Mixophyes balbus

Conservation Status

Calling Period

Description

A large species of frog reaching just over 8 cm in body length. It has a brown or grey-brown back, with a darker longitudinal stripe or series of patches along the middle. There is a black stripe from the nostril to past the eye, and a black triangular patch on the tip of the snout. The belly is white or yellow. The pupil is vertical and the iris is dark brown, with a blue crescent in the upper half. The legs and arms have dark horizontal bars. Fingers are unwebbed and toes are three-quarters webbed, both without discs. A genetic study in 2023 examined this species, which was formerly thought to occur along eastern NSW and into Victoria, and discovered that frogs in the southern part of its range were actually a seperate species, which are now named Mixophyes australis.

Breeding Biology

Eggs are laid loosely or in clusters in very shallow water in wet gravel or leaf litter nests that are dug next to rocky streams. Tadpoles can reach a total length of up to 8 cm, and are dark grey or nearly black in colour. They often remain at the bottom of water bodies and take at least 15 months to develop into frogs. Breeds during spring to autumn after rain.

Similar Species

Looks similar to Mixophyes fasciolatus and Mixophyes iteratus in its distribution, but has a different eye colour to both of these species, and is generally smaller than Mixophyes iteratus. Also looks very similar to Mixophyes australis, but the two species’ ranges are narrowly separated by the Macleay River, with Mixophyes australis to the south and Mixophyes balbus to the north.