The Croaker Newsletter of the Tablelands Frog Club April 2008

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For upcoming activities: Activities Wildlife Photographer - Kelvin Marshall - Destination Borneo

Editorial bullrush!

Hello everyone and welcome to The Croaker. While frogs are still the focus of the club, the newsletter is taking a new direction. We have expanded our interests to include reptiles. Future issues may further expand to include insects, arachnids, and who knows what else… perhaps we may include plants, afterall animals rely on them for their survival. I feel that expanding our knowledge gives us a greater understanding of our focus animal, the frog. Enjoy this issue, and don’t forget our meetings.Darren Green
pinkenbah@internode.on.net
Note from the Editor
The Croaker is your Newsletter. If you have any feedback, comments or additions, please forward them to the Editor: Darren Green pinkenbah@internode.on.net If you have anything interesting, perhaps good or sad news, then perhaps we could all learn from it. Don't let anything be forgotten, send it in for others to read. Remember, we all have different knowledge and experiences, let's share it so that we all may benefit.

From the president's lilypad

A successful day was had at the frog club stall at the 100 year celebration of Queensland National Parks, held at Millstream Falls, despite being a one man band. There were a number of enquiries about frogs that people had seen or heard. Many asked about the “little frog found in sand” – this is our last frog of the month, the Ornate Burrowing Frog Limnodynastes ornatus. Also many people described Rocket Frogs (Litoria nasuta, this frog of the month) and the Brown-striped Marsh Frog (Limnodynastes peronii), although these two are superficially similar. Other enquiries turned out to be the Common Nursery Frog (Cophixalus ornatus, next frog of the month), a Green-eyed Treefrog (Litoria genimaculata) and a Little Red Treefrog (Litoria rubella), from descriptions of sightings or calls from around houses. You will notice the inclusion of snake and turtle info in this newsletter; as well as being interesting for current members it is hoped that it may possibly attract more members for the club, from other fields of natural history. If anyone (members or friends) has any observations on frogs or other wildlife please send it in. There was general agreement that it would be a good thing to expand the club into a more general interest club; however it would require changes to the constitution and other types of red tape, which no-one has the time to deal with at the moment. In the meantime there seems no reason why we cannot include information on other types of animal and general conservation issues in our newsletters.

The club has a small amount of merchandise left, including polo shirts, 1 cap, t-shirts, books and one frog call tape. We would like to sell what we have left and work on getting some more (see this newsletter for TFG merchandise available). If anyone has any ideas or designs for merchandise please contact the committee. We would particularly like to see some designs & ideas for club t-shirts. With the dry weather there is little frog activity. Occasional frogs may be found sheltering under ground debris, particularly Green Tree Frogs (Litoria caerulea), Bumpy Rocket Frogs (L.inermis) and Little Red Tree Frogs (L. rubella). Some of the rainforest stream-dwelling frogs are still active, particularly Green-eyed Tree Frogs (L. genimaculata), Stoney Creek Frogs (L. jungguy) and Common Mistfrogs (L. rheocola). Two gravid (with eggs) L. rheocola were found at Nandroya recently, however there were no males calling at all. The only frogs heard calling in recent weeks have been Brown-striped Marsh Frogs and Northern Barred Frogs (Mixophyes sp.) on a recent field trip near Mt Molloy. Our next field trip will be to Granite Gorge near Mareeba on 23rd of August. There are White-lipped Treefrogs in the gorge that are brown with white spots. White-lipped Treefrogs have considerable ability to change their colour to suit their surroundings, and may vary from black to bright blue to yellowish brown in colour. Happy frogging Michael Anthony

Frog of the month, Striped Rocket Frog (Litoria nasuta)
August "in the spotlight"Common Nursery Frog (Cophixalus ornatus)
August also focuses on the Small-eyed Snake (Cryptophis nigrescens)
Send in your stories, anecdotes, scientific data, literature reviews, observations, etc., to the Editor: pinkenbah@internode.on.net

Details... Family: Hylidae Common name: Striped Rocketfrog; Rocket Frog Scientific name: Litoria nasuta Description: This frog can be red-brown or yellow-brown on its back, usually with two longitudinal lines of darker warts, ridges and skin folds. This frog has extremely long legs and is very streamlined. A wide dark stripe runs from the snout, through the eye and tympanum (tight membrane covering the entrance to the ear), and breaks up into a series of blotches along the side. This dark stripe is broken by a pale bar in front of the eye and another in front of the arm. A pale stripe also runs from underneath the eye to the base of the arm. The tympanum has a pale rim. The backs of the thighs are yellow with dark brown lines. The belly is whitish and granular. The finger and toe pads are small and the toes are half webbed. Size: 50 mm Habitat: This frog lives in open forests and Melaleuca swamps. It is often found near streams, ponds, waterholes and flooded grassy areas. Call: A fast"wik wik wik" sound. Breeding: Males call from spring to early autumn and breeding increases after heavy rain. Eggs: Are laid in clusters in shallow water, either attached to vegetation or free floating. They usually sink after a disturbance. Tadpoles: Are medium sized and dark olive-brown, with a pale stripe running down the base of the spine and onto the tail. Similar species: This frog can be distinguished from Litoria freycineti by its lack of spots on the back of the thighs.

Conservation Information... Suspected threatening processes: Habitat modification (e.g. vegetation clearing, invasive weeds). Population size: An estimate of the total number of adults present in the species entire range is 50000 individuals. Factors affecting population size and distribution are unknown or unsubstantiated. Population trend in Australia over the past 50 years: Population size stable or suspected to be stable or increasing. Knowledge of population trend in Australia: Monitored locally. Population concentration: Not known to concentrate or exist in discrete locations. (e.g. the number of sites in which individuals group together either seasonally, such as breeding sites, or they may occupy discrete habitat patches within the broader landscape, such as discrete water bodies or drainage units.) Ongoing management activities in Australia: None directed primarily at the taxon. Reproductive potential for recovery: The average number of eggs deposited per adult female per year is 51-200 eggs/female/year. Minimum age at which females are known or suspected to first reproduce is 2 years. Range size in Australia: The size of the geographic area over which the taxon is distributed: 1,000,000 km. Distribution trend: Area occupied has declined by 25%. (This is an estimate of change in the portion of the total range that is occupied or utilised; it may not equal the change in total range.) Knowledge of distribution in Australia: Broad range limits or habitat associations are known, but local occurrence cannot be predicted accurately. Source... Article & Map from Frogs Australia Network. Tadpole photo Marion Anstis.