Adults. Males to 25 mm, females to 29 mm. Back extremely variable in colour, pattern, and texture. Colours range from cream, beige, fawn, reddish, brown or grey to nearly black. Patterns include spots, patches, or longitudinal stripes. Skin on the back may be smooth, have a few small bumps, or have straight or slightly curved ridges that run down the back. Most will at least have dark triangular markings along the upper lip and darker bands on the legs. Belly is dark grey and granular (grainy) with black and white mottling or stippling that extends to the underside of the limbs. Throat is dark brown in males. Two white spots on the chest, at the base of of the arms. The head is short with a rounded snout. Pupils are horizontal, nearly round, and iris is golden. Fingers and toes are unwebbed and without pads; toes are long and fringed.

Larvae. Tadpoles can reach a length of up to 36 mm. Body is oval-shaped and varies in colour from golden, grey or brown, to almost black, with or without darker patches or mottling. Iris is dark with gold flecks and a gold ring around the pupil. Tail is the same height as the body, arching only slightly and tapering to a rounded or broadly rounded tip. Fins are mostly clear with darker veins and gold clusters and muscle is dark brown, often with darker bands and gold patches. Tadpoles may metamorphose at any time of year, as breeding may occur year-round, but metamorphosis has been recorded in spring, summer and autumn, six weeks to three months or more after hatching.¹

Eggs. 100-400 eggs are laid singly or in small clusters, attached to submerged vegetation, in the shallow water of streams, semi-permanent ditches, flooded grasslands, or permanent ponds and dams. Hatching begins seven to ten days after eggs are laid.^1,4

Habitat. Inhabits permanent to semi-permanent ponds, dams, swamps, ditches, and streams in just about any habitat, including disturbed areas, excluding wet rainforest.

Stream

Mount Glorious, QLD

Diet. Feeds on small arthropods, including insects, arachnids, and centipedes.⁶

Predation & Defence. Likely predators include reptiles, birds, mammals, and fish. Larval dragonflies and damselflies, diving beetles, and freshwater crayfish prey on eggs, tadpoles, or both.^7,8

The skin glands of this species contain peptides (like small proteins), called signiferins, which have a variety of anti-predator and antibiotic properties.⁵

Call is a short, repeated ‘crick-ick-crick-crick.’ A strong chorus may sound a bit like a chorus of crickets or the clicking of a Geiger counter. Males may call year-round (not usually in mid-summer), day or night, most often during or after rain. They call from the edge of the water or while floating amongst vegetation in shallow water. Breeding season is March to October with calling activity peaking in the cooler months.

Least Concern (IUCN Red List 2004)

Listed as Least Concern in view of its wide distribution, tolerance of a broad range of habitats, presumed large population, and because it is unlikely to be declining fast enough to qualify for listing in a more threatened category.³

Not Listed nationally (Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999)

Least Concern in Queensland (Nature Conservation Act 1992)

1. Anstis, M. (2017). Tadpoles and Frogs of Australia. Second Edition. New Holland Publishers, Sydney.
2. Cogger, H.G. (2018). Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia. Updated 7th Edition. CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne.
3. Hero, J.-M., Lemckert, F., Robertson, P., Meyer, E., Clarke, J. & Brown, P. (2004). Crinia signifera. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2004: e.T41141A10405168. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2004.RLTS.T41141A10405168.en. Downloaded on 05 June 2020.
4. Humphries, R.B. (1979). Dynamics of a breeding frog community. PhD thesis, Australian National University, Canberra.
5. Maselli, V.M., Brinkworth, C.S, Bowie, J.H. & Tyler M.J. (2004). Host-defence skin peptides of the Australian Common Froglet Crinia signifera: sequence determination using positive and negative ion electrospray mass spectra. Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry 18: 2155-2161.
6. Pengilley, R.K. (1971). The food of some Australian anurans (Amphibia). Journal of Zoology, London 163: 93-103.
7. Williamson, I. & Bull, C.M. (1999). Population ecology of the Australian frog Crinia signifera: larvae. Wildlife Research 26: 81-99.
8. Wilson, N.J., Seymour, J.E. & Williams, C.R. (2014). Predation of two common native frog species (Litoria ewingii and Crinia signifera) by freshwater invertebrates. Australian Journal of Zoology 62: 483-490.
9. Atlas of Living Australia occurrence download at https://doi.org/10.26197/5e9a2fc401f43 accessed on Sat Apr 18 08:37:47 AEST 2020.