Anomaloglossus confusus, new species, is a small (21–26 mm SVL) riparian frog from the Pacific versant of the Andes in northwestern Ecuador. It inhabits rocky forest streams in an elevational range of about 600–1540 m. It is the only known Anomaloglossus in Ecuador, where it can be distinguished from all other dendrobatoids by the generic synapomorphy of a median lingual process. The only other named trans-Andean species of Anomaloglossus are the western Colombian A. atopoglossus and A. lacrimosus.

Anomaloglossus confusus was previously confused with “Hylixalus” or “Colostethus” chocoensis (currently in Hyloxalus), a rare species described by Boulenger on the basis of a subadult female from Pacific lowland Colombia. The first adult specimen of Hyloxalus chocoensis, an adult male, is described. The generic name Hylixalus is not “an incorrect subsequent spelling” as recently interpreted, but an emendation with its own authorship and date of publication (Boulenger, 1882); as such, it is a junior objective synonym of Hyloxalus and is an available name.