Litoria nyakalensis

Conservation Status

Calling Period

Description

A medium-sized species of frog reaching up to nearly 6 cm in body length. It has a grey, grey-brown, or light brown back, sometimes with black flecks or spots. The belly is cream-coloured or pale pink. The pupil is horizontal, and the iris is copper-coloured. Fingers are one-third webbed and toes are fully webbed, both with large discs. The male has large black nuptial spines on the thumbs that help to grip the female during mating.

Breeding Biology

Eggs were laid as a cluster attached under rocks in streams. Only preserved tadpoles have been examined, reaching a total length of up to 4.5 cm and are black and silver in colour, with very large mouthparts used to stick to rocks in order to avoid being swept away by flowing water. Tadpoles often remained at the bottom of water bodies and may have taken around three months to develop into frogs, although tadpoles in colder areas may have taken much longer. Breeding was recorded during spring to summer.

Similar Species

Looks similar to Litoria nannotis, Litoria lorica and Litoria rheocola in its former distribution, but has a different call to all of these species, while Litoria rheocola also has smaller black nuptial spines.