frogsinflorida

American Bullfrog

American bullfrogs are the largest frogs in North America, measuring up to 203 mm long. They often have markings of spots or blotches with colors ranging from brown to green. The back legs are completely webbed. They can be sexed by observing the size of the tympanum, which is larger than the eye in males and equal or smaller in females. Sexes can also be distinguished during mating by observing the color of the throat. Males have yellow throats, and females have white (Bruening 2002).
The American bullfrog’s native range extends from central Florida to Southern Maine and across the Midwest as far as Nebraska and Central Texas. They are considered non-native in patches of the Western United States, California, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico (McKercher and Gregoire 2022).
Water is essential for their survival. Bullfrogs prefer warm, still, shallow water such as ponds, lakes, rivers, or bogs. They are becoming more common in waters with anthropogenic pollution. These areas are warmer, making them ideal for food, reproduction, and protection (Bruening 2002).
Tadpoles feed on plant matter. American bullfrogs consume a variety of animals. These include small snakes, insects, worms, crustaceans, other frogs, and eggs of fish or other amphibians. They are also cannibalistic and have been known to consume some bats (Bruening 2002).
Sexual maturity occurs at three to five years. Reproduction occurs externally. Females lay about 20,000 eggs in a floating mass between May and July in northern regions and February to October in southern ones. Four days after fertilization, tadpoles emerge from the eggs. They will remain in tadpole form for three years (Bruening 2002).
This species was previously classified as Rana catesbeiana (NCBI 2020). Red leg syndrome has been shown to increase bacterial infections on the skin of Florida bullfrogs (Wei et al. 2023). They are also vulnerable to bacterial infections by Klebsiella pneumoniae (Lin et al. 2023).
References
Lin H, Sun J, Ma J, Qin Z, Jiang B, Li W, Wang Q, Su Y, Lin L, and Liu C. 2023. Detection and quantification of Klebsiella pneumoniae in American bullfrog (Rana catesbeiana) by Taqman MGB probe real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR. Aquaculture 568: 739339.
[NCBI] National Center for Biotechnology Information. Taxonomy: a comprehensive update on curation, resources, and tools. Database (Oxford). [updated 2020 Jan 1; accessed 2023 April 11]. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Taxonomy/Browser/wwwtax.cgi…
Wei D, Cheng Y, Liow W, Yu Q, Shi J, Xia X, Chen W, Han S, and Li P. 2023. Composition and function of the skin microbiota were altered of red leg syndrome in cultured bullfrog (Rana catesbeiana). Aquaculture reports 29: 101487
Bruening S. 2002. “Lithobates catesbeianus” (On-line), Animal Diversity Web. [Accessed 2023 April 11]: https://animaldiversity.org/acco…/Lithobates_catesbeianus/
McKercher L, and Gregoire DR. 2022. Lithobates catesbeianus (Shaw, 1802): U.S. Geological Survey, Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database, Gainesville, FL. [Accessed 2023 April 11]. https://nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/factsheet.aspx?SpeciesID=71
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Greenhouse Frog

Greenhouse Frog
Federal: Invasive (FWC date unknown)
Florida: Invasive (FWC date unknown)
Greenhouse frogs are 12-30mm long and have red, brown, or bronze-colored granular skin. There are two patterns: a dominant and a recessive pattern. The dominant pattern has two dorsolateral stripes from the eyes to the posterior end. The recessive pattern is a light tan with dark marks and a V-shape on the back and line connecting the eyes. The underbelly is white. The eyes are red with a brown stippling pattern. Fingers are thin, unwebbed, and have small toe pads. Female frogs have a larger snout-vent length (Cervino 2014).
They are native to Cuba, the Cayman Islands, the Bahamas, and other Caribbean islands (Cervino 2014; FWC date unknown). They are non-native throughout the United States. In Florida, they can be found throughout most of the state, and the range extends along the Gulf Coast to parts of east Texas (Somma 2023).
Greenhouse frogs prefer hot and humid environments. Areas with debris that collects moisture, such as hammocks, swamps, or other lowlands, are ideal locations. They also do well in developed areas that are well irrigated (Cervino 2014; FWC date unknown)
They are primarily insectivores eating beetles, roaches, ants, spiders, and other invertebrates. (Cervino 2014)
Breeding occurs during the rainy season of spring and summer. When conditions are humid, males take refuge under debris and emit a mating call to females. Clutches consist of about 20 eggs under damp debris. Once eggs are laid, no parental care is given (Cervino 2014).
They are terrestrial frogs and directly develop into frogs, skipping the tadpole stage. They are named due to their dispersal through the plant trade. Often found in potted plants, they would be transported with household plant shipments (Somma 2023).
References:
Cervino S. 2014. “Eleutherodactylus planirostris” (On-line), Animal Diversity Web [ Accessed 2023 April 11]: https://animaldiversity.org/…/Eleutherodactylus…/
[FWC] Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Date unknown. Greenhouse frog (Eleutherodactylus planirostris) [Accessed 2023 April 11]: https://myfwc.com/…/frogs-and-toads/greenhouse-frog/
Somma LA. 2023, Eleutherodactylus planirostris (Cope, 1862): U.S. Geological Survey, Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database, Gainesville, FL. [Accessed 2023 April 11]: https://nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/factsheet.aspx?SpeciesID=61
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