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Journal of Heredity 2010:101(6):703–709 doi:10.1093/jhered/esq082 Advance Access publication July 19, 2010 Ó The American Genetic Association. 2010. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: [email protected]. Genetic Basis of a Color Pattern Polymorphism in the Coqui Frog Eleutherodactylus coqui ERIC M. O’NEILL AND KAREN H. BEARD From the Department of Biology, Utah State University, Logan, UT 84322-5305 (O’Neill); and the Department of Wildland Resources and the Ecology Center, Utah State University, Logan, UT (Beard). O’Neill is now at the Department of Biology, University of Kentucky, 101 Thomas Hunt Morgan Building, Lexington, KY 40506-0225. Address correspondence to Eric M. O’Neill at the address above, or e-mail: [email protected]. Many species of frog exhibit striking color and pattern polymorphisms, but the genetic bases of these traits are not known for most species. The coqui frog, Eleutherodactylus coqui, a species endemic to the island of Puerto Rico, exhibits a wide variety of color and pattern polymorphisms including 4 discrete stripe patterns on its dorsal surface and an unstriped morph. We conducted breeding experiments to determine the mode of inheritance for these 5 dorsal color patterns in E. coqui. We analyzed results from 14 different cross types, which included 1519 offspring from 71 clutches. We found that color patterns segregate at ratios consistent with a single autosomal locus, 5-allele model, in which all alleles coding for stripes are codominant and the allele coding for the unstriped morph is recessive. We propose that this locus be named ‘‘stripes’’ with alleles B (interocular bar), L (dorsolateral stripes), N (narrow middorsal stripe), W (wide middorsal stripe), and u (unstriped). The results of this experiment suggest the genetic basis of stripe patterns in this well-studied species and provide a model for studying the evolution and maintenance of this phenotypic polymorphism. Key words: Amphibian, codominance, Mendelian inheritance, Puerto Rico Polymorphism is the occurrence of multiple discontinuous phenotypes within a single interbreeding population (Mayr 1963). Visible polymorphisms have attracted much attention from evolutionary biologists because they are easily observed and can be used to study the fundamental processes that maintain genetic variation (Ford 1975; Gray and McKinnon 2007), especially when their genetic architecture is known. For example, Gillespie and Tabashnik (1989) and Oxford and Gillespie (1996) used breeding experiments to determine the mode of inheritance for a color pattern polymorphism in the Hawaiian spider, Theridion grallator. Gillespie and Oxford (1998) then used this model of inheritance to demonstrate that the polymorphism is maintained by balancing selection within populations rather than gene flow among locally adapted populations. Genetic architecture for most phenotypic polymorphisms is not known, but it is likely that understanding the inheritance of these traits will shed light on the roles of different evolutionary processes in maintaining them. Frogs exhibit a wide array of color and pattern polymorphisms including variation in background color and presence or absence of stripes and spots (Hoffman and Blouin 2000). The mode of inheritance for these color-based polymorphisms has been investigated in at least 28 species (Hoffman and Blouin 2000) but conclusively demonstrated in only 2, Discoglossus pictus (Lantz 1947) and Rana pipiens (Volpe 1956, 1961; Anderson and Volpe 1958). Single generation crosses suggest that in some species background colors are genetically determined (e.g., Fogleman et al. 1980; Blouin 1989; Summers et al. 2004), whereas in other species, there is some element of environmental control (e.g., Wente and Phillips 2005). Similarly, in some species, color patterns, such as stripes in Eleutherodactylus (Goin 1950, 1960) and melanistic patterns in Dendrobates (Summers et al. 2004), exhibit simple Mendelian inheritance, whereas patterns in other species, such as spots in R. pipiens, are partly determined by environmental factors (Davidson 