A NEW SPECIES OF COLOSTETHUS (ANURA, DENDROBATIDAE) FROM MARTINIQUE, FRENCH-ANTILLES

Field work in the summer of 1990 on Martinique, French Antilles, led t o the discovery of a new species of Colostethus (Anura: Dendrobatidae) . The new species is a small (snout-vent length <20 mm), brown frog wh ich can easily be identified by its distinct ventral coloration. The v enter is a uniform pale orange in life, with males having a dark throa t and a black collar covering the entire hyoid region. Toe webbing is reduced to barely perceptible vestigial webbing between toes III and I V. The species has a crepuscular activity cycle and a distinctive, hig h-pitched call. Its habitat is restricted to the upper slopes of Monta gne Pelee on the island of Martinique in the central Lesser Antilles. Its discovery is remarkable because it was not recognized previously o n this otherwise herpetologically well-known island, and because it is the only known member of the frog family Dendrobatidae endemic to an oceanic island.