Frogs of Australia

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Key guide to Victorian frogs

The Frogs of Victoria project is retained only for the great key guide. Work through a series of questions until, finally, your frog is identified.

Key guide

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Crinia signifera

Eastern Common Froglet

Also: Clicking Froglet, Common Eastern Froglet, Common Froglet, Day Frog, Varied Froglet

Common Froglet (Crinia signifera) Copyright Wildlife Profiles. Photograph by Peter Robertson.

+ 62 kb Common Froglet (Crinia signifera)

A small ground dwelling frog, the Common Froglet is one of Eastern Australia's most common and widespread species. Its cricket-like chirping can be heard all day and all year round.

Distribution and habitat

Adults are most common in wet and dry forests, woodlands, floodplains, open and disturbed areas, and alpine grasslands. Within these habitats they shelter under logs and other debris, usually in moist depressions or near water. It is not uncommon to find dozens of individuals under one log or rock. Eggs and tadpoles are aquatic and can be found in ponds, dams, swamps, flooded grassland, ditches and hollows.

There is a detailed distribution map available for: Victoria.

Calling

Males call from among vegetation at the waters edge or floating in open water supported by vegetation. The call is a series of three to five pulsed calls, with a chirping quality, rapidly repeated in a long series - "crick crick crick crick crick".

Life cycle

Distinguishing characteristics

The colouration of Crinia signifera is extremely variable. Copyright Wildlife Profiles. Photograph by Peter Robertson.

+ 49 kb The colouration of Crinia signifera is extremely variable.

Adult length: 18-28mm.
100 - 150 pigmented eggs are usually found individually or in loose clumps, scattered around the bottom of ponds. Tadpoles are light grey or brown all over with scattered dark flecks. Adults have a granular belly which is white or muddy white, heavily mottled with black or dark brown. The patterning on the back is variable but three patterns (morphs) are recognised: [1] ridged (longitudinal ridges along back); [2] lyrate (boomerang shaped ridges over the shoulder and on the back); and [3] smooth (back smooth, unpatterned, or with small warts).

Visible features

Presented here is the information stored in the frogs.org.au database which is used to identify frogs based on their appearance. It is intended to be used in a key guide for separating species so some of the information (for example, back colours) may be rather non-specific. The system is currently being developed - if you notice errors in the data, please write to Dave Black at the address at the bottom of the page.

Important note: This information details only the appearance of the frog. If an "or" appears in the description, this may mean either that there is some variation within the species or that the feature might be observed differently by different people. For example, if a frog has very small toe pads, it may be listed as having "Toe pads: present or absent".

Size

Up to less than 30mm

Eyes, hands, and feet

Pupils: horizontal

Toe pads: absent

Webbing on feet: no webbing

Belly

Texture: rough

Pattern: marbled

Colour: multi-coloured with only black, grey, and white

Back

Texture: rough or warty or ridged

Pattern: striped or mixed / marbled

Colour: multi-coloured

Glands and tubercles

Parotoid gland: absent

Tibial gland: absent

Metatarsal tubercles: absent

Similar species (note: this version was written for Victorian species).

Members of the genus Crinia are recognisable by their bellies - granular, with mottling or peppering of dark pigment on light pigment. For differentiating between the species of Crinia, refer to the "key" (Victoria only) for the genus.