My Mantella Collection.

[cichlidjedi]

Wow Mantella Guy your collection is amazing. Any tips to a new Golden Mantella keeper? Also do you have any recommended frog sites and blogs that are focused on Anura?

 

[FrogEyes]

Marc Staniszewski who is the owner of Dartfrog.co.uk and the discoverer of Mantella milotympanum.

Marc didn't discover them. He described them, but probably accidentally, along with Mantella aurantiaca rubra. Both names were being used in the pet trade [which seems obvious, given the fact that milotympanum is a misspelling of melanotympanum] at the time, but Marc put both in print along with descriptions, which is enough to formally credit him with both names. Likewise, I am responsible for Mantella nasuta, a name which is an editorial error based on a slide which was labelled as "Mantella n.sp." [which is why the name only appears with the photo, and not in the text]. The latter error appeared in print so quickly that by the time I was aware of it, there seemed little I could do.

M.milotympanum is recognized because it is distinct in a number of ways from other species, although highly variable itself (red, orange, green, or blue) between populations and virtually genetically identical with M.crocea (also green, yellow, orange, or red). It's hard to say whether the two species are distinct from one another, or even if each might be composed of multiple micro-species, but the difference in skin texture and pigmentation certainly suggests they are.

Most, if not all "Mantella betsileo" in captivity are Mantella ebenaui, and can be keyed out based on small differences. Mantella viridis and M.ebenaui are closely related, and could be a complex of four recently diverged species or semispecies.

Nice collection. One day I'll focus on this genus again, having kept 13 species and an additional 3 variants previously.