| Fleay's barred frog | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Amphibia |
| Order: | Anura |
| Family: | Myobatrachidae |
| Genus: | Mixophyes |
| Species: | M. fleayi |
| Binomial name | |
| Mixophyes fleayi | |
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| Fleay's barred frog range | |
Fleay's barred frog (Mixophyes fleayi) is a large species of frog restricted to small pockets of rainforest in northern New South Wales and south-eastern Queensland, Australia.
This species has a fragmented distribution in wet forests from Conondale Range in Queensland in the north, to Yabbra Scrub in northern New South Wales to the south. The majority of the population occurs in rainforests above 400m, however it is also known from some lowland rainforest sites. This species has declined from many sites in Queensland since the 1970s. It is currently known from Conondale and Main Range, Springbrook and Lamington Plateaux and Mount Barney in Queensland and Border Ranges, Mount Warning, Nightcap Range and Yabbra and Tooloom Scrub in New South Wales. Historical area of occurrence is about 7000 km². This species has disappeared completely from Bunya Mountains and Mount Tamborine in Queensland.
Fleay's barred frog is a moderately large species of frog, up to 90mm in length. It is light brown with darker blotches and is finely granular on the dorsal surface. There is an irregular darker brown band starting behind the eyes and continuing down the back. A dark stripe on the head starts in front of the nostril and continues through the eye to the tympanum. The arms and legs have 7-8 narrow dark bars. The flanks have scattered dark spots and blotches. The top third of the iris is silvery to pale blue, the bottom two thirds are brown. The upper lip is spotted with brown. The ventral surface is smooth and pale yellow or white. The toes are three-quarters webbed. The frog was named after Australian naturalist David Fleay.
This species is associated with flowing streams and creeks in rainforest and adjacent wet sclerophyll and Antarctic Beech forest. Males make a "ok-ok-ok-ok-ok" or "arrrrk" call from leaf litter beside streams after rain during spring and summer. Eggs are laid in a dug out nest in gravel and leaf litter in shallow flowing water. Tadpoles are large, reaching 65mm in length. Metamorphosis takes about 200 days and metamorphs measure about 20mm and resemble the adult, except the iris colour is copper-red.
The extent of decline of this species has been difficult to measure due to the lack of historical records of sites and abundance.
This species is similar to other frogs in the genus Mixophys, particularly the stuttering frog (Mixophyes balbus) of which it can only be distinguished by the presence of mottling on the flanks. The great barred frog (Mixophyes fasciolatus) and giant barred frog (Mixophyes iteratus) also occur in the same area as this species. Eye colour is best used to distinguish them, as it is different in all 3 species.
It is listed as Endangered under both the IUCN Red List and Queensland's Nature Conservation Act 1992.
The Nightcap National Park is a national park situated within the Nightcap Range in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, Australia. The 8,080-hectare (20,000-acre) park was created in April 1983 and is situated 35 kilometres (22 mi) north of Lismore. The national park is classed by the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas as Category II and is part of the Shield Volcano Group of the World Heritage Site Gondwana Rainforests of Australia inscribed in 1986 and added to the Australian National Heritage List in 2007. The park was severely burned during the 2019-2020 Australian brushfire season, and its biodiversity has likely been decimated.
Conondale National Park is 130 km north of Brisbane in the Sunshine Coast Hinterland near the town of Conondale in the south east Queensland bioregion. The park covers an area of 35,648 hectares protecting large areas of subtropical rainforest, woodlands, wet and dry sclerophyll forest including Queensland's tallest tree. The park contains areas of regenerating forest which have been previously logged; areas of forest plantations also border the park. The park is currently managed by the Queensland Government under the Nature Conservation Act 1992.
The pouched frog, or hip pocket frog, is a small, terrestrial frog found in rainforests in mountain areas of south-eastern Queensland and northern New South Wales, Australia. It is the sole species within the genus Assa, and is part of the family Myobatrachidae.
The barred frogs are a group of frogs in the genus Mixophyes. They are the largest of the Australian ground frogs, from the family Myobatrachidae.
The great barred frog is an Australian ground-dwelling frog of the genus Mixophyes.
The gastric-brooding frogs or platypus frogs (Rheobatrachus) is a genus of extinct ground-dwelling frogs native to Queensland in eastern Australia. The genus consisted of only two species, both of which became extinct in the mid-1980s. The genus is unique because it contains the only two known frog species that incubated the prejuvenile stages of their offspring in the stomach of the mother.
Freycinet's frog also commonly known as the wallum rocket frog, inhabits coastal areas from Fraser Island, Queensland, south to the Jervis Bay Territory of New South Wales.
The giant barred frog is a species of barred frog found in Australia. It occurs from south-eastern Queensland to just south of the Newcastle region in New South Wales. It is associated with flowing streams and creeks in wet sclerophyll and rainforest habitats from the coast to the ranges.
Fletcher's frog or sandpaper frog is a species of ground frog native to eastern Australia from South-east QLD to Ourimbah, NSW. It inhabits rainforest and wet sclerophyll forest of the coast and ranges.
The Red-backed Toadlet is a species of ground frog native to the coast and adjacent ranges of eastern Australia, from just north of Sydney to South-eastern Queensland.
The leaf green tree frog is a species of stream-dwelling frog, native to eastern Australia from the Queensland/New South Wales border south to Sydney.
The revealed tree frog or whirring tree frog, is a species of tree frog native to coastal eastern Australia.
The mountain stream tree frog is a species of tree frog native to highland areas of NSW, Australia stretching from the Myall Lakes area, north to around Dorrigo National Park and west to Barrington Tops National Park.
The Pearson's green tree frog, also known as the Cascade tree frog, is a species of tree frog inhabiting rainforest creeks from north of Lismore, New South Wales, to Kenilworth, Queensland, with a disjunct population at Kroombit Tops Queensland, Australia.
The stuttering frog is a large species of frog that inhabits temperate and sub-tropical rainforest and wet sclerophyll forest in Australia.
The green-thighed frog is a medium-sized species of ground-dwelling tree frog in Australia.
The northern barred frog is a large, ground dwelling frog native to tropical northern Queensland, Australia.
The salmon-striped frog is a species of ground dwelling frog native to southeastern Queensland and northern New South Wales, Australia.
The Mount Glorious day frog, also known as Mount Glorious torrent frog and southern day frog, is an extinct species of frog native to south-east Queensland. It has not been recorded in the wild since 1979.
The Conondale Range is a mountain range in Queensland, located between Maleny, Kenilworth, Kilcoy and Jimna. The range is the most westerly part of the Sunshine Coast hinterland and part of the Great Dividing Range. The highest point on the range is Mount Langley reaching 868 m above sea level. This is also the highest point in the Brisbane River catchment.
