Taxonomic notes: The population on Gorgona Island (i.e., Atelopus gracilis) should be removed from the synonymy of Atelopus elegans (S. Lötters pers. comm.), but is here provisionally retained in A. elegans pending revision.

This species occurs in north-western Ecuador in Esmeraldas, Imbabura, and Pichincha Provinces, at 300-1,140m asl, and on Gorgona Island, a small island 30km off the Colombian coast on the Pacific side, where it occurs close to sea level.

In Ecuador, it has declined very seriously and has disappeared in the last ten years, with no records since November 1994, apart from one record in November 2002 from Bogotá River in Esmeralda Province. For example, in a recent survey, it was not found 5km north-west of Alluriquín (in Pichincha Province), where it used to be abundant (L. Coloma pers. comm.). On Gorgona Island, the species is still very common.

It lives in lowland and submontane humid rainforest, and has not been found in degraded habitats. It breeds in streams.

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The decline in Ecuador is unexplained, and is possibly due to chytridiomycosis, although its elevational range is rather low for this disease. It is also impacted by habitat destruction and degradation, due to agriculture, logging, and human settlement.

• 9.3.4 Type Unknown/Unrecorded
• 2.1.2 Small-holder farming
• 2.3.2 Small-holder grazing, ranching or farming
• 11.2 Droughts
• 5.3.5 Motivation Unknown/Unrecorded
• 2.3.3 Agro-industry grazing, ranching or farming
• 1.1 Housing & urban areas
• 11.5 Other impacts
• 8.1.2 Named species
• 2.1.3 Agro-industry farming

In Ecuador, its range overlaps with the Reserva Ecológica Cotacachi-Cayapas. In Colombia it occurs in the Parque Nacional Natural Isla Gorgona. It is an urgent priority to locate the Ecuadorian population and to implement emergency ex-situ conservation measures. Close monitoring of the population on Gorgona Island is needed, since, as far as is known, chytrid has not yet been recorded from this population.

• 3.4.1 Captive breeding/artificial propagation
• 1.2 Resource & habitat protection

Listed as Critically Endangered because of a drastic population decline, estimated to be more than 80% over the last ten years, inferred from the apparent disappearance of most of the population.

• Ardila-Robayo, M.C. and Acosta-Galvis, A. 2000. Anfibios III. In: Rangel (ed.), Colombia Diversidad biótica de la región de vida paramuna, pp. 902. Bogotá, Colombia.
• Boulenger, G.A. 1882. Account of the reptiles and batrachians collected by Mr. Edward Whymper in Ecuador in 1879-80. Annals and Magazine of Natural History: 457-467.
• Cochran, D.M. and Goin, C.J. 1970. Frogs of Colombia. United States National Museum Bulletin, Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C.
• Coloma, L.A. and Ron, S.R. 2001. Ecuador Megadiverso. Megadiverse Ecuador. Anfibios, Reptiles, Aves, Mamíferos. Amphibians, Reptiles, Birds and Mammals. Museo de Zoología. Centro de Biodiversidad y Ambiente. Departamento de Ciencias Biológicas. Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador, Quito, Ecuador.
• La Marca, E., Lips, K.R., Lötters, S., Puschendorf, R., Ibáñez, R., Rueda-Almonacid, J.V., Schulte, R., Marty, C., Castro, F., Manzanilla-Puppo, J., Garcia-Perez, J.E., Toral, E., Bolaños, F., Chaves, G., Pounds, J.A. and Young, B. 2005. Catastrophic population declines and extinctions in Neotropical harlequin frogs (Bufonidae: Atelopus). Biotropica: 190-201.
• Lötters, S. 1996. The Neotropical Toad Genus Atelopus. Checklist - Biology - Distribution. Vences, M. and Glaw, F. Verlags GbR, Köln, Germany.
• Peters, J.A. 1973. The frog genus Atelopus in Ecuador (Anura: Bufonidae). Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology: 1-49.
• Pounds, J.A., Bustamante, M.R., Coloma, L.A., Consuegra, J.A., Fogden, M.P.L., Foster, P.N., La Marca, E., Masters, K.L., Merino-Viteri, A., Puschendorf, R., Ron, S.R., Sánchez-Azofeifa, G.A., Still, C.J. and Young, B.E. 2006. Widespread amphibian extinctions from epidemic disease driven by global warming. Nature 439: 161-167.
• Rivero, J.A. 1963. Five new species of Atelopus from Colombia, with notes on other species from Colombia and Ecuador. Caribbean Journal of Science: 103-124.
• Ruiz-Carranza, P.M., Ardila-Robayo, M.C. and Lynch, J.D. 1996. Lista actualizada de la fauna de Amphibia de Colombia. Revista de la Academia Colombiana de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales 20(77): 365-415.
• Urbina-C., J.N. and Londoño-M., M.C. 2003. Distribución de la comunidad de herpetofauna asociada a cuatro áreas con diferente grado de perturbación en la Isla Gorgona, Pacifico colombiano. Revista de la Academia Colombiana de Ciencias Exactas Fisicas y Naturales: 105-113.