Colostethus portobelensis Venkrbec, Veselý, Daza, Kusy, Fuentes, Quiroz, Garcés, Ibáñez, Crawford & Batista, 2026, sp. nov.

Colostethus portobelensis sp. nov. Figures 5 D and 17 Suggested common names. Portobelo rocket frog (English) / rana cohete de Portobelo (Spanish) Phyllobates kingsburyi (part) – Dunn (1931: 391) Phyllobates latinasus (part) – Dunn (1924: 5); Dunn (1931: 391) Phyllobates pratti (part) – Dunn (1957: 78) Colostethus pratti (part) – Wells (1980 a: 206), Toft (1980: 47, Table 1), Toft (1981: 141, 142), Ibáñez et al. (1994: 24), Toft (1995: appendix 1), Ibáñez et al. (1995: 125), Ibáñez et al. (1996: 10), Ibáñez (2005: 239), Woodhams et al. (2008: 273), Myers et al. (2012: 10, fig. 7), Sosa and Guerrel (2013: 63), Savage (1968: 757, fig. 4), Edwards (1971: 148), Villa et al. (1988: 13), Consorcio TLBG / UP / STRI (2003: 325, 333), Jaramillo et al. (2010: 617, 633), Köhler (2011: 130, 131), Grant et al. (2017: S 38, S 40 – S 41, S 60) Colostethus aff. pratti – Santos et al. (2009: fig. S 3), Fuentes et al. (2023: 3, fig. 8), Samudio et al. (2025: 33) Colostethus cf. pratti – Santos et al. (2009: table SS 3) Holotype. MHCH 5093 (original field number TV 028), adult male, collected by TV on 16 March 2025, nearby Konsenda San Blas Eco Lodge, El Llano – Cartí Road, km 11, Chepo District, Panamá Province, Republic of Panama (9.2886, –78.9842, 170 m). Paratypes. Males MHCH 3301 and 3302, same collecting data as the holotype; MHCH 3294 –3296, males from Portobelo NP, trail to Salto del Mono, camp by Piscina Esmeralda, San Felipe de Portobelo, Portobelo, Colón Province, Republic of Panama (9.4902, –79.6458, 140 m), collected by TV and Jesse Ashcroft on 25 February 2025. Diagnosis. Colostethus portobelensis sp. nov. is characterized by the following combination of characters: (1) dorsal skin smooth anteriorly, with scattered tubercles in the last 1 / 3 of the body, ventral skin texture smooth, usually with disperse warts present around the cloaca; (2) tympanic annulus present, but only the lower part is clearly visible, tympanic membrane absent; (3) snout truncate in dorsal view and rounded in profile; (4) rounded supraocular tubercle present, cranial crests absent; (5) vocal sac well developed, vocal slits present, situated under the center of the orbit level, no nuptial pads; (6) appressed fingers I, II and IV equally long, not reaching distal subarticular tubercle of finger III; disk pads even; (7) no finger fringes, weak webbing present; (8) palmar tubercle rounded, flattened and larger than thenar tubercle; thenar tubercle low and elongated; subarticular tubercles rounded and globular, first tubercle more evident; supernumerary tubercles not visible; (9) heel smooth; (10) basal toe webbing present: II 3 – 4 - III 4 - – 3 IV; (11) subarticular tubercles present (one on toes I and II, two on toes III and V, three on toe IV) inner metatarsal tubercle elongated, outer metatarsal tubercle rounded; tarsal keel well defined; (12) dorsal ground color of head and trunk in life brown or grey, uniform or with dark blotches, with or without a thin median dark line continuously leading from snout to the base of the back or disrupted and only remnants clearly visible; posterodorsal ground coloration of thighs orangish or greyish, with longitudinal yellow or orange stripe between two longitudinal dark stripes on thighs; ventral coloration of abdomen white with yellow coloration near groins and axillae, limbs yellow, chest and throat pink with more or less abundant grey or black spots; groins and axillae with yellow; dorsal surface of humeri grey, brown or orange dorsally with discrete or blurred longitudinal anterior dark line and longitudinal posterior dark line; anterodorsal surfaces of forearms and ventral surfaces of hands with dark brown marbling; posterodorsal surface of calves and tarsi and ventral surfaces of feet with dark brown marbling; (13) axilla – groin stripe short, interrupted at about mid-distance anteriorly from groin; (14) SVL in males (n = 6): 21.1 ± 0.58 (20.3–22.0) mm; (15) advertisement calls with a dominant frequency of 3950.9 ± 127.02 (3750–4125) Hz, with a note repetition rate of 5.3 ± 0.22 (5.0–5.6) notes / s and with a number of notes within one call being up to 16. Comparisons. Colostethus portobelensis sp. nov. differs from C. panamansis in maximum SVL of adult males (22 mm vs. 27 mm in C. panamansis) and toe webbing (absent vs. moderate webbing in C. panamansis). Males’ advertisement calls consist of bouts of 6–16 notes (vs. 2–5 notes per call in C. panamansis). Colostethus portobelensis sp. nov. differs from C. latinasus in male ventral coloration (throat and chest brown with white spots forming mottled pattern, darker in adult males, lighter but still conspicuous in adult females of C. latinasus) and in size (C. latinasus male maximum SVL is 32.4 mm vs. 22 mm in C. portobelensis sp. nov.). Male advertisement calls differ significantly by its frequency (3750–4125 Hz vs. 2658–2673 Hz in C. latinasus). From Colostethus pratti, C. portobelensis