1964). Eleutherodactylus coqui is a diploid (Bogart 1981) frog endemic to Puerto Rico (Rivero 1978). This species exhibits considerable variation in background color and both spot and stripe patterns, and a large number of morphs have been described (e.g., Schwartz and Henderson 1991; Joglar 1998). Woolbright (2005) simplified this variation into 6 morphs including 4 striped morphs, one spotted morph, and one morph lacking both stripes and spots. This polymorphism appears to be maintained, at least in part, by 703 Downloaded from jhered.oxfordjournals.org by guest on January 5, 2011 Abstract Journal of Heredity 2010:101(6) selection from visual predators and habitat matching (Woolbright and Stewart 2008). Although these morphs appear to be highly heritable, the specific genetic architecture is not known. Understanding the genetic architecture underlying these traits would assist further investigation into the evolutionary processes affecting this striking polymorphism. Our objective was to determine the mode of inheritance including the number of loci, number of alleles, dominance hierarchy, and autosomal versus sex linkage for stripe patterns found in E. coqui. Materials and Methods Frogs were collected from 4 populations in Puerto Rico (El Yunque Low: lat 18°20#01N, long 65°45#38W; El Yunque High: lat 18°17#54N, long 65°47#15W; Rio Abajo Low: lat 18°21#28N, long 66°41#02W; Rio Abajo High lat 18°12#59N, long 66°44#51W) in May 2006 and sent to a laboratory at Utah State University. Controlled breeding experiments were conducted to determine the mode of inheritance for stripe patterns and the unstriped morph. Adults from the same population were established in mixed pairs and housed in half of a 37.85-l terrarium using corrugated plastic board as a divider. Prior to the breeding, 704 frogs were scored for stripe patterns and individually marked using a standard toe-clipping method. Terraria included 1–2 cm of moist sphagnum moss, two 10 cm lengths of PVC pipe (diameters: 2.54 and 3.81 cm), half of a 0.47-l plastic cup (cut lengthwise), and a potted plant (Pothos sp.). Relative humidity inside the terraria was maintained at levels greater than 95%, temperature at 25 °C, and the photoperiod was maintained at a constant 12:12 h light:dark. Frogs were fed vitamin-dusted crickets ad libitum. Terraria were checked daily for eggs, and each clutch was removed and placed in a petri dish (95 mm diameter) on moist paper towel. When clutches were removed, stripe patterns of adults were confirmed. Petri dishes were watered and checked for hatching eggs every 2 days. Infertile eggs or eggs showing evidence of fungal infection were removed from clutches. Five to seven days after hatching, juvenile frogs were removed to individual petri dishes (95 mm diameter) lined with moist paper towel and sphagnum moss and fed Collembola ad libitum. Color patterns of offspring were scored at 1 week from the hatching date and confirmed for each after one month. The 4 striped and single unstriped color patterns include: a light colored stripe between the eyes (B 5 interocular bar); a light hairline stripe extending from the tip of the snout to Downloaded from jhered.oxfordjournals.org by guest on January 5, 2011 Figure 1. Stripe patterns in Eleutherodactylus coqui showing (A) interoccular bar, (B) dorsolateral stripes, (C) wide middorsal stripe, (D) narrow middorsal stripe, (E) unstriped, and (F) a combination of dorsolateral stripes and a narrow middorsal stripe. NA 0.93 NA 0.56 0.54 0.81 0.66 0.77 0.64 0.82 0.97 NA 0.008 NA 0.34 0.37 0.06 1.60 1.11 1.69 0.055 0.001 1:0 1:1.02 0:1 1:1.12 1:1.13 1:1.06 1:0.9:0.7:0.8 1:0.8:0.9:0.7 1:0.6:0.8:0.6 3.2:1 3.02:1 1:0 1:1 0:1 1:1 1:1 1:1 1:1:1:1 1:1:1:1 1:1:1:1 3:1 3:1 u N.u N.u W.u B.u L.u u ,B 5 L u ,W 5 L u ,N 5 L u,L u,N Genotypes were assigned to all parents using the proposed model and segregation ratios of offspring. 