Heterixalus alboguttatus (Boulenger, 1882)
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
Heterixalus alboguttatus (also known as the Starry Night Reed Frog) is a species of reed frog in the family Hyperoliidae endemic to Madagascar. Females possess a characteristic yellow-spotted dorsal patterning, while males can be almost uniformly white. It forms a species complex with H. boettgeri and H. madagascariensis, and is known to hybridize with H. boettgeri.
H. alboguttatus is generally found in open habitats, such as savannahs, degraded forest, swamps, grasslands and ricefields. Since these habitats are generally expanding in Madagascar due to human activity, it is not considered threatened.
Females of the species reach a snout-vent length of about 30-33mm, and the H. alboguttatus species breeds in a range of temporary and permanent water bodies, such as those found in the rice fields where the species may makes its habitat, with females producing around 500 black and white eggs, often perching on sunlit leaves of Pandanus plants and other plants during the breeding period.
Wikipedia contributors, Heterixalus alboguttatus; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T16:20:03.237528+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Heterixalus alboguttatus (Boulenger, 1882)
- Name authority
- (Boulenger, 1882)
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Amphibia
- Order
- Anura
- Family
- Hyperoliidae
- Genus
- Heterixalus
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classAmphibia
- orderAnura
- familyHyperoliidae Laurent, 1943
- subfamilyHyperoliinae Laurent, 1943
- genusHeterixalus Laurent, 1944
- speciesHeterixalus alboguttatus (Boulenger, 1882)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Heterixalus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Heterixalus andrakata Glaw & Vences, 1991 | HyperoliidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Heterixalus carbonei Vences, Glaw, Jesu & Schimmenti, 2000 | HyperoliidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Heterixalus luteostriatus (Andersson, 1910) | HyperoliidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Heterixalus rutenbergi (Boettger, 1881) | HyperoliidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Heterixalus tricolor (Boettger, 1881) | HyperoliidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Heterixalus variabilis (Ahl, 1930) | HyperoliidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Heterixalus betsileo (Grandidier, 1872) | HyperoliidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Heterixalus boettgeri (Mocquard, 1902) | HyperoliidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Heterixalus madagascariensis (Duméril & Bibron, 1841) | HyperoliidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Heterixalus punctatus Glaw & Vences, 1994 | HyperoliidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Megalixalus madagascariensis alboguttata Boulenger, 1882 Boulenger, 1882 | synonym |
| Heterixalus madagascariensis alboguttatus (Boulenger, 1882) (Boulenger, 1882) | synonym |
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=663066 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:3L7NF. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.