Eggs and tadpoles (from the terra typica): Tadpoles live in rapids. They are brown on the back; the belly is black in stage 25 and silvery grey in later stages. On the caudal musculature, there are large, well defined dark brown patterns with creamish background. The caudal fin is transparent, with a few dark brown markings. Total length in stage 25: 26-35 mm; in stages 40-42: 37-40 mm. The mouth is broad and directed ventrally. At midlength of the tail, the caudal musculature represents about 1/2 of the total tail height. Tooth formula is 5/2+2//3. Metamorphosing juveniles measure about 13 mm from snout to vent. Their colour is green, with brown pigmentation on the eyelids and along the nostrils, and white spots on the back. Their hindlimbs are relatively shorter than in adults.Breeding takes place in streams (Vallan et al. 2008).

Data Deficient: continuing doubts as to its taxonomic status, extent of occurrence, status and ecological requirements. It is not known from any protected areas (Vallan et al. 2008).

Boophis mandraka is a species of frog in the family Mantellidae. It is endemic to Madagascar, officially known only from Mandraka Park with unconfirmed records in Andohahela National Park, Ambatovaky Reserve, Anjanaharibe-Sud Reserve and Andasibe-Mantadia National Park. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montane forests, rivers, and heavily degraded former forest. It is threatened by habitat loss for agriculture, timber extraction, charcoal manufacturing, invasive eucalyptus, livestock grazing and expanding human settlement.