Frogs of the Townsville Region

Stony-creek Frog, Litoria lesueuri

STATUS:

safe/low risk

DISTRIBUTION:

Coast, ranges and slopes of eastern Australia, from Cooktown, northern Qld to Victoria.

HABITAT:

Rainforest, adjacent tall open sclerophyll forest, and coastal heathlands between altitudes 0 to 1200 metres. Terrestrial, commonly associated with rocky and sandy streams. Sometimes found on vegetation overhanging streams, often found long distances from water.

DESCRIPTION:

Adult Body length 40 - 70 mm. Dorsal surface smooth; pale fawn to dark brown (immaculate or with irregular blotching), males in breeding condition bright yellow. A black head-stripe begins at the snout, passes through the eye and narrows to pass over the tympanum to the shoulder where it breaks into a series of spots on the flank. No dorso-lateral skin fold present. Ventral surface granular and white. Throat smooth and white in females, and mottled dark brown around the edges in breeding males. Groin yellow and blotched with black. Inner thigh black with cream or yellow markings. Fingers without webbing; toes one third webbed. Iris silver. Tympanum distinct.

CALL:

Resembles a soft purring trill, "crew crewwk crewwwk" repeated for two or three seconds. Heard at night and sometimes day from rocks in streams or sand bars near the waters edge from August to May.

BREEDING AND LARVAE:

Several hundred pigmented eggs are deposited in stream-side pools, stream backwaters, or in sandy depressions on sand bars as a solid gelatinous clump adhering to rocks, bottom sediments or vegetation. Tadpoles have a light brown body; mid to dark brown in preserved specimens. Tail musculature pale, covered in reticulated layer of stipples and venation. Fins yellowish with medium density of stippling on dorsal fin, sparse stippling on ventral fin. Tail tip pointed. Branchial region clearly visible. Intestinal coils visible mid ventrally through a dark pigment layer, coils less visible or not visible laterally. Eyes dorso-lateral. Spiracle sinistral. Vent tube dextral. Oral disc completely surrounded by many small marginal and submarginal papillae. Labial Tooth Row Formula: 2 / 3. Total length of tadpole up to 45 mm.

REFERENCES:

Description: Duméril and Bibron, 1841. Call: Grigg and Barker, 1983. Larvae: Martin, Littlejohn and Rawlinson, 1966. Miscellaneous: Dennis and Trenerry, 1984; Winter and McDonald, 1986; Moore, 1961, Hero et al. 1991; Richards and Alford, 1992; Richards, 1993; Covacevich and McDonald, 1993.

Literature cited.

Prepared by: J-M. Hero, Updated August 1, 1994. Dept. Zoology, James Cook University, QLD 4811. Jean-Marc.Hero@jcu.edu.au