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Geocrinia victoriana

Eastern Smooth Froglet

Conservation Status

EPBC:

Unlisted

IUCN:

Least Concern

Calling Period

Possible
Yes
Peak
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec

Description

A small species of frog reaching up to 3.5 cm in body length. It has a brown-grey or red-brown back, with or without dark, yellow, white, or orange patches. There is often a dark horizontal stripe between the eyes, a small dark stripe behind the eye, and dark patches along the upper lip. The belly is white with brown spots, and the male has a yellow throat. The pupil is horizontal, and the iris is gold in the upper half and brown in the lower half. The groin and back of the lower legs sometimes have a pink or orange-brown patch. The legs sometimes have dark horizontal bars. Fingers and toes are unwebbed, both without discs.

Breeding Biology

Eggs are laid as clusters on land under wet leaf litter or vegetation near ponds and swamps. Tadpoles can reach a total length of up to 4 cm and are brown in colour. They often remain at the bottom of water bodies, and take five to six months to develop into frogs. Breeds during summer to autumn.

Similar Species

Looks similar to Crinia parinsignifera, Crinia signifera, Geocrinia laevis, Pseudophryne bibronii, Uperoleia laevigata, Uperoleia martini, Uperoleia rugosa, and Uperoleia tyler in its distribution, but has a different call to all of these species, and lacks the large parotid glands and bright colours in the groin and thighs present in the Uperoleia species. The top of the arms at the shoulder and back of the thighs are a different colour in Pseudophryne bibronii.

Images

Photo: Stephen Mahony

Photo: Stephen Mahony

Photo: Stephen Mahony

Calls

By: Stephen Mahony

By: Murray Littlejohn

Distribution

Occurs from far south-eastern NSW, through eastern and central VIC to the Grampian Ranges in western VIC.

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