Anstisia lutea

Conservation Status

Calling Period

Description

A small species of frog reaching up to 2.5 cm in body length. It has a brown or grey back, with darker spots and a darker pants-shaped marking that starts between the eyes and splits in the middle of the back, narrowing to two points on the lower back. The belly is white or grey, with brown specks; the male has a black throat. The pupil is horizontal, and the iris is gold. The legs sometimes have dark horizontal bars. Fingers and toes are unwebbed, both without discs. This species was previously in the genus Geocrinia, but recent research has recognised this species, along with three other closely related species, as distinct and placed them in the newly-described genus Anstisia, in honour of Australian Museum Research Associate Dr Marion Anstis.

Breeding Biology

Eggs are laid as a small cluster on land in wet peat soil or Sphagnum moss burrows hidden by vegetation near creeks and swamps. Tadpoles can reach a total length of up to 1.5 cm and are brown in colour, with metallic bright blue specks. They never swim in water; instead they develop inside the broken egg jelly mass, feeding entirely on their own gut yolk reserves. They take at least one and a half months to develop into frogs. Breeds during winter to summer.

Similar Species

Looks similar to Crinia glauerti, Crinia georgiana, Crinia pseudinsignifera, Crinia subinsignifera, Geocrinia leai, and Anstisia rosea in its distribution, but has a different belly colour to all of these species.