Dendrobates Auratus Types and Localities
It is not confirmed with collection data, but auratus that match the description of those found in Colon, Panama have occasionally been seen in the hobby. It is possible that in some of the mass panamanian imports, that frogs which originated in this area were collected and/or farmed. This morph is jet black with thin yellow-green to turquoise-green (depending on light angle) stripes or disconnected dots.
Continue reading “Colon”
This morph is from Columbia near the Panamanian border. It is rather small but known to be very bold and active. The pattern consists of large yellow-green drop-like spots on a black background. Legal exports may be coming to North America soon through the sustainable efforts of Tesoros de Columbia.
This morph entered the hobby in 2006, when Sean Stewart brought captive bred frogs into the North American hobby from Europe. It is debated whether this morph is the product of a line-bred mutation, or if it is representative of a wild population. Neither side of the debate is substantiated with evidence, so their origin remains unknown. This morph is gold-yellow with some individuals showing small light-brown to flesh-colored spots.
Continue reading “Golden”
Sean Stewart has been the primary source for this morph of auratus in the hobby. It is a more recent morph in the North American hobby as it was discovered as recently as 2006, this morph comes to North America via European imports. The wild population of this morph is said to originate around a large lake east of Panama City. Other names for this morph include Punta Celeste and Lago Bayano. The body color of this morph is dark brown to black and its markings include dots or lines of variable green, turquoise, or blue. It’s markings are larger than those of the Ancon Hill morph.
Continue reading “Mebalo”
The exact location of this morph in the wild is not known, but bronze populations exists on the Caribbean slopes of the Cocle Province of Panama. Two Germans, Holger Birkhahn and Klaus Wassmann, imported some legally collected Panamanian frogs in 1992 and split these wild collected individuals amongst themselves. The descendants became known in Europe as ‘birkhahn line auratus’ and ‘Wassmann line auratus.’ They were also called ‘bronce’ and ‘panama special.’ In 1997, Sean Stewart imported some captive born auratus from these lines and has been selling them as ‘Highland Bronze.’ This is a variable bronze morph with a pattern consisting of blue to green swirls and blotches. The bronze color lightens with age, which some exceptional individuals becoming very light colored with a silvery sheen. This morph has a reputation for being bold.
Continue reading “Highland Bronze”
From the 2002-2003 panama farm raised imports, there appeared some exceptionally blue and bronze individuals amongst the green and bronze imports. These blue and bronze frogs were separated out and line bred for their blue trait. Marcus at Simply Natural Dart Frogs coined the name ‘super blue’ and perpetuated many offspring into the hobby. Other hobbyists obtained similar individuals from the same imports and referred to them as ‘blue & bronze.’ This morph breeds true insofar as it has been line bred for blue coloration. It should be expected that frogs of this lineage produce offspring that can range in color from green to blue on bronze. The pattern is also highly variable.
This morph of auratus are thought to be the same as green and bronze auratus, but which show a more turquoise or blue/green coloration. The Michael Shrom line has popularized this morph in the hobby. It is generally accepted to both breed these individuals with other Green and Bronze morph auratus or to choose to maintain a Turquoise line.
Continue reading “Turquoise & Bronze”
During the years 2002-2004, thousands of Dendrobates auratus were exported from Panama. These frogs came in with no locality data and were said to be ‘farm raised’ in their country of origin. Many of these Panamanian imports were bronze frogs. They ranged from green and bronze, blue and bronze, microspot, etc… All these frogs came in together during these imports. They were segregated by visual similarity, putting the blue frogs with other blue frogs and the green frogs with other green frogs. Maybe these colors represent different localities, or maybe they represent one locality. We do not know! The idea that every different colored frog represents a different population or a different ‘morph’ is not substantiated. This is because morph/locality identification based on phenotype is not accurate, and because individual frogs produced differently colored offspring. For example: two of those original frogs that were visually green and bronze could be bred together and produce offspring that are mixed in color and pattern, being green/blue/turquoise etc… Another example are the microspot auratus which do not breed true and so are probably not their own morph, but rather just a pattern variation of the green and bronze frogs.
Continue reading “Green & Bronze”
This is a site specific morph of auratus from the area of El Cope, Panama. Understory Enterprises has been the primary source of the morph in the North American hobby. This morph is large and bold, showing a pattern of turquoise with dark bronze spots and blotches.
These were collected in the 1990’s by Ian Hiler from quite high elevations in Panama. At the time of collection, the habitat was shared by Atelopus zeteki. Ian talked about how badly this morph reeked of Alkaloids in the field and said they are likely the most poisonous Dendrobates (nothing in comparison to Phyllobatid poison, though). There is reference to two lines in the hobby, Aquarium of the Americas/Hiler line and those from UE. In reality, all of these are the same. UE obtained Aquarium of the Americas line at some point and began selling them which led to them being called “UE” line.
Continue reading “El Cope”
There is a morph of auartus with a large range in Panama that extends along both sides of the Panama Canal. This morph is appropriately called the Canal Zone morph. Frogs of this morph are known as Ancon Hill in the hobby because some of them originate specifically from the Ancon Hill in Panama City. This is a unique park area in the middle of an Urban environment where auartus and other plants and animals continue to thrive. This morph may also sometimes be called the six-point morph. This is a small morph of dark brown auratus with only a few small green spots or lines.
Continue reading “Ancon Hill”