Fleay's barred-frog
Mixophyes fleayi Corben and Ingram, 1987
Queensland Legislative Status: Endangered
Description: A large fossorial frog (SVL 63-89 mm) with a steeply sloped, blunt snout. The dorsal surface is light to dark brown 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 posteriorly 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 tympanum. There is a dark purple patch beneath the eye.
The upper lip is usually mottled brown. The ventral surfaces of the body and limbs are yellow, the throat and underside of the thighs may be speckled with brown. Vocal sac present in males. The soles and palms are black.
The thighs are grey-brown, with 7-8 narrow, black cross-bands. The fingers are unwebbed, slightly expanded at the tips. The toes are half-webbed, possessing webbing to the base of the terminal phalanges of the 1st, 2nd, and 5th toes, while 2 phalanges of the 3rd toe, and those of the 4th toe are free of web but fringed. Palmar tubercles are rounded, well developed; inner metatarsal tubercle as long as first toe, outer metacarpal more elongate and about half the size of the inner.
Males develop dark brown nuptial pads on the prepollex, first and sometimes second finger. The pupil is vertical. 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 tympanum is large and oval-shaped, sloping backwards. (Barker et al 1995; Cogger 2000; Corben and Ingram 1987, H. Hines unpubl.).
Call: M. fleayi 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 (Corben and Ingram 1987).
Tadpole: The tadpole has not been adequately described.
Reproduction: During favourable conditions can form aggregations from late winter to early autumn, with breeding recorded in all months from July to March (Corben and Ingram 1987, H. Hines unpubl.). Ovipostion takes place in shallow riffle zones of streams. The female lays the eggs as a single layer on bedrock in flat, shallow sections of stream, or forms a small depression amongst submerged leaf litter or gravel, and fastens the eggs to the walls of this nest (H. Hines unpubl.).
Habitat: Adults may be found in leaf litter and along watercourses in rainforest and adjoining wet sclerophyll foests. Males call from rocks in streams or from pools at the margins of these streams (Corben and Ingram, 1987) or from the forest floor (H. Hines unpubl.). Females have been located several hundred metres from breeding sites ( H. Hines unpubl.).
Distribution: Mixophyes fleayi is narrowly and disjunctly distributed in wet forests from the Conondale Range, SEQ to Tooloom Scrub, NSW (26° 43'S, 152° 35'E - 28° 37'S, 152° 29'E). Can occur from near sea level to approximately 1000m, but is most commonly recorded at mid-elevation sites between 400 and 800m (Hines et al. 1999).
Latitude: Between 26&186; 43' and 28&186; 16' 12";
Longitude: Between 152&186; 22' 42" and 153&186; 22' ( H. Hines unpubl.).
Threatening Processes: The causes of this and similar declines in other frogs of south-eastern Queensland remain unknown. As declines have occurred in undisturbed and disturbed rainforest, it is unlikely to be the result of habitat disturbance, but other possible causes have not been examined for this species.
Suspected :
1. Habitat loss through clearing, timber harvesting and urban development.
2. Degradation of water quality and riparian vegetation arising from logging, grazing, weed invasion and pollution.
3. Predation by feral pigs.
4. Disease.
Current research is examining the possibility that a disease may have caused the decline of this species (Berger et. al. 1999). Morbid individuals infected with a chytridiomycete fungus have been located (Berger et al 1998, 1999). Other parasites recorded include amoeba and helminths (Cosmocerca sp.) (Berger and Speare 1997). Information on disease investigations and management can be located at http://www.jcu.edu.au/school/phtm/PHTM/frogs/ampdis.htm.
Status: M. fleayi is 1 of 5 species of upland stream-dwelling frog which has declined in SEQ during the last 15 years (Ingram & McDonald 1993). This species experienced a significant population decline in the Conondale and Border Ranges during the early 1990's (Corben in McDonald 1991, M. Mahony pers. comm.). Recent surveys have located small populations at several locations throughout the former range (H. Hines pers. comm.). The causes of this and similar declines in the frog fauna of SEQ remain unknown.
Management Recommendations: A draft Recovery Plan has been compiled (Hines 1997). The major actions can be summarised as:
- Conduct regular, long-term population monitoring and assessments of likely habitat.
- Conduct research to; further develop husbandry & translocation techniques.
- Investigate the genetic structure of populations;
- investigate the role of disease, UV and chemical pollutants in population declines.
- Develop protocols addressing frog handling and contingency planning.
- Develop prescriptions for effective habitat protection and management.
- Develop and distribute a range of materials to increase public education and information.
References:
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.
Last updated: 30 August 2005