Adult: Species description based on Savage (2002). A tiny rocket frog (males to 17 mm, females to 18 mm). Mature males have a swollen middle finger. Throat color in males pale grey throat (white in females). Dorsal: The dorsal surface is dark brown; the coloration darkens to black along the sides. The dorsal and lateral coloration is separated by a complete or partial thin light stripe. The stripe extends from the groin to either midway across the side, or all the way to the eye. The upper surfaces of the arms and legs are usually orangeish. There are no bars on the arms or legs. Ventral: The ventral surface is white. Concealed surfaces: The rear surface of the thigh is orangish, borded above by a dark line.
Breeding season: Males call from leaf litter during the early and later parts of the day (Savage 2002). Tadpole: The tadpole body is oval-shaped, with a fairly long tail and low tail fins (Savage 2002). The body and tail are dark brown, with some darker pigmentation on the tail (Savage 2002). The ventral surface is pale (Savage 2002). Tadpoles can orient their large mouths dorsally to feed on particles trapped in the surface film of water (Savage 2002).
Habitat: Lowland forest to 865 m. Ecology: Silverstoneia flotator lives in leaf litter (Savage 2002). Call: A series of "peets", usually three repeated in a row (Ibanez and Smith 1995, Savage 2002) Behavior and communication: Males are territorial and will wrestle with other males to defend their territories (Savage 2002). Eggs are laid in leaf litter in a male's territory (Savage 2002). When the eggs hatch, the male transports the tadpoles to nearby streams to continue development (Savage 2002). Type locality: Barro Colorado Island, Panama Canal Zone Diet: This species consumes a variety of small arthropods, including large numbers of insect larvae (Toft 1981).