TINC OUTSIDE THE BOX

Dendrobates tinctorius in the wild.

Like many poison frogs, Dendrobates tinctorius is a highly variable species. Ongoing research in their native range of the Eastern Guiana Shield (Suriname, Guyana, French Guiana and Brazil) has identified a spectrum of over 50 distinct localities, or ‘morphs’. The most popular of which, D. tinctorius azureus was previously thought to be an entirely different species until recently. Colloquially named the ‘dyeing’ poison frog, this species of large-bodied Dendrobate is popular in captivity for its stunning colouration and bold personality. Experts began breeding this species over fifty years ago, but now they are widely available, making it even more important for hobbyists to know exactly where their animals’ roots are.

Nominate (Kaw Mountain)

The term “nominate” basically refers to the “original” (or first discovered) species locality and allows scientists to describe subspecies from a specimen (holotype) discovered in this area. So, for example, if there are several subspecies belonging to the same species, the ‘nominate’ form is the one which was described first and most closely resembles the original description of the species when it was discovered. In this case, D. tinctorius is one species, which has no subspecies. The term ‘nominate’ is therefore incorrect. However, there is a morph sometimes called ‘nominate’ but now more frequently referred to as ‘Kaw Mountain’ which could be described as the original dyeing poison frog. It is characterised by a black pattern on the dorsal, broken up by a distinct yellow line. The flanks are a textbook yellow-blue and showered in small black dots.

Surprisingly, the ‘nominate’ morph is one of the smallest morphs of the species, with a maximum SVL of just 40mm. They can be found in a remote location in French Guiana, around the Kaw Mountains at low elevations. Naturally, this pocket of rainforest maintains extremely high humidity. They are most closely associated with large boulders and tree trunks and frequently inhabit openings with felled trees.

Azureus

Azureus, commonly known as the ‘blue’ poison dart frog was only discovered in 1968 (and officially described the following year) by M.S Hoogmoed. At the time, it was thought to be a new species Dendrobates azureus. This is unsurprising, given that it is the only tinc and possibly the only frog to be a uniform vibrant blue. In fact, it is one of a very tiny number of species that even possesses blue pigment (most use complex light reflections to appear blue). This puzzled Hoogmoed who wrote in his notes: “Among other things, John and Leo reported having seen blue frogs in the forest island. My first reaction was to ask them how much rum they had drunk that day because nothing like a blue frog existed, and it was like hearing about blue elephants. Anyway, they maintained they had not drunk a single drop of rum, which was indeed most likely, but that they had seen blue frogs hopping about on the forest floor.”

The paper continues: “After about 20 minutes I saw my first blue Dendrobates in the wild. It was sitting on the forest floor on fallen leaves, and when I moved nearer it hopped away with short, quick movements. Its bright blue colour contrasted beautifully with the brown dead leaves.

It was easy to capture. During my trip through the creek valley, I saw many more and collected some of them, restraining myself from capturing more than a few because I had no idea about the extent of the forest island and the size of the population of the blue Dendrobates. Also, at the time, I had no idea whether this species would occur in other forest islands in the region or not. Most specimens were on the ground, but a few were moving up the trunks of large trees to… where? During my further stay at Vier Gebroeders Bivouac (till October 7, 1968) I discovered that populations of blue frogs were present in several other forest islands around Vier Gebroeders

Mountain. However, because of the size of the forest islands and the fact that they were not interconnected, the exchange of genetic material between populations was likely to be low, and only some individuals were collected as evidence of their presence in other forest islands. Back in Holland, I set to work on the collected material and, finally, the description of the new Dendrobates, which one year later was published under the name Dendobates azureus (Hoogmoed, 1969). Because of its very striking colour, I could convince the editors of the journal to publish a coloured plate to show the real-life colour. At that time a rare and very costly thing.”

Although azureus is now considered a ‘morph’ of tinctorius, the isolated pockets of jungles have created other colourations. These include paler blue varieties including the ‘sky blue’ and ‘fine spot’.

