Assessment Results
Atelopus varius
Harlequin Frog, Clown Frog
Rana Arlequin
Order:
Anura
Family:
Bufonidae
Synonym(s):
Assessed for:
Costa Rica
on:
16 Jan 2020
by:
AArk/ASG Assessment Workshop
IUCN Global Red List:
Critically Endangered (CR)
National Red List:
(not assessed)
Distribution:
Costa Rica, Panama
Evolutionary Distinctiveness score:
4.996392422
Recommended Conservation Actions:
Additional Comments:
There is a need to create an ex-situ assurance population and start reintroduction efforts in Costa Rica.
| Question # | Short Name | Question Text | Response | Comments |
| 1 | Extinction risk | Current IUCN Red List category. [Data obtained from the IUCN Red List.] | Critically Endangered (CR) | |
| 2 | Possibly extinct | Is there a strong possibility that this species might be extinct in the wild? | No / unlikely | |
| 3 | Phylogenetic significance | The taxon’s Evolutionary Distinctiveness (ED) score, as generated by the ZSL EDGE program. (These data are not editable by Assessors). | ED value < 20 | |
| 4 | Protected habitat | Is a population of at least 50% of the individuals of the taxon included within a well-managed or reliably protected area or areas? | Yes / probably | Species has been recorded at four historical sites (Costa Rica Red List Assessment Workshop 2019) and in five additional areas, including near Rainmaker (J. Abarca pers. comm. September 2019), near Ojochal, near Savegre (C. Barrio-Amorós pers. comm. September 2019), and Alexander Skutch Biological Corridor (A. Jiménez pers. comm. September 2019). |
| 5 | Habitat for reintroduction, conservation translocation or supplementation | Does enough well-managed and reliably protected habitat exist, either within or outside of currently protected areas that is suitable for conservation translocation, including population restoration or conservation introduction? | Yes / probably | Zona Protectora Las Tablas (Las Alturas de Cotón), Reserva Las Nubes y Reserva privada de Rainmaker |
| 6 | Previous reintroductions | Have reintroduction or translocation attempts been made in the past for this species? | Yes, but outcome is unknown | Reintroduction trials of captive bred animals began in 2018 in the Donoso region of Panama (B. Gratwicke pers. comm. May 2018). |
| 7 | In situ conservation activities | Are any in situ conservation actions currently in place for this species? (Only required if a Red List Assessment has not been completed, or if new actions have been implemented since the last Red List Assessment. (Information from the Conservation Actions section of the Red List assessment should be reviewed and considered when answering this question.). | Yes / probably | Remnant subpopulations in Costa Rica occur within private reserves and one National ParkA (Zona Protectora Las Tablas (Las Alturas de Cotón), Reserva Las Nubes y Reserva privada de Rainmaker). It has created a new program to work with the species the Corredor Biológico Alexander Skutch where they will monitor species/population, do environmental education (A. González pers. comm. Sept 2019). Limited monitoring efforts are in place in Las Alturas (Zona Protectora Las Tablas, Costa Rica). |
| 8 | In situ conservation activities | Are additional in situ conservation actions required to help conserve this species in the wild (e.g. habitat restoration and/or protection, control of invasive species, national legislation etc.)? | Yes / probably | In Costa Rica species will benefit if increasing protection in riparian habitat along species distribution and create corridors. (A. González and G. Cháves pers. comm. Sept 2019). |
| 9 | In situ research | Is additional in situ research required to better understand the species, e.g. distribution, population trends, natural history etc.? | Yes | More surveys are required to understand population dynamics for this species, search for more populations in between the current extant sites, and at historical sites. Additional surveys in the intervening areas of extant subpopulations and historical sites to determine whether there are other surviving subpopulations (Costa Rica Red List Assessment Workshop 2019), and to monitor the status of the surviving subpopulations (S. Whitfield pers. comm. September 2019). |