368 63 0 56 46 36 20 16 9 13 60 12 5 3 3 2 3 2 1 1 2 7 UU UN UN UW UB UL BL WL NL LL NN 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 17 5 8 7 4 3 3 1 1 2 14 — 64 158 — — — — — 5 — 181 — — — 50 — — — 12 — — — — — — — 52 — 18 — — — — — — — — — 34 13 14 7 42 — — — — — — — — — 5 — — — — — — — — — 11 — — — — — — — — — 16 — — — — 368 127 158 106 98 70 67 53 26 55 241 uu uu uu Nu uu NN uu Wu uu Bu uu Lu Bu Lu Wu Lu Nu Lu Lu Lu Nu Nu Expected ratio Dominance hierarchy Parental genotypes Total BL WL NL L B W N U F1 phenotypes No. of clutches No. of families Parental phenotypes Cross no. Table 1 the vent that branches to continue along the leg to the foot (N 5 narrow middorsal stripe); a wide stripe extending from the tip of the snout to the vent, not branching and not continuing to the foot (W 5 wide middorsal stripe); 2 light stripes extending from the snout or eye to the insertions of the hind limbs (L 5 dorsolateral stripes); and a solid or mottled design with no noticeably strong clear stripes (U 5 unstriped; Figure 1). Throughout the text, the same letters are used to abbreviate phenotypes and their alleles, but alleles are written in italics. The spotted pattern described by Woolbright (2005) and Woolbright and Stewart (2008) was not included in this study because it shows continuous variation and therefore may be a quantitative trait. Unstriped frogs were crossed with other unstriped frogs and with single striped frogs to determine the dominance hierarchy between the unstriped pattern and each stripe pattern. Frogs with single stripe patterns were crossed with frogs with single stripe patterns to further test the dominance hierarchy and develop a working model of inheritance of all patterns. Finally, unstriped frogs were crossed with 2-patterned frogs to test the simplest model of inheritance against several more complex alternative models including multiple loci and sex linkage. The heterogametic sex has not been identified in E. coqui; therefore, we tested for sex linkage using 2 alternative models of male and female heterogamy (XY and ZW) that are common among anurans (Hillis and Green 1990). Only linkage to the homogametic (X or Z) chromosome was tested for each of these models because the presence of each stripe pattern in members of both sexes (O’Neill E, personal observation) allowed us to reject a model of linkage to the heterogametic chromosome (Y or W). To compare the results of our crosses with expected values under alternative models of inheritance, chi-square tests for goodness-of-fit were used in SAS 9.1 (SAS Institute, Cary, NC). When expected values were zero and observed values were nonzero, no statistical tests were necessary to reject the null hypothesis. For example, if the model predicted there should be no offspring with stripes, but we observed offspring with stripes, the model could not be true. Some crosses were performed using multiple pairs, in these cases the different families did not differ in their observed offspring ratios; therefore, these families were combined for all analyses. All P values from the chi-squared tests are presented in the tables. Results A total of 71 clutches yielded 1519 offspring from 14 different cross types. Stripe patterns scored after 1 week of hatching did not change after one month. Patterns N and W were visible at hatching, but B and L were not fully visible until about 1 week after hatching. Patterns in offspring were similar to those in adults suggesting that there is little ontogenetic change in these phenotypes after the first week. Two percent of the offspring exhibited 2 of the 4 striped patterns simultaneously but never more than 2 stripe patterns were observed on a single frog. 705 Downloaded from jhered.oxfordjournals.org by guest on January 5, 2011 Results from crosses testing the dominance hierarchy between the unstriped phenotype (U) and the 4 striped phenotypes (B, L, N, and W) Observed ratio v2 P O’Neill and Beard Genetics of Color Patterns in Coqui Frogs 0.5176 ,0.0001 NA NA NA ,0.0001 NA NA NA ,0.0001 NA NA NA ,0.0001 NA ,0.0001 NA 0.419 29.534 NA NA NA 29.534 NA NA NA 29.534 NA NA NA 29.534 NA 29.534 NA 1:1.03 1:1.03:0:0 1:1.03:0:0 1:1.03:0:0 1:1.03:0:0 1:1.03:0:0 1:1.03:0:0 1:1.03:0:0 1:1.03:0:0 1:1.03:0:0 1:1.03:0:0 1:1.03:0:0 1:1.03:0:0 1:1.03:0:0 1:1.03:0:0 1:1.03:0:0 1:1.03:0:0 1:1 1:1:1:1 0:0:0:1 0:1:0:1 1:0:0:1 1:1:1:1 0:0:0:1 1:0:0:1 0:1:0:1 1:1:1:1 0:0:0:1 