Overview
The Santa Cecilia Glass Frog (Teratohyla midas) is an enchanting centrolenid treefrog native to the humid lowland rainforest river corridors of the upper Amazon Basin. Named after the mythical King Midas, this jewel-like miniature amphibian features a luminous emerald-green body dusted with brilliant golden spots across its back, paired with a completely transparent ventral abdomen that reveals its beating heart and internal organs to the naked eye.
Biology and Physical Characteristics
Teratohyla midas displays the signature anatomical transparency that defines glass frogs. While its dorsal skin is lime-green to yellowish-green peppered with bright canary-yellow or golden flecks, its belly skin and parietal peritoneum are entirely translucent, allowing observers to clearly see the beating red heart, gastrointestinal tract, and hepatic blood vessels without dissection. Its digits terminate in enlarged, flattened adhesive suction discs that grip slick rainforest leaves drenched in tropical downpours.
Behavior and Ecology
Operating exclusively at night, males perch atop the smooth upper surfaces of riverbank leaves hanging directly over fast-flowing forest streams, emitting high-pitched musical chirp calls to attract mates. Following courtship, females deposit clutches of clear, gelatinous eggs on the undersides of leaves suspended over water. Males exhibit diligent parental care, guarding the egg clutches against desiccating breezes and predatory katydids until hatching tadpoles drop directly into the streaming river below to complete their development.
Conservation and Human Impact
Classified as Least Concern by the IUCN due to its wide distribution across the western Amazon Basin, Teratohyla midas remains sensitive to water pollution and riverbank canopy loss. Siltation from gold mining runoff, agricultural pesticide drift, and forest clearing disrupt the clean, oxygenated stream ecosystems required for tadpole survival. Protection within the Yasuní and Manu Biosphere Reserves safeguards substantial populations of this golden-spotted wonder.
Interesting Factoid
Named after King Midas because of its shimmering gold-speckled back, you can look straight through its completely see-through glass belly and watch its little heart beating in real time!
Last updated: October 2026