A small species of frog reaching up to 2 cm in body length. It has a grey or grey-olive back, with darker patches. There is often a triangular patch between the eyes. There are vertical grey bars along the upper lip. The belly is pale grey-brown and the male has a grey-green throat. The pupil is nearly round, and the iris is gold. The legs have horizontal bars. Fingers and toes are unwebbed, both without discs.
Eggs are laid singly and attached to vegetation under the surface of the water in swamps, dams, ponds, and flooded grassland. Tadpoles can reach a total length of up to 3 cm, and are gold-brown or grey-gold in colour. They often remain at the bottom of water bodies and take around three months to develop into frogs. Breeds during winter to early spring.
Looks very similar to Crinia parinsignifera, Crinia signifera, Pseudophryne bibronii, and Uperoleia rugosa in its distribution, but has a different call to all of these species, and lacks the bright red in the groin and on the thighs present in Uperoleia rugosa, as well as the colours at top of the arms and back of the thighs present in Pseudophryne bibronii.
Photo: Stephen Mahony
Photo: Stephen Mahony
Photo: Stephen Mahony
By: Stephen Mahony
By: Nicki Hirst
By: Stephen Mahony
Found in inland NSW and north central VIC. Recent studies suggest that it has declined significantly in its distribution due to habitat modification from human disturbance.