0:1:0:1 1:0:0:1 1:1:1:1 1:0:0:1 1:1:1:1 0:1:0:1 L is autosomal, N is X-linked Female ZW L is autosomal, N is Z-linked N is autosomal, L is Z-linked Male XY N is autosomal, L is X-linked uu LN uuuu LuNu uuuu LLNN uuuu LuNN uuuu LLNu AuAuXuY ANAuXLXu AuAuXuY ANANXLXL AuAuXuY ANAuXLXL AuAuXuY ANANXLXu AuAuXuY ALAuXNXu AuAuXuY ALALXNXN AuAuXuY ALAuXNXN AuAuXuY ALALXNXu AuAuZuZu ALAuZNW AuAuZuZu ALALZNW AuAuZuZu ANAuZLW AuAuZuZu ANANZLW Autosomal Both autosomal NA NA 1 2 86 0 46 40 0 Expected Observed phenotypic ratio phenotypic ratio v2 No. of HeteroAutosomal Putative parental Total Loci gametic sex versus sex-linked genotypes M F LN U N U LN 2 Discussion 12 F1 phenotypes Cross Parental No. of no. phenotypes M F clutches L Table 2 706 Crosses 1–9 tested the dominance hierarchy between U and the 4 stripe patterns: B, L, N, and W (Table 1). Cross 1, between 2 unstriped parents (U U), resulted in all unstriped offspring, which suggests that either the allele for U is recessive and both parents were homozygous or that the allele for U is dominant and at least one parent was homozygous. Crosses 2–6, between unstriped (U) and differently striped frogs (N, W, W, B, and L), resulted in some offspring, within each clutch, with the parental patterns at ratios that were not different from 1:1 or 0:1 (Table 1), which supports the hypothesis that the allele for unstriped is recessive to each allele for stripes and that all parents in cross 1 were homozygous recessive. Finally, and critically, crosses 7–11, between 2 striped parents resulted in some unstriped offspring, which also suggests that the allele for unstriped is recessive to all alleles for striped patterns. Crosses 7–9 (B L, W L, and N L, respectively) resulted in offspring ratios that were not different from a 1:1:1:1 ratio, and included offspring with no stripes, stripe patterns from one parent, and stripe patterns from both parents (Table 1). The simplest explanation for these ratios is a single-locus model with stripe patterns coded by codominant alleles and the unstriped pattern coded by a recessive allele. Alternatively, a 2-locus model with each parent heterozygous at one locus and homozygous recessive at the other locus may also explain these results. Crosses 12–14 (U NL, U BN, and LW U, respectively) tested the single versus 2-locus model, including autosomal versus sex linkage, for three 2-pattern combinations (Tables 2–4). All 3 crosses resulted in offspring ratios that were not different from 1:1 for each parental stripe pattern (Tables 2–4), which was predicted by the single-locus model. These ratios were inconsistent with a 2-locus model, either with both loci autosomal or one locus as sex linked (Tables 2–4). Although the above crosses did not directly test for the allelic relationships between combinations W and B, L, and B, or N and W because frogs were not available to test these combinations, the conclusion that these patterns are coded by different alleles at a single locus can be deduced from the results of other crosses. For example, cross 12 suggests that L and N are alleles the same locus, and cross 13 suggests that N and B are alleles at the same locus; therefore, L and B should also be alleles at the same locus. Our crosses suggest that dorsal color pattern variation in E. coqui is genetically determined and likely the result of a single autosomal locus with 4 codominant alleles coding for various stripe patterns and one universally recessive allele coding for the unstriped pattern. All patterns were found on frogs of both sexes, further supporting the hypothesis that the locus for stripe patterns is not linked to a heterogametic chromosome. We propose that this locus be named ‘‘stripes’’ with alleles B (interoccular bar), L (dorsolateral stripes), N (narrow middorsal stripe), W (wide middorsal stripe), and u (unstriped). Downloaded from jhered.oxfordjournals.org by guest on January 5, 2011 Results from crosses testing the number of loci and sex linkage for the phenotypes: U (unstriped), L (dorsolateral stripes), and N (narrow middorsal stripe) P Journal of Heredity 2010:101(6) 0.4100 ,0.0001 NA NA NA ,0.0001 NA NA NA ,0.0001 NA NA NA ,0.0001 NA ,0.0001 NA 0.67 13.33 NA NA NA 13.33 NA NA NA 13.33 NA NA NA 13.33 NA 13.33 NA 1:0.7 1:0.7:0:0 1:0.7:0:0 1:0.7:0:0 1:0.7:0:0 1:0.7:0:0 1:0.7:0:0 1:0.7:0:0 1:0.7:0:0 1:0.7:0:0 1:0.7:0:0 1:0.7:0:0 1:0.7:0:0 1:0.7:0:0 1:0.7:0:0 1:0.7:0:0 1:0.7:0:0 1:1 1:1:1:1 0:0:0:1 0:1:0:1 1:0:0:1 1:1:1:1 0:0:0:1 1:0:0:1 0:1:0:1 1:1:1:1 0:0:0:1 0:1:0:1 1:0:0:1 1:1:1:1 1:0:0:1 1:1:1:1 0:1:0:1 B is autosomal, N is X-linked B is autosomal, N is Z-linked N is autosomal, B is Z-linked Female ZW Male XY N is autosomal, B is X-linked uu BN uuuu BuNu uuuu BBNN uuuu BuNN uuuu BBNu AuAuXuY ANAuXBXu AuAuXuY ANANXBXB AuAuXuY ANAuXBXB AuAuXuY ANANXBXu AuAuXuY ABAuXNXu AuAuXuY ABABXNXN AuAuXuY ABAuXNXN AuAuXuY ABABXNXu AuAuZuZu ABAuZNW AuAuZuZu ABABZNW AuAuZuZu ANAuZBW AuAuZuZu ANANZBW Autosomal Both autosomal NA NA 1 2 24 0 0 10 14 1 U BN 13 Expected Observed phenotypic ratio phenotypic ratio v2 No. of HeteroAutosomal Putative parental Total Loci gametic sex versus sex-linked genotypes M F BN U N Cross Parental No. of no. phenotypes M F clutches B F1 phenotypes Although some of our crosses had relatively small sample sizes, we had sufficient power to reject multiple alternative models that were testable with our data. Furthermore, sample sizes for tests in this study were comparable with those in similar studies (e.g., Oxford and Gillespie 1996; Summers et al. 2004). Further support for the single autosomal locus model is that no cross produced any offspring that deviated from the proposed model (e.g., an individual with 3 stripe patterns or a striped individual from a U U cross), and frogs with more than 2 different stripe patterns have never been found in the field (O’Neill E, personal observation; Woolbright and Stewart 2008; Peacock et al. 2009). Other alternative models (e.g., epistasis) were not testable as null hypotheses because these did not provide specific expected offspring ratios. Additionally, the possibility of close linkage between multiple loci remains, but we could not reject the simpler single-locus model based on the available data. Dorsal stripe pattern variation is found in at least 80 other species of Eleutherodactylus (Hoffman and Blouin 2000). Of these, the number of loci coding for different stripe patterns has been investigated in only one other species, E. nubicola (Goin 1960). Goin (1960) suggested, from a single clutch collected from a wild-mated female, that dorsolateral stripe (similar to our L) and middorsal stripes (similar to our N) were coded by separate loci in E. nubicola. This suggests that similar stripe patterns may not be homologous among closely related species of Eleutherodactylus. Further studies are necessary to determine to what extent the stripe patterns in this genus are inherited from a common ancestor representing homologous parallel evolution (Bull 1975) or the result of convergent evolution. The dominance hierarchy found in this study, alleles coding for dorsal stripes dominant to unstriped, is similar to that of other amphibians with similar stripe patterns including frogs of the genera Acris (Pyburn 1961a), Discoglossus (Lantz 1947), Eleutherodactylus (Goin 1947, 1950, 1960), Rana (Moriwaki 1953; Browder et al. 1966; Ishchenko and Schupak 1974) and as well as in the salamander, Plethodon cinereus (Highton 1959). To our knowledge, there are no studies in which the stripe patterns of amphibians have been shown to be recessive to unstriped patterns. Two of the stripe patterns (B and L) exhibited some ontogenetic change during the first week after hatch but showed no noticeable change over the next month. Subtle changes of background and stripe color sometimes occurred but these did not affect the scoring of phenotypes (O’Neill E, personal observation). Ontogenetic change in similar stripe patterns has not been reported in other frogs (reviewed in Hoffman and Blouin 2000), but changes in stripe color between juvenile and adult stages do occur in other frogs (e.g., Pyburn 1961b; Gray 1972). Stripe patterns are not sexually dimorphic in E. coqui. Most stripe patterns in other species of frog are not sexually dimorphic (Hoffman and Blouin 2000), but sexual dimorphism of dorsolateral stripes occurs in Hyla bokermanni and H. luteocellata (Rivero 1969). 