:Oophaga

{{Automatic taxobox

| image = Bluejean.jpg

| image_caption = Oophaga pumilio

| taxon = Oophaga

| authority = Bauer, 1994

| type_species = Dendrobates pumilio

| type_species_authority = Schmidt, 1857

| diversity = 12 species (see text)

| synonyms =

}}

Oophaga is a genus of poison-dart frogs containing twelve species, many of which were formerly placed in the genus Dendrobates.{{cite journal |author=Grant, T. |author2=Frost, D. R. |author3=Caldwell, J. P. |author4=Gagliardo, R. |author5=Haddad, C. F. B. |author6=Kok, P. J. R. |author7=Means, D. B. |author8=Noonan, B. P. |author9=Schargel, W. E. |author10=Wheeler, W. C. |name-list-style=amp |year=2006 |title=Phylogenetic systematics of dart-poison frogs and their relatives (Amphibia: Athesphatanura: Dendrobatidae) |journal=Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History |volume=299 |pages=1–262 |publisher=American Museum of Natural History |doi=10.1206/0003-0090(2006)299[1:PSODFA]2.0.CO;2 |s2cid=82263880 |url=http://digitallibrary.amnh.org/dspace/bitstream/2246/5803/1/B299.pdf}} The frogs are distributed in Central and South America, from Nicaragua south through the El Chocó to northern Ecuador (at elevations below {{convert|1200|m|ft|abbr=on}}).{{cite web |url=http://research.amnh.org/vz/herpetology/amphibia/Amphibia/Anura/Dendrobatidae/Dendrobatinae/Oophaga |title=Oophaga Bauer, 1994 |author=Frost, Darrel R. |year=2022 |work=Amphibian Species of the World: An Online Reference. Version 6.1 |publisher=American Museum of Natural History |accessdate=29 March 2022}} Their habitats vary with some species being arboreal while other being terrestrial, but the common feature is that their tadpoles are obligate egg feeders.{{Cite web |title=Poison Dart Frog Genus Oophaga |url=https://www.dartfrog.pet/dart-frog-types/index.cfm?Frog_Type=Genus&Frog_Genus=Oophaga |access-date=2022-04-21 |website=www.dartfrog.pet}} Most species in this genus are seriously threatened and O. speciosa is already extinct.{{cite web| url=https://www.iucnredlist.org/search?query=Oophaga&searchType=species | title=Oophaga | work=IUCN Red List | publisher=IUCN | access-date=3 December 2023 }}

Etymology

Oophaga, Greek for "egg eater" (oon, {{lang|grc-Latn|phagos}}),{{Cite web|url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=-phagous|title = -phagous | Origin and meaning of suffix -phagous by Online Etymology Dictionary}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=egg|title = Egg | Origin and meaning of egg by Online Etymology Dictionary}} is descriptive of the tadpoles' diet.Heselhaus, R. 1992. Poison-arrow frogs: their natural history and care in captivity. Blandford, London.Zimmermann, E. and Zimmermann, H. 1994. Reproductive strategies, breeding, and conservation of tropical frogs: dart-poison frogs and Malagasy poison frogs. In: J.B. Murphy, K. Adler and J.T. Collins (eds), Captive management and conservation of amphibians and reptiles, pp. 255-266. Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles, Ithaca (New York). Contributions to Herpetology, Volume 11.

Reproduction

While presumably all dendrobatids show parental care, this is unusually advanced in Oophaga: the tadpoles feed exclusively on trophic (unfertilized) eggs supplied as food by the mother; the father is not involved.{{cite book|title=Herpetology: An Introductory Biology of Amphibians and Reptiles |edition=4th |first1=Laurie J.|last1= Vitt|first2=Janalee P. |last2=Caldwell|publisher=Academic Press|year=2014|page=490}} Through the eggs, the mother also passes defensive toxins to the tadpoles: Oophaga pumilio tadpoles experimentally fed with eggs from alkaloid-free frogs did not contain alkaloids.{{Cite journal| doi = 10.1890/13-0927.1| pmid = 24804437| title = Evidence of maternal provisioning of alkaloid-based chemical defenses in the strawberry poison frog Oophaga pumilio| journal = Ecology| volume = 95| issue = 3| pages = 587–593| year = 2014| last1 = Stynoski | first1 = J. L. | last2 = Torres-Mendoza | first2 = Y. | last3 = Sasa-Marin | first3 = M. | last4 = Saporito | first4 = R. A. | hdl = 10669/76946| hdl-access = free}}

Species

There are twelve species in this genus:

Image	Scientific name	Common name	Distribution
class="wikitable sortable collapsible"
120px \|Oophaga anchicayensis (Posso-Terranova and Andrés, 2018) \| \|Chocó region of northwestern Colombia
\|Oophaga andresi (Posso-Terranova and Andrés, 2018) \|Cocorro \|Columbia
	Oophaga arborea (Myers, Daly, and Martínez, 1984)	Polkadot poison frog	Panama
120px	Oophaga granulifera (Taylor, 1958)	Granular poison frog	Costa Rica and Panama
120px	Oophaga histrionica (Berthold, 1845)	Harlequin poison frog	El Chocó region of western Colombia
120px	Oophaga lehmanni (Myers and Daly, 1976)	Lehmann's poison frog	western Colombia
	Oophaga occultator (Myers and Daly, 1976)	La Brea poison frog	Cordillera Occidental in the Cauca Department of Colombia
120px	Oophaga pumilio (Schmidt, 1857)	Strawberry poison-dart frog	eastern central Nicaragua through Costa Rica and northwestern Panama
120px \|Oophaga solanensis (Posso-Terranova and Andrés, 2018)	Koe-koe	Northwestern region of Colombia, on the western banks of the Atrato and san Juan rivers
120px	Oophaga speciosa (Schmidt, 1857)	Splendid poison frog	Cordillera de Talamanca, western Panama (extinct)
120px	Oophaga sylvatica (Funkhouser, 1956)	Diablito poison frog	southwestern Colombia and northwestern Ecuador.
120px	Oophaga vicentei (Jungfer, Weygoldt, and Juraske, 1996)	Vicente's poison frog	Veraguas, Bocas del Toro, Colón and Coclé Provinces of central Panama

Captivity

Oophaga may be kept as pets by experienced amphibian keepers, but they are challenging to breed in captivity as only parents can feed and care for tadpoles.{{cite web |url=http://www.dendroworks.co.uk/index.php/species-information/55 |title=Oophaga — the obligate egg feeders |year=2011 |publisher=dendroWorks |accessdate=12 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160811201850/http://dendroworks.co.uk/index.php/species-information/55 |archive-date=11 August 2016 |url-status=dead }}

References

Category:Poison dart frogs

Category:Amphibians of Central America

Category:Amphibians of South America

Category:Amphibian genera