SUMMARY
PREVALENCE: Uncommon
ACTIVE PERIOD: Active at night
KEY ID FEATURES: Yellow body with high contrast black spots and blotches, small triangular head
SIZE: ~4.5cm
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
They have an elongated triangular shape with a short pointed snout. The dorsum is a golden-yellow or brown-yellowcolor from the head and transitioning to slightly darker in a gradient towards the posterior, with irregular black spots and blotches. The dorsum is cleanly delineated dorsolaterally by a wavy or sometimes jagged line of small white granules starting at the tip of the snout, running along the top of the eye and down the sides and along the hind legs. The area below the line of granules is dark yellow or black forming a wide stripe running from the snout all the way through the hind limb covering the flanks. Forelimbs are light brown with dark brown or black blotches. A pronounced fleshy skin fold runs from the back of each eye curving down and back, terminating at the forelimb. The tympanum not visible. The skin is covered in granules and small tubercles.
This species has a distinct venter with two wide black stripes running down from the chin terminating at the chest. Chin color around the black stripes is grey delineating cleanly in the middle of the belly. The lower portion of the venter is light yellow with highly concentrated light yellow granules on the hind limbs and around the cloaca. Highly contrasting white, rounded, widely spaced tubercles are scattered from the chin through the belly and extending out to the flanks.
It has four digits on the forelimbs with no webbing present. Hindlimbs have five digits and small toe pads. Digits on the hind limbs have partial webbing.
As with most narrow-mouthed frogs the spotted narrow-mouthed frog eats small invertebrates like ants and termites.
This species is also documented to produce a very thick transparent sticky mucus defensively making it difficult for predators to bite down on or swallow them. The mucus may or may not contain toxins that are medically significant for humans, further study is needed.
HABITAT
They are normally found in healthy habitat like forests and wetlands.
MISTAKEN IDENTITY
CAUTION SHOULD TAKEN WHEN INTERACTING WITH AMPHIBIANS: The spotted narrow-mouth frog is unique in appearance and not easily confused with other species. They are most easily identified by their yellow body color with highly contrasting black spots and blotches.