707 Downloaded from jhered.oxfordjournals.org by guest on January 5, 2011 Table 3 Results from crosses testing the number of loci and sex linkage for the phenotypes: U (unstriped), B (interoccular bar), and N (narrow middorsal stripe) P O’Neill and Beard Genetics of Color Patterns in Coqui Frogs 0.3428 ,0.0001 NA NA NA ,0.0001 NA ,0.0001 NA ,0.0001 NA NA NA ,0.0001 NA NA NA 0.9 41.8 NA NA NA 41.8 NA 41.8 NA 41.8 NA NA NA 41.8 NA NA NA 1:1.4 1:1.4:0:0 1:1.4:0:0 1:1.4:0:0 1:1.4:0:0 1:1.4:0:0 1:1.4:0:0 1:1.4:0:0 1:1.4:0:0 1:1.4:0:0 1:1.4:0:0 1:1.4:0:0 1:1.4:0:0 1:1.4:0:0 1:1.4:0:0 1:1.4:0:0 1:1.4:0:0 1:1 1:1:1:1 0:0:0:1 0:1:0:1 1:0:0:1 1:1:1:1 1:0:0:1 1:1:1:1 0:1:0:1 1:1:1:1 0:0:0:1 0:1:0:1 1:0:0:1 1:1:1:1 0:0:0:1 1:0:0:1 0:1:0:1 Male XY W is autosomal, L is Z-linked L is autosomal, W is X-linked W is autosomal, L is X-linked Female ZW L is autosomal, W is Z-linked LW uu LuWu uuuu LLWW uuuu LuWW uuuu LLWu uuuu ALAuXWY AuAuXuXu ALALXWY AuAuXuXu AWAuXLY AuAuXuXu AWAWXLY AuAuXuXu ALAuZWZu AuAuZuW ALALZWZW AuAuZuW ALAuZWZW AuAuZuW ALALZWZu AuAuZuW AWAuZLZu AuAuZuW AWAWZLZL AuAuZuW AWAuZLZL AuAuZuW AWAWZLZu AuAuZuW Autosomal Both autosomal NA NA 1 2 40 0 17 23 0 Expected Observed phenotypic ratio phenotypic ratio v2 No. of HeteroAutosomal Putative parental Total loci gametic sex versus sex-linked genotypes M F U LW Funding Jack H. Berryman Institute; United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) Wildlife Service (WS) Hilo Field Station. Acknowledgments W Permits were provided by the Puerto Rico Departemento de Recourses y Naturales (Permit number: 06-IC-019) and USU IACUC (no. 1145 and 1251). We thank E. D. Brodie Jr for the use of laboratory space and supplies, and M. Pfrender and P. Wolf for discussions about inheritance. We thank L. Giovanetto, J. Poulos, and A. Huff who assisted with animal collection, G. Jones, M. Cooke, E. Lytle, Y. Kajita, K. Bakkegard, L. Latta, and K. Latta who assisted with animal husbandry, and 2 anonymous reviewers for helpful suggestions and comments. References LW U 1 Anderson SC, Volpe EP. 1958. Burnsi and kandiyohi genes in the leopard frog Rana pipiens. Science. 127:1048–1049. 14 F1 phenotypes Cross Parental No. of no. phenotypes M F clutches L Table 4 708 In natural populations of E. coqui, striped frogs are less common compared with unstriped frogs (Woolbright and Stewart 2008). This inverse relationship between the dominance hierarchy and phenotypic frequency has been found in fish (Winge 1927), locusts (Haldane 1930), snails (Fisher 1930), spiders (Oxford and Gillespie 1998), and 6 species of frog (Hoffman and Blouin 2000) and is predicted by some models of frequency-dependent selection (Clarke 1964; Clarke and O’Donald 1964). Whether or not frequency-dependent selection is responsible for maintaining the stripe polymorphism in E. coqui is not known, but some form of selection appears to be involved (Woolbright and Stewart 2008). The stripe pattern polymorphism described here for E. coqui is easily scored in the field and appears to be inherited in a simple Mendelian fashion. Therefore it should be valuable as a readily observable genetic marker for future studies of population genetics in Puerto Rico and for introduced populations in areas where E. coqui has invaded (e.g., Hawaii, see Velo-Antón et al. 2007; Beard et al. 2009). Because stripe patterns are thought to be maintained by selection in Puerto Rico (Woolbright and Stewart 2008), they will be of interest to those studying potential effects of recent human-mediated introductions on the ecology and evolution of E. coqui. For example, this polymorphism may be useful for studying the roles of adaptive and nonadaptive processes in the maintenance of genetic variation in native and introduced populations (e.g., Eckert et al. 1996; Hoffman et al. 2006). Beard KH, Price EA, Pitt WC. 2009. Biology and impacts of Pacific Island invasive species: Eleutherodactylus coqui, the Coqui frog (Anura: Leptodactylidae). Pac Sci. 63:297–316. Blouin MS. 1989. 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