Citronella

This is the largest of all the tinctorius morphs at a whopping 74mm SVL. They are mostly yellow on their torso and dorsal, with a characteristic black dot on their head (although a small number of animals don’t have the black dot). This morph still has blue legs, most have extremely deep blue (almost black) legs. In 2013 a handful of individuals were imported with pale to bright blue legs. ‘Citronella’ has a wide range in Suriname, but certain populations were reportedly over-collected. Igor Zhidov, an early exporter, claimed he discovered this morph entirely by accident.

Despite female Citronella’s being huge Dendrobates, like the rest of the species, they are highly specialised in small food items. Comparatively, a 74mm member of the Ranidae family would likely feast on large insects and perhaps other frogs. Dendrobates and more specifically tinctorius would happily pick off minute invertebrates such as springtails and aphids. Of course, in captivity, this should be comprised mostly of pinhead crickets, fruit flies and springtails.

Nikita

Nikita occurs in all three countries. It looks very similar to ‘Citronella’ and for a long time was thought to be the same locality. It is much smaller than Citronella, reaching a size of around 55mm SVL and can be extremely variable in its patterning. Some individuals will have lots of black patterns with a spectrum of blues, while others will be almost entirely black and yellow. It is not uncommon for this morph to exhibit bright yellow around their front ankles, which is often a giveaway for identifying them against other locales.

Just to complicate things, not all ‘Nikitas’ will have this bracelet so keepers that have sourced ‘Nikitas’ should seriously consider researching their animals’ history and make notes of the locality they have. Although many novice keepers or first-time pet keepers might not see the importance of genetics, especially if they do not plan to breed their animals, this information may be extremely important. ‘Nikita’ was named after the daughter of one of the exporters in Suriname.

Patricia

The ‘Patricia’ form is found in Suriname and has been bred in captivity in the USA since 1999 and is now often available in the UK. It is characterised by pale blue legs with few spots. The name ‘Patricia’ is thought to have come from expert breeder, Patricia Grueneberg, owner of Vanishing Jewels – an exotic pet shop which pioneered poison frog keeping and has since closed. She was a close friend of the importers who brought the first specimens into the US. At this time, Suriname was rumoured to be closing for export and as more hobbyists turned their attention to amphibians, experts began buying the early imports at extremely high prices.

With the elevated price tag, expert breeders put a lot of time and resources into producing captive-bred animals. Expecting that there would no longer be any wild-caught specimens to mix bloodlines, breeders were extra vigilant with genetics. Now, ‘Patricia’ is one of the most widely available ‘tinc’ morphs. Of course, a wider availability means there is likely some cross-breeding or misidentification now. This morph looks very much like the ‘powder blue’ variety but lacks spots on its legs.

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Tumucumaque

The Tumucumaque Mountain National Park is a 38,000mile squared national park in the Brazilian Amazon. It is the world’s largest tropical rainforest national park and is still harbouring many secrets of the natural world. In 2004, a scientific expedition stumbled across the ‘tumucumaque’ morph. The next two years saw 11 independent expeditions aiming to document the little-known species in this region. Several specimens were collected to be maintained in educational facilities. At the time, those individuals were the only legally kept animals.

The ‘tumucumaque’ is possibly the most controversial of all tinctorius morphs. As they live in a protected area, the animals that made their way into the Netherlands between 2006 and 2010 were smuggled illegally. In the US, the offspring of illegally sourced animals are still considered to be ‘illegal’, so these animals were seized and moved into zoos. As the origin of captive-bred individuals became more and more ambiguous, it is thought that the remaining illegally harvested frogs were then sold onto wider breeding collections. Sadly, this is a common occurrence with some species possessing an unscrupulous history. In the case of ‘tumucumaque’ and Adelphobates galactanotus ‘blue’, their introduction to the hobby came at a time when the illegality of these animals was widely documented and shared online. Now, however, they are available in good numbers of captive-bred stock despite very few UK breeders working with them.

It is easy to see why this species is so sought after. This morph is medium-sized and highly variable in its patterning but characterised mostly by a mottled/marble appearance. They can exhibit bright yellows, oranges and even silver elements, often with large black spots. This is why it is sometimes referred to as the ‘peacock’ poison frog.

