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Family Eleutherodactylidae Eleutherodactylus coqui Thomas, 1966 Coquí ETYMOLOGY coqui: the name refers to the male’s advertisement call, a loud CO-QUI (KO-KEE) IDENTIFICATION Adults. The ground color of Eleutherodactylus coqui is brown to grayish brown, with the dorsum quite variable in pattern, from uniform to mottled or freckled. A broad light dorsolateral band may extend down each side with the dorsum dark and the lateral colors much lighter below the band. Some coquis have a vertebral stripe of varying width extending down the middle of the back. A dark line may be present from the nostril through the eye extending to the front limb. Eyes are large, and the snout is pointed. The thighs are sometimes brown with yellowish-green mottling and darker than the body. Venters are variable in the amount of pigmentation, from a light salt-and-pepper pattern to a nearly even darker granular coloration. Males are smaller than females. In Puerto Rico, males are 29.5–37 mm SUL, whereas females are 35.5–52 mm SUL (Townsend and Stewart, 1994). O’Neill and Beard (2011) recorded a male mean of 27.9–30.7 mm SUL at Hilo and Kona, Hawaii. Larvae. There is no free-swimming larva. The larval period is passed within the egg and froglets hatch as miniature adults. Eggs. Eggs are white and unpigmented and tend to stick together in a clump. They are 3.5 mm in diameter and surrounded by a tough egg capsule. DISTRIBUTION This species is native to Puerto Rico. Established populations are in Hawaii (Hawaii, Maui, and Oahu; Kraus et al., 1999), but individuals have been found occasionally in Florida and Louisiana. Reports of Eleutherodactylus marticensis introduced to Hawaii with nursery stock at Kokomo and Omaopio on Maui (Kraus et al., 1999) were misidentified E. coqui (Kraus and Campbell, 2002). The Hawaiian populations originated from northern Puerto Rico, based on an analysis of genomic DNA (Velo-Antón et al., 2007). Dispersal has been facilitated through the nursery trade, with the first reports of coquis occurring in the late 1980s (Kraus and Campbell, 2002). However , frogs were intentionally released in order to establish new populations. It is found associated with nurseries, residential areas, resort hotels, ornamental parks, and natural forest. The species is rapidly expanding its range. LIFE HISTORY This species is very common and widespread in Puerto Rico, both in native forest and in humandisturbed areas. It appears to be occupying the same type of habitats in Hawaii, where populations have been reported from 40 to 952 m in elevation. Populations can be very large. For example, Kraus et al. (1999) reported collecting Distribution of Eleutherodactylus coqui ELEUTHERODACTYLUS COQUI 813 prey comprised nonnative species, especially ants (30%) and amphipods (22%). Endemic invertebrates (mites, beetles, springtails, flies) and pest species (mosquitoes, termites) did not make up a significant portion of the diet. In turn, coquis made up 6.6% of the prey by weight of mongooses (Herpestes javanicus) in one Hawaiian study, but neither rats (Rattus exulans, R. rattus) nor Cane Toads (Rhinella marina) consumed coquis (Beard and Pitt, 2006). At Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, they have been found to 1,158 m in elevation. BREEDING SITES AND REPRODUCTION Reproduction may occur year-round, but peaks during the wet season. The call is a very loud “ko-kee” that is unmistakable. The ko part of the call establishes territorial boundaries with other males, whereas the kee is the advertisement call to attract females. Calls may be heard at any time, but most calling occurs from dusk to midnight, with an increase in intensity at dawn. Males call from the ground, short bushes and branches, and well into the tree canopy. Females approach the calling male, who then “leads” her to the area where eggs will be deposited. There is a certain degree of variation in call characteristics (fundamental frequency of each call syllable and call duration, and the number of calls per minute), which is correlated positively or negatively with elevation (O’Neill and Beard, 2011). Some of the 105 adult coquis in 50 minutes from an area 50 m2 . Populations are small for about a year following introduction but rapidly increase afterward. Woolbright et al. (2006) reported densities three times greater in Hawaii than in Puerto Rico, with adult estimates ranging from means of 3,413 to 11,800/ha depending upon population and season . There was a mean of 0.7 to 7.5 juveniles per adult, with ratios again...

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