Observations on the Reproduction in Captivity of the Mona Coqui Eleutherodactylus monensis (Anura: Leptodactylidae) from Puerto Rico

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Courtship and nesting behaviors and some reproductive parameters were reported for Eleutherodactylus monensis, a terrestrial leptdactylid frog endemic to Mona Island, Puerto Rico, for the first time on the basis of captive observations of two males and one female. The female, captured in the wild in April 1996, produced a total of 22 clutches, each consisting of 5–28 eggs (x±SD: 16.2±4.55), at intervals of 14–59 days (25±15.91) from December 1997 to May 2001. Approximately five days before each oviposition, the female started digging the ground with her hind-legs to make a nest concavity. Then, the female temporarily left the concavity, during which one of the males entered therein and started digging also with his hind-legs. The nest concavity eventually got to approximately 37–43 mm in diameter and 10–15 mm in depth. Then, the male moved out of it and started amplexus by mounting and holding the female. The amplectant pair moved to the concavity and the female resumed digging with her hind-legs. She, then, laid a clutch of eggs and buried it also with her hind-legs at a depth of approximately 5 to 40 mm and diameter of approximately 30 to 45 mm. The froglets, weighing 38–67 mg (57.9±6.12), hatched 15–23 days (18.8±2.86) after oviposition.