Vallée de Mai to participate in Sooglossid research |09 April 2018

Seychelles is home to the sooglossid frogs, famous for being some of the smallest frogs in the world. Before 2009 there were thought to be four species in the family, but in 2009 the Praslin sooglossid was discovered in the Vallée de Mai. The Praslin sooglossid resembles the existing species Sooglossus sechellensis, but the new frog is different in its size and calls and it is still to be determined whether this is a separate species.

During his PhD, and under the umbrella of the Darwin Initiative Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered (EDGE) Species project, Dr Jim Labisko conducted research on the Praslin sooglossid, conducting a survey using audio monitoring methods. Together with Dr Simon Maddock, Dr Labisko recently started further work on sooglossid frogs funded by the Mohamed bin Zayed (MBZ) Species Conservation Fund. On February 6, Dr Labisko gave a presentation to the Vallée de Mai team explaining the research.

“The over-arching aim of the project is to generate a detailed, knowledge based framework, upon which a strategic, adaptive species conservation action plan for sooglossid frogs can be developed and implemented. Objectives include: capacity building, especially to build on the Darwin EDGE project; long-term monitoring of the multi-island population; documenting the extent of occurrence; DNA sampling; disease screening; developing a strategic conservation action plan; and improving understanding of the frogs,” SIF said.

The presentation also covered project expectations and the involvement of the SIF team. Static Bio acoustic recorders are being set up in selected areas in order to record the calls of the sooglossids. This will record the activities of the frogs through sound, and team members will download data from the recorders every month to send to Dr Labisko for further analysis. The recorders have already been set up on Silhouette Island and are being trialled with the help of Island Conservation Society (ICS) staff. SIF will be the next organisation to set up recorders and the team is excited to get involved.

The Seychelles National Parks Authority (SNPA) is also involved in the project as the research areas include parts of Mahé, Praslin and Silhouette. You can follow the progress of the project at: https://twitter.com/SeyAmphibians!