The tadpole of the endemic Corsican painted frog Discoglossus montalentii (Anura, Discoglossidae)

The tadpole of the endemic Corsican painted frog Discoglossus montalentii L anza, Nascetti, Capula & Bullini, 1984 is described on the basis of two sam ples obtained in captivity from intraspecific breeding. Tadpoles of this sp ecies possess a ventral spiraculum, dorsal eyes and nares, and a relatively long tail which is rounded at the end. The oral disk is completely bordere d by a single series of marginal papillae and, in advanced larval stages (i .e., from stage 35), the two anterior and the three posterior keratodont ro ws usually comprise three or four subrows. In Corsica, where D. montalentii and D. sardus are often found in syntopy, the identification of their tadp oles appears relatively easy only if the developmental stage is taken into account: the tadpole of D. montalentii always possesses a complete series o f marginal papillae, a higher total number of keratodont subrows, a larger body size, and a differently shaped tail. These characters permit identific ation of Corsican Discoglossus tadpoles. The results have important implica tions for both in ecological and management strategies necessary to the pre servation of the endemic Corsican painted frog.