Environment and Resource Management

Fleay's barred-frog

Common name: Fleay’s barred-frog

Scientific name: Mixophyes fleayi Corben and Ingram, 1987

Family: Myobatrachidae (Australian water frogs)

Conservation status: This species is listed as Endangered in Queensland (Nature Conservation Act 1992) and nationally (Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999). It is considered a low priority under the Department of Environment and Resource Management Back on Track species prioritisation framework.

Description

Fleay’s barred-frog is a large burrowing frog with a steeply sloped, blunt snout. They are light to dark brown in colour with indistinct darker marbling. A dark brown Y-shaped vertebral band with irregular edges starts between the eyes and extends to the groin, sometimes breaking up into a series of blotches along the mid-line. The sides are grey-brown, fading to yellow at the rear and overlaid by a series of black spots.

There is an irregular dark band running from the nostrils through the eye to a point behind the external ear opening. The ear opening is large and oval-shaped, sloping backwards. There is a dark purple patch beneath the eye and the upper lip is usually mottled brown. The pupil is vertical and in adults the upper part of the iris may be straw-brown through light blue to silvery-white. In sub-adults the upper third of the iris is flame orange

The underside and limbs are yellow and the throat and inner thighs may be speckled with brown. Males have a vocal sac. The thighs are grey-brown, with 7-8 narrow, black cross-bands. The fingers are unwebbed, slightly expanded at the tips, while the toes are half-webbed. The soles and palms are black. Fleay’s barred-frog has snout-vent length of 63-89 mm.

Habitat and distribution

Fleay’s barred-frog has a narrow and disjunct distribution in wet forests from the Conondale Range, south-east Queensland (SEQ) to Tooloom Scrub, New South Wales. They can occur from near sea level to approximately 1000 m altitude, but are most commonly recorded at mid-elevation sites between 400 and 800 m.

Adults may be found in leaf litter and along watercourses in rainforest and adjoining wet sclerophyll forests. Males call from rocks in streams, or from pools at the margins of these streams, or from the forest floor. Females have been located several hundred metres from breeding sites.

Life history and behaviour

Fleay’s barred-frog has two distinct calls, a throaty "ok-ok-ok-ok-ok-ok" made by solitary males, and a long, rasping "arrrrrrrr", or growling call given in chorus.

During favourable conditions this frog forms aggregations, from late winter to early autumn, with breeding recorded in all months from July to March. Egg-laying takes place in shallow fast-flowing zones of streams. The female lays the eggs as a single layer on bedrock in flat, shallow sections of a stream, or forms a small depression amongst submerged leaf litter or gravel, and fastens the eggs to the walls of this nest. The tadpole of Fleay’s barred-frog has not been adequately described.

The diet of Fleay’s barred-frog is unknown, but is likely to consist largely of invertebrates from the forest floor.

Threatening Processes

Fleay’s barred-frog is one of five species of upland stream-dwelling frog which has declined in SEQ. This species experienced a significant population decline in the Conondale and Border Ranges during the early 1990's. Recent surveys have located small populations at several locations throughout the former range. The causes of this and similar declines in the frog fauna of SEQ remain unknown. As declines have occurred in undisturbed and disturbed rainforest, it is unlikely to be solely the result of habitat disturbance.

Suspected threatening processes include:

Information on amphibian disease investigations and management can be located at the James Cook University website.

Recovery actions

The recovery plan makes the following management recommendations for the conservation of stream frogs of South-east Queensland:

Related information

Barker, J., Grigg, G.C. and Tyler, M.J. 1995. A Field Guide to Australian Frogs. Surrey Beatty & Sons, Chipping Norton, NSW.

Berger, L., Speare, R, and Hyatt, A. 1999. Chytrid fungi and Amphibian declines: Overview, Implications and Future Directions. Pp23-33. In Campbell, A (ed), 'Declines and Disappearances of Australian frogs'.(Environment Australia, Department of the Environment and Heritage: Canberra). 234 pp.

Berger, L. and Speare, R. 1997. Report to Department of Environment and Heritage on Frog Declines and Diseases, JCU, Townsville.

Berger, L., Speare, R., Daszak, P., Green, D. E., Cunningham, A. A., Goggin, C. L., Slocombe, R., Ragan, M. A., Hyatt, A. D., McDonald, K. R., Hines, H. B., Lips, K. R., Marantelli, G., and Parkes, H. 1998. Chytridiomycosis causes amphibian mortality associated with population declines in the rain forests of Australia and Central America. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science USA 95, 9031-9036.

Cogger, H.G. 2000. Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia. Reed New Holland, Sydney.

Corben, C.J. and Ingram, G.J. 1987. A new barred river frog (Myobatrachidae: Mixophyes). Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 25(1): 233-237.

Hines, H. B. and the South-east Queensland Threatened Frogs Recovery Team. 2002. Recovery plan for stream frogs of south-east Queensland 2001 2005. Report to Environment Australia, Canberra. Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service, Brisbane.

Last updated 3 May 2011

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