 2005 by the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists Copeia, 2005(1), pp. 174–183 Montane Tadpoles in Madagascar: Molecular Identification and Description of the Larval Stages of Mantidactylus elegans, Mantidactylus madecassus, and Boophis laurenti from the Andringitra Massif MEIKE THOMAS,LILIANE RAHARIVOLOLONIAINA,FRANK GLAW,MIGUEL VENCES, AND DAVID R. VIEITES The larval stages of three species of frogs from montane habitats in the Andrin- gitra Massif, southern central Madagascar at 2100–2500 m above sea level, were identified through mitochondrial DNA sequences and are described herein. The tadpoles of Boophis laurenti agree with the previously known tadpoles of the closely related Boophis microtympanum, whereas the tadpoles of Mantidactylus madecassus are similar to those of other species of the subgenus Brygoomantis that occur at lower altitudes. The tadpoles of Mantidactylus elegans are very large (up to 106 mm total length) and show mouthparts largely agreeing with those of species of the subgenus Guibemantis, with a relatively high number of upper labial tooth rows (one contin- uous and six interrupted). These tadpoles are uniformly blackish on the dorsum, indicating a possible general trend of high frequency of dark color and melanism in montane amphibians. Molecular identification provides a fast and very efficient tool to identify larval stages of amphibians, especially in cases of specialized tad- poles from remote areas in which rearing is difficult. T HE central high plateau of Madagascar en- compasses several mountain massifs which locally reach altitudes higher than 2800 m above sea level. The three highest massifs (Tsar- atanana, Ankaratra, and Andringitra) harbor a highly specialized and endemic montane fauna, which is poorly known in terms of ecology and biology (Raxworthy and Nussbaum, 1996b). Vir- tually nothing is known about the amphibians of Tsaratanana in northern Madagascar (Blom- mers-Schlo¨sser and Blanc, 1991; Raxworthy and Nussbaum, 1996b), whereas recent inventories of the Ankaratra mountains in central Madagas- car have resulted in a reasonable state of knowl- edge (Glaw and Vences, 1994; Vences and Glaw, 1999; Vences et al., 2002a). The third high-alti- tude massif, Andringitra, has been intensively surveyed (Raxworthy and Nussbaum, 1996a; Ra- selimanana, 1999; Rasolonandrasana and Good- man, 2000), but detailed ecological data of the montane herpetofauna specialized to altitudes above 2000 m is so far lacking. According to present knowledge, three am- phibian species (Anodonthyla montana, Boophis laurenti, and Mantidactylus madecassus) and one reptile (Lygodactylus intermedius) are endemic to high-elevations of Andringitra massif (Vences and Glaw, 1999; Vences et al., 2002a). The local populations of several further amphibians (e.g., Scaphiophryne madagascariensis, Mantidactylus brevipalmatus, and Mantidactylus curtus) appear to be either genetically or morphologically dis- tinct and may also represent separate entities at the specific or subspecific level. The status of Boophis laurenti, which is morphologically close to Boophis microtympanum, remains to be clari- fied. We recently started a project to describe the larval stages of Malagasy frogs, based on their identification through mitochondrial DNA se- quences (e.g., Hebert et al., 2003; Blaxter and Floyd, 2003; Tautz et al., 2003). This method is considerably faster and potentially more reli- able than identification through rearing of tad- poles and determination of juveniles. Knowledge on the morphology and habitat of tadpoles is highly relevant for the understand- ing of the ecological requirements and natural history of frog species. Recent global trends of amphibian declines (Kiesecker et al., 2001) seem to especially affect montane species (e.g., Young et al., 2001). Hence, the understanding of the natural history of montane Malagasy am- phibians bears relevance for conservation biol- ogy, because these species have a very limited distribution, and several may qualify for a threatened category in terms of IUCN catego- ries (IUCN, 2001). In this paper, we provide the first descriptions of the tadpoles of three frogs from the Andrin- gitra Massif belonging to the family Mantellidae: B. laurenti, Mantidactylus elegans, and Mantidac- tylus madecassus. We discuss our findings in the context of the evolution of larval morphology among mantellids and review the utility of ge- netic identification of larval stages.