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Mantella viridis, the green mantella, also known as the lime mantella or green golden frog, is a small frog of the family Mantellidae, endemic to extreme northern Madagascar. It is also common in the pet trade as a vivarium species, a popularity that feeds directly into the pressure described under Conservation below.
Identification
Adults are small, with males measuring 22–25 mm and females 25–30 mm in snout-vent length, females being the larger sex and having a more square snout than males. The face is black with a white band running around the top lip, and the underside is black with blue speckles, a pattern that contrasts with the green or yellow-green tone that gives the species its common name.
Habitat and range
The green mantella is confined to extreme northern Madagascar, where it occupies dry lowland forest, rivers, intermittent waterways and heavily degraded former forest at elevations of 50–300 m above sea level. Tolerance of degraded habitat alongside intact forest is unusual among range-restricted Madagascar amphibians, though its overall range remains small enough that local habitat loss can still affect a large share of the population.
Behaviour and breeding
Green mantellas rely on their skin as much as their mouths: their permeable skin absorbs water directly from their surroundings, and their diet includes soft fruit alongside the small invertebrates typical of the genus. That same permeable skin, which helps the species manage water balance in a seasonally dry habitat, also makes it more sensitive to pollutants and habitat disturbance than frogs with less absorbent skin.
Conservation
The facts box above carries the species’ current IUCN Red List category, Endangered, and it is also listed on CITES Appendix II, which regulates international trade in the species. Its restricted northern range leaves it exposed to habitat loss, and, as with several of its showier relatives, it is also threatened by over-collection for the pet trade, where its bright colouring makes it a sought-after terrarium species; commercial trade in the species is described as needing tight regulation.
Similar species
Within its genus, the green mantella’s yellow-green body and black, white-lipped face are distinctive: no other Mantella species combines that colour pattern with its black-and-blue-speckled underside. Its range, confined to extreme northern Madagascar, also rules out confusion with Mantella species found elsewhere on the island.