| 10 | Threat mitigation | Are the threats facing the taxon, including any new and emerging threats not considered in the IUCN Red List, potentially reversible? | Threats unknown | This species appears to have undergone rapid, dramatic declines across its entire range, including disappearances within undisturbed habitat, which has been associated with chytridiomycosis as observed in many other montane, steam-associated species across Mesoamerica. Climate change or the synergistic effects of multiple factors could be additional factors in the declines (Berger et al. 1998). This species is still being recorded at some sites in both Costa Rica and Panama, but in much lower numbers than historically (Costa Rica Red List Assessment Workshop 2019). Museum specimens of this species have even been found to have Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd). A specimen collected in 2003 from one of the only extant sites in Costa Rica tested positive for Bd infection, and chytrid was also confirmed in individuals in 1986, 1990, 1992 and 1997. Deceased adult individuals are still being found in Costa Rica and have tested positive for Bd (Barrio-Amorós and Abarca 2016; D. Gómez pers. comm. September 2019), although the subpopulation in the Alexander Skutch Biological Corridor has so far tested negative for Bd infection (Jímenez et al. 2019) despite occurring in an area identified with a high probability for occurrence of Bd (Puschendorf et al. 2009). Other threats to the species include habitat loss due to the destruction of natural forests for agriculture, hydroelectric production, and mining, and predation by introduced trout (González-Maya et al. 2011, Costa Rica and Panama Red List Assessment Workshops 2019). |
| 11 | Over-collection from the wild | Is the taxon suffering from collection within its natural range, either for food, for the pet trade or for any other reason, which threatens the species’ continued persistence in the wild? | No / unlikely | It was collected by the thousands in the 1970s and shipped to Germany as part of the international pet trade. |
| 12 | Population recovery | Is the known population of this species in the wild large enough to recover naturally, without ex situ intervention if threats are mitigated? | Unknown | This species was formerly quite common in Costa Rica, and at one point there were over 100 known subpopulations in both the Atlantic and Pacific slopes of the mountain ranges in Costa Rica and western Panama (Savage 2002). Drastic declines were first recorded in Monteverde in 1988, followed by extirpation from the surrounding Tilarán Mountains between 1990 and 1992 (Pounds and Crump 1994), and the species was thought to have been extirpated in the country by 1996, largely due to chytridiomycosis caused by the chytrid fungus, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd; Lips and Papendick 2003). However, in 2003, a remnant subpopulation was discovered at Fila Chonta, Quepos, on the Pacific coastal range. Surveys in 2005, however, revealed no additional individuals (Ryan et al. 2005). Monitoring at this site has documented at least 23 individuals since 2004 (T. Leenders pers. comm. 2013). A second subpopulation was found in 2008 in Las Tablas near San Vito (González-Maya et al. 2011), whereas, surveys conducted from 2002 to 2004 had failed to find this species in the area (Santos-Barrera et al. 2008). Since the 2008 assessment, this species has been rediscovered in a few historical sites, as well as, five new sites, where individuals are easily encountered (Costa Rica Red List Assessment Workshop 2019). In Las Alturas de Cotón, it is consistently recorded; however, the abundance varies by year (D. Gómez pers. comm. September 2019). One individual was reported near Buenos Aires (Solano-Cascante et al. 2014). Ongoing monitoring of the subpopulation in the Alexander Skutch Biological Corridor suggests it is currently surviving in low numbers (Jiménez et al. 2019), while the subpopulations at Ojochal and forests near La Lucha appear to be recovering (C. Barrio-Amorós pers. comm. September 2019). The pattern of reappearances of this species is not clear. In some cases, it has appeared in small secluded creeks (Barrio-Amorós and Abarca 2016), and in others, in large, open, and fast flowing rivers (Gonzalez-Maya et al. 2013, Solano-Cascante et al. 2014). It is likely too early to determine whether the new observations cited in this reassessment represent a genuine recovery from a population crash or if it is simply a product of increased survey effort (Costa Rica Red List Assessment Workshop 2019). |
| 13 | Action plans | Does an Action Plan for the species already exist, or is one currently being developed? | No | There is a general National Action Plan for threatened species of Costa Rica - 2007 |
