Litoria watsoni

Conservation Status

Calling Period

Description

A large species of frog reaching up to nearly 7 cm in body length. It has a grey or brown back, with an indistinct longitudinal stripe along the middle, and sometimes with brown mottling or flecks. There is a dark brown stripe from the tip of the snout to the arm. The belly is white. The pupil is horizontal, and the iris is gold. The armpits, groin, backs of the thighs, and backs of the lower legs are bright red or orange. Fingers are slightly webbed and toes are nearly fully webbed, both with large discs.

Breeding Biology

Eggs are laid as clusters attached to twigs just below the surface of the water in creek pools. Tadpoles can reach a total length of up to 6.5 cm, and are black or dark grey in colour. They often remain near the surface of water bodies, and take around three to four months to develop into frogs. Can breed at any time after good rainfall, but predominately in cold weather of autumn and early spring.

Similar Species

Looks similar to Litoria ewingii, Litoria dentata, and Litoria jervisiensis in its distribution, but all of these species lack bright red or orange in the armpits, while Litoria watsoni lacks the white stripe from beneath the eye to the top of the arm present in Litoria jervisiensis. The closely related Litoria littlejohni cannot be distinguished easily via appearance but is not known to overlap in distribution.