Certainly one of the most striking frogs I was able to record in Costa Rica this year was the Ghost Glass Frog (Sachatamia ilex). These amazing frogs are almost other-worldly in appearance. Their slender green bodies, delicate limbs and amazing big white eyes with their "scribbled" iris pattern make this one of the most sought after target species to visitors in its range.
This beautiful species occurs in the foothills of the Atlantic versant of Costa Rica then south into the Darién region of Panama and into the northwestern part of Colombia. This is a frog of rocky streams in the steep rainforest valleys. They are usually found on leaves or stems at night along those rocky streams.
Interestingly, this is one of several species of frog that seemed to disappear from much of its range about 25 years ago due to chytrid fungal infections, but seems to have made a partial comeback.
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| Sachatamia ilex range map from IUCN Redlist Database |
We found several of these Ghost Glass Frogs along a rocky stream at the Costa Rican Amphibian Research Center in the evening after some heavy daytime rains.
Like many glass frogs (Centrolenidae), the call of this species is a high pitched single note in the 7-8kHz frequency range. To my ear, the call of the Ghost Glass Frog sounds like a high pitched "tsip". When we heard them, this single "tsip" was repeated every 4-5 seconds from the leaves where they sat and called.
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© Chris Harrison 2025
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