sp. nov. differs by dorsal skin color, which is grey with brown speckles (unlike uniform brown in C. pratti). Colostethus portobelensis sp. nov. has yellow coloration in groins and axillae (white ventrolateral coloration in C. pratti); throat of C. pratti males is mottled with grey to dark brown (vs. uniform greyish or purplish in C. portobelensis sp. nov.); the lowest part of a tympanic annulus is white (vs. the entire tympanic annulus included in lateral dark stripe in C. pratti); fingers and toes are weakly webbed (vs. no webbing in C. pratti); advertisement calls consist of up to 16 notes (vs. 29–129 notes in C. pratti from Córdoba; Jiménez-Bolaño et al. 2020), having longer notes (61.8 ± 5.12 ms vs. 20 ms) of a lower rate (5.3 ± 0.22 notes / s vs. 19 notes / s) than C. pratti; a dominant frequency of 3750–4125 Hz is lower than in C. pratti (4631–4969 Hz). Colostethus portobelensis sp. nov. has a significantly longer SVL in males than C. bocatoro sp. nov. (20.3–22.0 mm, 21.1 ± 0.58 mm vs. 19.0– 20.6 mm, 19.7 ± 0.83 mm; W = 28, p = 0.0173), and a significantly longer interorbital distance (linear residual of IO and SVL, respectively; t = – 3.5747, df = 9, p <0.01). Colostethus portobelensis sp. nov. also differs by the yellow coloration in groin and axilla (vs. no yellow coloration in C. bocatoro sp. nov.); by the yellow ventral surface of limbs and darker throat (vs. pink ventral surface of limbs and throat in C. bocatoro sp. nov.); by weakly webbed fingers (vs. moderately webbed in C. bocatoro sp. nov.); tarsal keel well defined (vs. almost indiscernible in C. bocatoro sp. nov.); calls of C. portobelensis sp. nov. have a significantly slower note repetition rate (5.3 ± 0.22 notes / s; t = – 26.69, df = 11, p <0.001) than the ones of C. bocatoro sp. nov. (9.5 ± 0.35 notes / s) and consist of significantly longer notes (61.8 ± 5.12 ms; t = 9.5011, df = 11, p <0.001) than the calls of C. bocatoro sp. nov. (35.4 ± 4.87 ms). From Colostethus donosensis sp. nov., C. portobelensis sp. nov. differs by the presence of yellow coloration in groins and axillae and by the ventral coloration (white belly, darker throat and yellowish limbs in C. portobelensis sp. nov. vs. pale pink throat, chest and limbs in C. donosensis sp. nov.); by weak webbing between all fingers (vs. only fingers I – III weakly webbed in C. donosensis sp. nov.); advertisement calls have a dominant frequency of 3750–4125 Hz, 3950.9 ± 127.02 Hz, that is lower than in C. donosensis sp. nov. (4393–4759 Hz, 4585.7 ± 183.83 Hz), though it is correlated with body size. Note duration is significantly longer in C. portobelensis sp. nov. (61.8 ± 5.12 ms vs. 47.0 ± 4.92 ms; t = – 4.2473, df = 8, p = 0.0028) and note repetition rate is slightly, however significantly lower (5.3 ± 0.22 notes / s; t = 5.1087, df = 8, p <0.001) than in C. donosensis sp. nov. calls (6.0 ± 0.17 notes / s). Colostethus portobelensis sp. nov. has a significantly longer SVL in males than C. kuara sp. nov. (20.3–22.0 mm, 21.1 ± 0.58 mm vs. 16.2–20.1 mm, 17.9 ± 1.28 mm; t = – 5.7128, df = 10, p <0.001); interorbital distance (IO: t = 9.1513, df = 10, p <0.001) is significantly shorter; head size (HW: W = 0, p = 0.0022; and HL: t = – 4.2835, df = 10, p = 0.0016) and forearm length (FAL: t = – 3.9631, df = 10, p <0.01) are significantly larger than in C. kuara sp. nov. In all the four parameters linear residuals of given distance and SVL were used. Colostethus portobelensis sp. nov. also differs from C. kuara sp. nov. by a pale belly and darker throat (greyish or purplish), vs. belly and throat of the same color in C. kuara sp. nov.; by weakly webbed fingers (vs. no finger webbing in C. kuara sp. nov.). Number of notes per call 10.7 ± 3.04 (6–16) is lower than 35.3 ± 12.10 (26–49) of C. kuara sp. nov. calls. Note repetition rate is 5.3 ± 0.22 notes / s also significantly slower (t = 14.629, df = 2.1095, p = 0.0037) than 12.8 ± 0.88 notes / s in C. kuara sp. nov. Single notes are significantly longer in C. portobelensis sp. nov. (61.8 ± 5.12 ms; t = – 9.8288, df = 8, p <0.001) than in C. kuara sp. nov. (26.3 ± 5.57 ms). Colostethus portobelensis sp. nov. has a significantly longer SVL in males than C. sanblasensis sp. nov. (20.3–22.0 mm, 21.1 ± 0.58 mm vs. 17.9–18.4 mm, 18.2 ± 0.25 mm; t = – 9.6096, df = 8, p <0.001); interorbital (IO: t = 10.443, df = 8, p <0.001) and axilla-groin distance (AGD: t = 3.7698, df = 8, p <0.01) is significantly shorter; head size (HW: W = 0, p = 0.0095; and HL: t = – 2.5167, df = 8, p = 0.0360) and forearm length (FAL: t = – 3.4957, df = 8, p <0.01) are significantly larger than in C. sanblasensis sp. nov. In all the five parameters linear residuals of a given distance and SVL were used. Colostethus portobelensis sp. nov. also differs from C. sanblasensis sp. nov. by a pale belly and darker throat (greyish or purplish), vs. belly and throat of the same color in C. sanblasensis sp. nov.; fingers and toes weakly webbed (vs. vestigial webbing only between finger III and IV in C. sanblasensis sp. nov.). Number of not