Arthroleptis poecilonotus

COMMENTS. — See comments on A. adelphus. Phylogenetic evidence suggests that under the name A. poecilonotus Peters, 1863 there is a species complex comprising multiple allopatric species from (1) Western Ghana and Sierra Leone, (2) Togo Hills of Eastern Ghana, (3) Cameroon, and (4) Bioko (Blackburn 2008). The lineage identified from Bioko by Blackburn (2008) was formally described as A. bioko (Blackburn 2010). Arthroleptis poecilonotus has two available synonyms, A. macrodactylus Boulenger, 1882 described from Gabon and A. inguinalis Boulenger, 1900 described from Benito River (Equatorial Guinea). As the type locality of A. poecilonotus is in Ghana (Holländischen Besitzungen (Boutry) [Ghana] an der Küste von Guinea), the different lineage from Cameroon, and also, the unstudied populations from Gabon and Equatorial Guinea deserve other nomenclatural denominations once an exhaustive taxonomic revision is made. SPECIMENS EXAMINED. — 26 specimens. Patio Alosa (Niefang), 14 August 1985 (EBD 21033); Cabo San Juan, Río Muni, 21 August 1901 (MNCN 3921 – 3942); Río Muni, 21 August 1901 (MNCN 3958); Río Muni, Cabo San Juan, 25 May 1901 (MNCN 3997 – 3998).

DISTRIBUTION. — Members of the Arthroleptis poecilonotus species complex are widely distributed, ranging from Guinea-Bissau to Uganda, and southwards to Gabon, Congo and Central African Republic. In Equatorial Guinea, it has been recorded both in Río Muni at Cabo San Juan (Boulenger 1900, 1903), Monte Alén (De la Riva 1994) and in several localities on Bioko (Mertens 1965; Hydeman et al. 2017) (Map 2 C).

TYPE LOCALITY. — Unknown taxonomic identity (see comments).