Frogs of Australia

Regional guides

Frogs of ...

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

Stay in touch

Get news from frogs.org.au with our mailing lists - you'll hear about upcoming events and changes to the website and much more. Manage your account to receive only the news that you want.

More to see

This website is part of the ARC group of sites at frogs.org.au.

Limnodynastes peroni

Striped Marsh Frog

Also: Brown Frog, Brown-striped Frog, Night Frog, Peron's Marsh Frog, Swamp Frog

+ 72 kb Striped Marsh Frog (Limnodynastes peroni)

A large wetland-dwelling frog and voracious hunter, this frog eats almost any animal smaller than itself, including small frogs. Its distribution extends along the east coast from Queensland to South Australia. It is most commonly associated with wetlands and permanent water and shelters among reeds and other debris.

Distribution and habitat

Distribution map for Limnodynastes peroni

Adults can be found in rainforests, wet and dry forests, woodlands, shrublands, open and disturbed areas where they frequent swamps, flooded grasslands, pools and ponds. Eggs and tadpoles are found in still or very slow moving water in swamps, lakes, dams, and isolated ponds.

There is a detailed distribution map available for: Victoria.

Calling

Males call from the water concealed in vegetation or sometimes concealed under the egg masses. The call is a single short soft explosive note very similar to that of the southern call race of Limnodynastes tasmaniensis. A "tock" or "poc" with similar inflections to a hen's "cluck".

Life cycle

Distinguishing characteristics

+ 55 kb Striped Marsh Frog (Limnodynastes peroni)

Adult length: 45-75mm.
Eggs may be pigmented (east of Melbourne) or unpigmented (west of Melbourne) and are contained within a foam raft concealed in reeds, rushes, and other aquatic vegetation. Tadpoles are usually light brown or silvery grey on both body and fins. Adults range from pale fawn to golden-brown with dark brown or black longitudinal stripes along the back. Juveniles may have only a series of longitudinally aligned spots or streaks.

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 between 60mm and 90mm

Eyes, hands, and feet

Pupils: horizontal

Toe pads: absent

Webbing on feet: no webbing

Belly

Texture: smooth

Pattern: plain

Colour: single colour

Back

Texture: smooth

Pattern: striped

Colour: multi-coloured

Glands and tubercles

Parotoid gland: absent

Tibial gland: absent

Metatarsal tubercles: Non-keratinised glands present (fleshy or uncoloured)

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

The distinct markings of this frog make it easy to distinguish from all other species of its size. Its conspicuous golden or light brown back with dark brown or black stripes is unique.