| 14 | Biological distinctiveness | Does the taxon exhibit a distinctive reproductive mode, behaviour, aspect of morphology or physiology, within the Order to which it belongs (e.g. Anura, Passeriformes etc.)? | No aspect of biology known to be exceptional | |
| 15 | Cultural/socio-economic importance | Does the taxon have a special human cultural value (e.g. as a national or regional symbol, in a historic context, featuring in traditional stories) or economic value (e.g. food, traditional medicine, tourism) within its natural range or in a wider global context? | No | |
| 16 | Scientific importance | Is the species vital to current or planned research other than species-specific ecology/biology/conservation within the Order to which it belongs (e.g. Anura, Passeriformes etc.) e.g. human medicine, climate change, environmental pollutants and conservation science? | No research dependent on this species | |
| 17 | Ex situ research | Does conserving this species (or closely related species) in situ depend upon research that can be most easily carried out ex situ? | No | |
| 18 | Ex situ conservation activities | Is any ex situ research or other ex situ conservation action currently in place for this species? (Information from the Conservation Actions section of the Red List assessment should be reviewed and considered when answering this question.) | Yes / probably | There is a new assurance population at Manchester Museum collected in 2018 at Parque Nacional Santa Fé (Matthew O' pers. comm. Sept 2019). An in-country (Panama) ex-situ program to manage and breed Atelopus varius is also in place at the El Valle Amphibian Conservation Center and the Panama Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Project (Estrada et al. 2014). There is a need to create an ex-situ assurance population and start reintroduction efforts in Costa Rica. |
| 19 | Husbandry analog required | If an ex situ rescue program is recommended for this species, would an analog species be required to develop husbandry protocols first? | No / unlikely | Protocols are already in place for this species at Gamboa Center in Panama and in several institutions in the US. |
| 20 | Husbandry analog | Do the biological and ecological attributes of this species make it suitable for developing husbandry regimes for more threatened related species? i.e. could this species be used in captivity to help to develop husbandry and breeding protocols which could be used for a similar, but more endangered species at a later stage? | No | |
| 21 | Captive breeding | Has this species been successfully bred and/or maintained in captivity? | Yes, bred to F2 | Two captive-breeding programs have been initiated for this species in the US one managed by the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore under the auspices of Project Golden Frog and a second established by the Cleveland Zoo in 2005 (Estrada et al. 2014). An in-country ex-situ program to manage and breed Atelopus varius is also in place at the El Valle Amphibian Conservation Center, Panama and the Panama Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Project, panama (Estrada et al. 2014, RL/CNA Workshop Costa Rica 2019). |
| 22 | Conservation education/ecotourism potential | Is the species especially diurnal, active or colourful, or is there an interesting or unusual aspect of its ecology that make it particularly suitable to be an educational ambassador for conservation of the species in the range country, either in zoos or aquariums or within ecotourism activities? | Yes | Colorful toad |
| 23 | Mandate | Is there an existing conservation mandate recommending the ex situ conservation of this taxon? | No | |
| 24 | Range State approval | If an ex situ initiative was proposed for this species, would it be supported (and approved) by the range State (either within the range State or out-of-country ex situ)? | Yes / probably | |
| 25 | Founder specimens | Are sufficient animals of the taxon available or potentially available (from wild or captive sources) to initiate an ex situ program, if one was recommended? | Yes / probably | |
| 26 | Taxonomic status | Has a complete taxonomic analysis of the species in the wild been carried out, to fully understand the functional unit you wish to conserve (i.e. have species limits been determined)? | No | Research into species validity needs to be prioritised. It is necessary to clarify the taxonomic status of this species (V. Acosta Chaves pers. comm. September 2019). |
Citation:
AArk/ASG Assessment Workshop. 2020. Conservation Needs Assessment for Atelopus varius, Costa Rica.
https://conservationneeds.org/assessment/5109
Accessed 03 Apr 2025