Robertus

Possibly the most variable of all the commonlybred tinctorius morphs, a single locality can produce a vast array of different animals. Interestingly, the location that the original ‘robertus’ were first imported from was kept a very close secret for many years and thus, protected wild populations long enough for a good number of captivebred animals to be produced. This locality was discovered by Jan Robertus Hanzen around one decade ago. Initially, it was imported in small numbers to the US and later to Japan. Now it is one of the most popular tinctorius morphs in captivity.

Bakhuis

This is a dwarf variety of tinctorius that is rarely seen in Europe. At just 35mm, they are possibly the smallest variety of tinc. They are found around the Bakhuis mountains in Western Suriname and are predominantly black, with blue and ivory markings. Keepers often say this morph is slightly more cryptic than its larger-bodied cousins. This morph is now being frequently bred in the USA.

The Bakhuis mountains have always been vulnerable to exploitation. Their unique geographical make-up means this region is regularly mined by various companies and de-forestation is a serious concern. In the mid-20th Century the ‘West Suriname Plan’ aimed to mine Bauxite from the region but was later abandoned when Suriname became independent in 1980. As a former Dutch colony, many of the earliest imports of herptiles from the Guiana Shield went directly into Europe through the Netherlands. The ‘Bakuis’ is no exception, as Mr Ensink (Maastricht) and Dr Hoogmoed (discoverer of Azureus) brought the first animals into Europe following their discovery. They bred readily in captivity and are now infrequently seen in captivity.

A ‘northern’ variety of the Bakhuis has also been described. This variety supposedly behaves very differently from other morphs and has been photographed in small colonies. Although tinctorius is known for being aggressive and territorial, male ‘Bakhuis’ have been photographed in groups of five, guarding a communal pool of tadpoles.

Tinctorius exports today

Dendrobates tinctorius is a CITES Appendix 2 listed species and has been since 1987. This means that their numbers could become threatened if they are subject to unregulated trade. Therefore, a quota-based system has been implemented which allows a set number of animals to be exported from the wild each year. For example, each year Guyana permits 500 individuals to be exported from the wild. Their data suggests that this is an appropriate number that does not negatively impact wild populations, whilst fulfilling international demand and generating economic value for the peoples who harvest them. Suriname, on the other hand, has historically permitted 1886 animals to be exported each year. Whilst the species is more widespread in this country and most of the popular ‘morphs’ hail from Suriname, this has been deemed unsustainable by EU officials. Therefore, a suspension was placed on the quota between 2003 –2008. In Brazil, exporting wildlife has been illegal since 1934, but more recently outlined as a ‘crime against the environment’ in 1998. Therefore, any animal or locality endemic to Brazil cannot be exported legally. This has consequently made Brazil the epicentre for illegal wildlife trafficking and ethical hobbyists should be extremely vigilant when sourcing animals from this region.

Now, poison frogs are frequently captive-bred across the world. Amphibians are generally prolific breeders and with specialist equipment more accessible than ever, there is a whole spectrum of species readily available that do not impact wild populations. Contrastingly, extensive logging in the Guiana Shield, including Brazil where it is not considered “a crime against the environment” is perfectly legal. This is proving a significant threat to highly localised populations of D. tinctorius such as “Azureus”, which already live in isolated pockets of forest.

Therefore, it is extremely important that hobbyists only source captive-bred specimens and where possible, continue to breed these animals. It is well documented that D. tinctorius locales will breed with one another, so it is of vital importance that keepers do not house different morphs together. Breeders, who aim to produce more animals in the future should also be extremely vigilant and keep extensive records on the lineage of their animals. Identifying the correct morph can be a good first step, but networking with other breeders and customers to track the roots of the animals, as well as their offspring may help prevent inbreeding. It is common for siblings to produce viable tadpoles, with young froglets looking very similar to one another it is not easy to identify the offspring of inbred animals. This has already caused many captive-bred frogs to appear much smaller than their wild counterparts. Whilst some argue that ‘fresh bloodlines’ from wild-caught parents are the resolution to this problem, that only helps if the breeders producing the animals are highly selective with their pairings. Animals with poor genetics hold less conservational value as their potential for reintroduction, many generations into the future, is minimal. It would be wrong to vilify the pioneering hobbyists and breeders who provided the eclectic mix of species we see in herpetoculture today, but the more we know about the origins of the animals we keep, the easier it is to make informed ethical decisions.