Minnow [1] ( lat. Micrixalus ) is a genus of tailless amphibians (Anura), the only one in the family Micrixalidae . Until 2006, it was considered as a subfamily Micrixalinae in the family of real frogs [2] .
| Minnows |
Rock Tiny |
| Scientific classification |
|---|
| No rank : | Bilateral symmetrical |
| Squad: | Tailless Amphibians |
| Family: | Micrixalidae Dubois, Ohler & Biju, 2001 |
|
| International scientific name |
|---|
Micrixalus Boulenger , 1888 |
|
Small frogs ranging in size from 2.5 to 3.5 cm. Color, in most cases, brownish or reddish brown. Throat bags of males of white color. The skin is relatively smooth. The membranes are small, present only on the hind legs [3] .
They live in mountain and secondary forests in the immediate vicinity of fast rivers and streams. They are kept on wet stones near the water [4] .
Males have a peculiar ritual, thanks to which little minnows are also known as “dancing frogs”. The males vocalize, while simultaneously pulling their hind leg with their fingers spread apart and shaking it. Thus, they attract females and indicate the territory belongs to other males [4] [5] .
Mating takes place in water. The female lays eggs in a hole dug by her hind legs, and then lays the masonry with sand and gravel. Tadpoles up to 3 cm long, live at depths of 10 to 40 centimeters and feed on organic soil particles [6] .
They are endemic to the Western Ghats - a mountain range in western India [3] . Since their habitat is under serious threat, representatives of the genus are extremely vulnerable [7] .
As of October 2018, 24 species are included in the genus [1] [8] :
- Micrixalus adonis Biju et al. , 2014
- Micrixalus candidus biju et al. , 2014
- Micrixalus elegans (Rao, 1937) - Ruddy Padlock
- Micrixalus frigidus Biju et al. , 2014
- Micrixalus fuscus (Boulenger, 1882) - Brown Tiny
- Micrixalus gadgili Pillai & Pattabiraman, 1990
- Micrixalus herrei (Myers, 1942) - Travancourt Minnow
- Micrixalus kodayari Biju et al. , 2014
- Micrixalus kottigeharensis (Rao, 1937) - Bronze padlock , or rusty padlock , or bluish padlock
- Micrixalus kurichiyari Biju et al. , 2014
- Micrixalus mallani Biju et al. , 2014
- Micrixalus nelliyampathi Biju et al. , 2014
- Micrixalus nigraventris Biju et al. , 2014
- Micrixalus niluvasei Biju et al. , 2014
- Micrixalus nudis Pillai, 1978 - South Indian Minnow
- Micrixalus phyllophilus (Jerdon, 1854) - Papillary tiny
- Micrixalus sairandhri Biju et al. , 2014
- Micrixalus sali Biju et al. , 2014
- Micrixalus saxicola (Jerdon, 1854) - Rocky Minnow
- Micrixalus silvaticus (Boulenger, 1882) - Malabar Tiny
- Micrixalus specca Biju et al. , 2014
- Micrixalus spelunca Biju et al. , 2014
- Micrixalus thampii Pillai, 1981 - Kerala Minnow
- Micrixalus uttaraghati Biju et al. , 2014
