Tobago Glass FrogHyalinobatrachium orientale tobagoense

The Tobago Glass Frog (Hyalinobatrachium orientale tobagoense) is a small Centrolenid frog that is found only on the island of Tobago.  It is the endemic island subspecies of the Eastern Glass Frog (Hyalinobatrachium orientale) which is known from a few populations in far northern Venezuela.

I remember some 35 years ago, I saw my first photos of the glass frogs in the family Centrolenidae, I couldn't wait to get down into the tropical Americas and see one.  From my first trip into their range in 1989, it was a high priority to see one of these amazing flat-headed, clear-skinned frogs.  Several decades later and many trips to the neotropics later, I've seen dozens of species of Neotropical frogs, but never seen a single Centrolenid! 😢  And now, I have a recording of a second species which just kind of rubs it in that I can't see one of these critters.  But one day.....!

So, like some of my other recordings, I never saw this frog.  😢 
If you want to see photos of this frog and read more about it, I highly recommend John C. Murphy's excellent Herpetology of Trinidad blog!

The species is poorly known and so I can't find any recordings of its call.  Murphy et al. (2018) describe it as a high pitched "peep" given from vegetation overhanging streams.  This is the exact situation where I recorded this call, in fact it looked just like the habitat photo they show in their book for calling sites!

So, even through I've never heard this frog, I base my identification on:
1.  comparison to the calls of the other known species in the range.
2.  similarity to the calls of other Hyalinobatrachium I do know.
3.  the habitat description and description of the call in Murphy, et al. 2018.

So I guess it isn't 100% positively identified, but until someone provides me a recording of this species for comparison it will be my identification based on my research and experience.  That's the best I can do for now.

And one day, maybe, I'll actually get to see one of these amazing clear-skinned frogs!  But for now, this may be one of the only available recordings of it's call.

Tobago Glass Frog Call

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© Chris Harrison 2019

Murphy, et al., 2018, A Field Guide to the Amphibians & Reptiles of Trinidad & Tobago. Trinidad and Tobago Field Naturalist's Club
 - this is a must have book for anyone going to explore Trinidad or Tobago!
It isn't available through Amazon as I write this, but you can order it online from the T&T Field Naturalist's Club or find it in bookstores on Trinidad (which is where I found it).