SUMMARY

• PREVALENCE: Common

• ACTIVE PERIOD: Active at night

• KEY ID FEATURES: Very large, often found in lowlands, white venter, elongate tubercles on body and hindlimbs

• SIZE: ~12cm

• IUCN: LC - Least Concern

GALLERY

IMPORTANT: Many frogs have significant variance in coloration and pattern even within the same species. There can also be extreme differences in appearance from juveniles to adults and some species appear very similar in maturity.

DESCRIPTION

One of Hong Kong’s largest species of Frog. Often olive green or brown in color, occasionally light brown. The snout is broad and triangular. The head is large with its widest section slightly more narrow or in some cases as wide as the body at midsection. The fore and hindlimbs are robust. Elongate tubercles run the length of the back and reduce by mid flank on either side. The venter is creamy white in color. Dark blotches are present on the body and legs as juveniles and fade in adults on the body, reduce on the forelimbs and remain visible on the hindlimbs. The tympanum is obvious, positioned back and below the eye and spaced by roughly the eyes diameter. A skin fold is present running from behind the eye, down behind the tympanum, past the jaw, and terminating by the joint of the forelimb and body.

They have four digits on the forelimbs with no webbing present. Five digits on the hindlimbs are all fully webbed. Digits on fore and hindlimbs are robust and fleshy.

HABITAT

They are most common in lowland, marshy habitats with stagnant water. Sometimes found around reservoirs or catch waters. Despite having stable breeding populations in a number of locations, many Chinese bullfrogs encountered in Hong Kong can also be the result of mercy releases, a practice where people, in line with religious beliefs, will buy them from food markets or pet shops and release them into the wild.

MISTAKEN IDENTITY

CAUTION SHOULD TAKEN WHEN INTERACTING WITH AMPHIBIANS: As juveniles is it possible to confuse Chinese bullfrogs with species like the paddy frog. In these instances the paddy frogs will normally have more high contrast blotches all over the body or occasionally a clear vertebral stripe. Paddy frogs also have long snouts and a slightly less robust build compared to the Chinese bullfrogs as juveniles. In maturity the Chinese bullfrog is unique in appearance and not easily confused with other species. However, it is possible they could be confused with giant spiny frogs, but the two species do not occur sympatrically. The most notable difference between the two is the elongate tubercles highly visible on the dorsum of the Chinese bullfrog, which are absent on the giant spiny frog.