[ Random Image ]


Mixophyes iteratus

Giant Barred Frog

Threatened Status:
EPBC/NC/IUCN: Vulnerable

Size:
Large, <120mm

Quick ID features:
Large gold iris, dark bars on top of legs, large powerful hind legs, brown/grey/tan colour on back, often patterned.

Characteristics:
A large grey-brown/tan coloured frog above, smooth back. Large, powerful legs with distinctive bands or bars present on tops of hand legs. No finger disks and toe pads, extensive webbing between and toes, sometimes blue in appearance. Patterning and blotches present on head and back, usually more prominent in males. Limbs are darkly mottled, flecked or spotted. The belly is smooth and white, or yellow in males. A powerful swimmer.

Call:
Described as a bass grunt or 'wok'. Heard calling in the warmer months, usually between November and March. Males call from the sides of creeks or large, deep pools in drier times.

Breeding & Distribution:
A terrestrial species that breeds in forest streams or remnant riparian vegetation where surrounding land has been cleared.
Brown eggs are laid singly surrounded in jelly and are kicked up onto undercut banks and flood debris where tadpoles fall into water once hatched. Distributed from South-east QLD to northern NSW in hinterland and lowland streams.

Similar species:
Often mistaken for the Cane Toad (Rhinella marina) and the Great Barred Frog (Mixophyes fasciolatus), but distinguished from these by golden iris, and from the Cane Toad by absence of warts and smooth white belly.

Text must not be used without the author's permission.