Common Amphibians of Assam - II

Contribution and Photo Credits by

Dr Saibal Sengupta

Assam Don Bosco University, Tapesia Gardens, Kamarkuchi, Sonapur, Tepesia, Assam 782402

&

Dr Abhijit Das

WiIldlife Institute of India, Chandrabani, Dehradun, Uttarakhand

Family: Dicroglossidae

12. Minervarya nepalensis

Nepal Cricket Frog (As: Uisiringa beng)

This is a medium-size frog (SVL = 38.00 mm).  The dorsal is brownish to greyish brown with dark, oblong and irregular spots which are mostly oriented along the dorsal tubercles. Frequent reddish dots on the dorsum are present. A thin mid-dorsal yellow line extends from the back of the head to the vent is present. The throat of the adult male is very pale medially. The hind limbs are distinctly barred.

Found in waterlogged grassland and agricultural fields. A common frog having distribution throughout India.

13. Minervarya pierrei

Pierre’s Cricket Frog (As: Uisiringa beng)

Minervarya pierrei is a medium-sized frog (SVL = 44.00 mm) with elongated head and pointed snout. The dorsal is brownish grey, with few irregular oblong spots. A strongly developed broad yellow to reddish middorsal line extending from the snout to vent is present. The vocal sac of the males is dark laterally.

The species inhabits waterlogged paddy fields and marshes. It is distributed widely in the state.

14. Minervarya syhadrensis

Syhadra Cricket Frog (As: Uisiringa beng)

This is a small frog (27.00 mm) with a spindle-shaped body. The dorsum is smooth, with few tubercles while ventral surface is uniformly smooth. Dorsally brownish in colour speckled with reddish marbling. A white fine middorsal line is present in few while others it is broken. The limbs are darkly barred. The ventral surface is uniformly white.

This frog is a very common inhabitant of paddy field and shallow waterlogged areas with grasses and other vegetation. Male calls from the edge of the water, hiding under grasses moist leaf litter. This frog is distributed throughout Assam.

15. Minervarya teraiensis

Terai Cricket Frog (As: Uisiringa beng)

It is a medium-sized frog (49.00 mm), with a pointed snout. The dorsum is grey in colour sometimes speckled with red or green. Some individuals have a thin line on dorsum. A ‘V’ shaped band is present between eyes, lips with dark vertical bars Ventral side white, in some throat mottled with black; W-shaped black pattern on the throat of males. 

This frog is an inhabitant of waterlogged grassland, marshes and agricultural field. Extremely common throughout Assam.

16. Euphlyctis cyanophlyctis

Skipping Frog (As:Pani Bhekuli)

This is a common medium in size frog (SVL = 60.00 mm) with complete webbing of toes. Dorsal skin is smooth or granulated in some. Lateral line and a strong supratympanic fold are present. Greyish or olive-green above and is with dark patches. The limbs are with dark large spots, not barred.

This frog is aquatic in nature is also known as skipping frog because of its peculiar habit of skipping over the surface of the water. They are active both during day and night, frequently at the edges of ponds and stream. During the dry period, it remains itself buried in the deep wet mud of dried ponds and water pools. Very common in all types of water bodies of the state.

17. Hoplobatrachus tigerinus

Indian Bullfrog (As: Bamun bhekuli)

This is a large frog (SVL = 134.00 mm) with a large head and pointed snout. Hindlimb is very long, toes are long, entirely webbed with prominent rounded tips; a large, blunt inner metatarsal tubercle is present. The skin of the dorsum is granulated, with large prominent warts and longitudinal glandular folds. Dorsally it is yellowish-green to olive-brown with dark spots, these spots become more numerous and crowded towards the posterior side of the back. A very light yellow vertebral stripe from the snout to vent is present. The young ones bear yellowish lateral bands from behind the eyes which may entirely disappear in adult.

This is an aquatic frog found also in moist riparian areas, very common in paddy fields. During the dry period, a number of them may be found in the same hole. With the beginning of monsoon, a large number of them may be seen all over the fields around the pool of water. It breeds during monsoon; male has a large croak, calling loudly and incessantly producing a deafening noise. Male possesses a yellowish colour at the beginning of the breeding season and begins to lose its colour soon after breeding. Tadpoles are carnivorous. This is found throughout the state.

18. Hoplobatrachus crassus

Jerdon’s Bull Frog (As. Sagoli bhekuli)

This frog is closely similar to the Indian Bullfrog, but differ from the later in having slightly smaller in size (SVL = 121.00 mm), relatively short head, inner metatarsal tubercles sharp and shovel-shaped, and long pleat like fold. The skin on anterior and posterior parts of the back is granulated with some irregular longitudinal fold. The dorsal surface is green to olive. In adults, a number of irregular dark blotches are found. A number of crossbands are present on the limbs.

Most abundant in the flood plain, especially in waterlogged paddy fields, wet grassland, marshes, beels, sugarcane field. Eggs are deposited singly in a jelly-like transparent envelope. This male produces a bleat like call.  This is found commonly in the Brahmaputra valley.

Literature Consulted

Ahmed, M. F., A. Das, and S. K. Dutta. 2009. Amphibians and Reptiles of Northeast India. A Photographic Guide.  Guwahati, India: Aaranyak.Pp 167.

Chanda, S. K. 2002. Handbook. Indian Amphibians.  Calcutta: Zoological Survey of India.

Frost, Darrel R. 2020. Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference. Version 6.1 (26.04.2020). Electronic Database accessible at https://amphibiansoftheworld. amnh. org index.php. American Museum of Natural History, New York, USA. doi.org/10.5531/db.vz.0001 

Sengupta, S. B. Hussain, J. Gogoi, P.K. Choudhury, J. Kalita and B.K. Baruah (2010). Amphibians of some protected landscape of Assam, North-eastern India. Hamadryad Vol. 35, No. 1, pp. 28 – 36, 2010.