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.
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Crinia sloanei
Sloane's Froglet
A small inhabitant of river flats and flood plains. At only 20mm long it is one of the smaller frogs and "metamorphlings" of this species are barely recognisable as frogs.
Distribution and habitat
Adults are most common in woodlands, floodplains, grasslands, and open and disturbed areas. Within these habitats they shelter under logs and other debris, usually in moist depressions or near water. 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
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Males call from the water floating, supported by vegetation. The call is a short peeping call, repeated about once per second - "chick...chick...chick".
Copyright Murray Littlejohn. Recorded by Murray Littlejohn. Must not be reproduced without permission.
Life cycle
Distinguishing characteristics
Adult
length: 15-20mm.
Eggs are pigmented and 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 light grey, or white, with darker flecks tending to form loose clusters. The patterning on the back is lyrate (boomerang shaped ridges over the shoulder and on the back) with small orange-capped 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: peppered
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.
The scientific names of Crinia sloanei
- Crinia sloanei (Littlejohn 1958)
