NEW RECORDS AND AN UPDATED CHECKLIST OF AMPHIBIANS (AMPHIBIA) FROM PHU YEN PROVINCE, VIETNAM

We herein provide an updated checklist of 33 amphibian species from Phu Yen province, Vietnam. Eight of them are reported for the first time from this province, namely Ophryophryne gerti, O. hansi, Megophrys major, Glyphoglossus molossus, Kaloula indochinensis, Microhyla berdmorei, M. nanapollexa, and Amolops spinapectoralis. Additional data of morphological characters of afore mentioned species were also provided. The number of amphibian species recorded was highest from Tay Hoa district (18 species), followed by Song Hinh district (15 species), Dong Xuan district (10 species), Tuy Hoa city (8 species), Son Hoa district (8 species), Dong Hoa (4 species), and Tuy An district (3 species). In terms of conservation concern, three species are listed in the IUCN Red List (2016), namely Leptobrachium banae, Glyphoglossus molossus, Rhacophorus annamensis and one species is listed in the Vietnam Red Data Book (2007), namely Ingerophrynus galeatus.


Introduction
Phu Yen is one of the most poorly studied provinces in Vietnam in terms of the herpetofaunal diversity. Ngo Dac Chung and Tran Duy Ngoc (2007) provided a first preliminary list of 21 amphibian species from this province [10]. In their checklist of the herpetofauna of Vietnam, Nguyen et al. (2009) listed only five species of amphibians from Phu Yen province [12]. Do et al. (2015) reported six new records of narrow-mouth frogs from this province, namely Calluella guttulata, Kalophrynus honbaensis, Microhyla mukhlesuri, M. marmorata, M. picta, and M. pulchra. These results increased the total number of amphibian species in Phu Yen province to 27 [4].
As a result of our recent field surveys in Phu Yen province in 2015 and 2016, we herein report eight new records of amphibians from this province. Our new findings bring the total number of amphibians in Phu Yen province to 33 species.

Material and methods
Field surveys were conducted by Dang Trong Do in 2015 and 2016 in six districts (Dong Hoa, Tay Hoa, Song Hinh, Son Hoa, Dong Xuan, Tuy An) and Tuy Hoa city, Phu Yen province (Fig.  1). After taking photographs, the specimens were euthanized in a closed vessel with a piece of cotton wool containing ethyl acetate (Simmons 2002) [15], fixed in 80 % ethanol and subsequently stored in 70 % ethanol. Specimens were deposited in the collection of the Phu Yen University (PYU), Phu Yen province, Vietnam. Morphological characters: Measurements were taken with a digital caliper to the nearest 0.1 mm. For abbreviations of taken morphological measurements and scalation data see Table 1.

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Results and discussion

Species composition
A total of 33 species of amphibians belonging to seven families and two orders were recorded from Phu Yen province (Table 2). Microhylidae is the most diverse family with 12 recorded species, followed by Dicroglossidae (7 species), Ranidae (5 species), Megophryidae (4 species), Rhacophoridae and Bufonidae (2 species each), and Ichthyophiidae (1 species).
Coloration in life: Dorsal surface of head and body brown-grayish; a dark triangular pattern between eyes present; lower part of flank with some dark brown spots; lateral side of head dark brown; dorsal surface of limbs with dark bars; throat, chest, belly and ventral surface of limbs dark brown.
Ecological notes: The specimens were collected between 20:00 and 23:00 in a stream. The surrounding habitat was evergreen forest of hardwoods and shrubs.
Distribution: In Vietnam, this species is known from Thua Thien Hue province southwards to Lam Dong province. Elsewhere, this species has been reported from Laos  Coloration in life: Dorsum chocolate or grayish-brown with black patches; lip, throat, limbs, flanks with white granulars; brachium region, thigh, reticulations on wrist, elbow, crus and tarsus with orange-yellow patches; orange-yellow or chocolate patch on either side of the neck posterior to eyes; gular region black with fine white spots; venter chocolate brown, covered with small, distinct white spots.
Ecological notes: Specimens were collected between 21:00 and 22:00 after the rain while moving across a forest path. The surrounding habitat was evergreen forest of hardwoods and bamboo.
Distribution: In Vietnam, the species has been recorded from Gia Lai and Dong Nai province. Elsewhere, this species is known from Laos and Cambodia (Chan et al., 2013). Remarks: Our specimens differ from the description of Bain & Nguyen (2004) by size: the females are larger (SVL 18.93-20.53 mm, n = 3 vs 16.63 mm, n = 1) and having a smaller ratio of head length/head width (HL/HW = 0.98-1.02, n = 3 vs 1.21, n = 1). We record and describe the male for the first time.

Taxonomic changes and threatened species
The taxonomic identification of some species recorded from Phu Yen in previous studies has been recently verified by different authors based on molecular data.  [13]. Five specimens from Phu Yen province have 285-334 annuli and complete lateral stripe; therefore, the previous record of I. bannanicus by Nguyen and Tran (2007) from Phu Yen province should be re-identified as I. nguyenorum.
Polypedates leucomystax: Ngo & Tran (2007) reported P. leucomystax from Phu Yen province [10]. Kuraishi et al. (2012) indicated that this is a complex species, and specimens from Vietnam should be assigned to P. mutus and P. megacephalus [8]. The specimens from Phu Yen province with small bright yellow spots on the posterior part of the thigh should be identified as P. mutus.
Rhacophorus annamensis and R. exechopygus: Ngo & Tran (2007) reported both R. annamensis and R. exechopygus from Phu Yen province [10]. Based on our collection of amphibians collected in 2015 and 2016, we could only confirm the presence of R. annamensis from Phu Yen province.
In terms of conservation concern, three species are listed in the IUCN Red List (2016), comprising one nearly threatened species and two vulnerable species. Only one species is listed in the Vietnam Red Data Book (2007) as vulnerable ( Table 2).
The number of amphibian species recorded was highest from Tay Hoa district (18 species), and lowest from Tuy An district (3 species). In terms of conservation concern, three species are listed in the IUCN Red List (2016), namely Leptobrachium banae, Glyphoglossus molossus, Rhacophorus annamensis and one species is listed in the Vietnam Red Data Book (2007), namely Ingerophrynus galeatus.