Limnodynastes peronii (Brown-striped Frog)

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Brown-striped Frog, also known as Striped Marsh Frog, is a large wetland-dwelling frog and ferocious hunter. This frog eats almost any animal smaller than itself, including small frogs.

Current conservation status: Uncommon in ACT. Found in localised pockets, mostly in northern ACT.

Family: Myobatrachidae

Appearance: This species resembles Limnodynastis tasmaniensis, but can be distinguished by the pattern of dark and light-brown stripes on the back. It has a slightly raised pale stripe running along the upper jaw edge from the snout, and below the eyes to the forelimbs. This stripe is accentuated by the presence of a dark stripe along the side of the head that passes through the eyes.

Length: up to 70mm

Breeding: Breeding commences in late spring but most calling and breeding occurs in early summer (October to February).

Habitat: Found mainly in low-lying open country that has a good cover of perennial tussock grasses, including lowland rivers, creeks, swamps, farm dams and lakes.

Distribution: Generally uncommon in the Canberra region and very uncommon in coastal regions of NSW.

Biology: A single floating foam nest is made during egg laying. The tadpoles are dark-coloured and graze actively on the surface of submerged vegetation and detritus. They are most commonly found in and near shallow marshes and reed beds at the edges of the urban lakes and creeks. Small populations still occur in some low-lying areas that were formerly wet tussock grasslands in the region.

Call: A distinctive single "pop", "toc"or "splut" that is monotonously repeated once every few seconds. In a chorus, the calls of many individuals combine into a more rapid continuous popping or spluttering sound.

Limnodynastes peronii is listed in the following regions: