Thai National Parks

Species of Thailand

Indian skipper frog

Euphlyctis cyanophlyctis

Johann Gottlob Theaenus Schneider, 1799

Euphlyctis cyanophlyctis is a common dicroglossid frog found in South Asia. It is known under numerous common names, including Indian skipper frog or skittering frog. They are often seen at the edge of bodies of water with their eyes above the water. They noisily move away from the shore when disturbed, giving them their common name. They are rarely seen outside water.

Description

Description from Boulenger is as follows:

«Vomerine teeth in two small oblique series extending a little beyond the hinder edge of the choanae. Head moderate; snout scarcely pointed; canthus rostralis indistinct; interorbital space much narrower than the upper eyelid; tympanum distinct, about two thirds the size of the eye. Fingers slender, pointed, first not extending beyond second; toes webbed to the tips, which are pointed, fourth not much longer than third or fifth; outer toe strongly fringed; subarticular tubercles small; inner metatarsal tubercle small, conical, much like a rudimentary toe. The tibio-tarsal articulation usually reaches a little beyond the eye. Skin with small tubercles and units above, and with more or less distinct rows of pores. Brown or olive above, dark spotted or marbled; two blackish streaks on the hinder side of the thighs, seldom absent; beneath often speckled with blackish. Male with two external vocal vesicles, opening by two slits beneath the angles of the mouth.»

They have the ability to leap out of the water from a floating position. Cross section of the phalange bones shows annual growth rings which may be used for determining age.

Distribution

The species is widely distributed in South Asia and South-east Asia, from southeastern Iran, southern Afghanistan, Pakistan , Nepal, and eastern India at low to moderate elevations east through Bangladesh and northeastern India to extreme western Myanmar. In addition there are records from Sri Lanka, Thailand (possibly introduced), and Vietnam. It has recently been reported also from Bhutan.

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Scientific classification

Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Chordata
Class
Amphibia
Order
Anura
Family
Dicroglossidae
Genus
Euphlyctis
Species
Euphlyctis cyanophlyctis

Subspecies

  • Euphlyctis cyanophlyctis cyanophlyctis

    Common name: Common skittering frog

  • Euphlyctis cyanophlyctis microspinulata

    Common name: Spiny skittering frog

  • Euphlyctis cyanophlyctis seistanica

    Common name: Seistan skittering frog

Synonyms

  • Euphlyctis cyanophlyctis subspecies microspinulata, Khan (1997)
  • Rana leschenaultii, André Marie Constant Duméril & Gabriel Bibron (1841)
  • Rana bengalensis, John Edward Gray (1830)
  • Occidozyga) cyanophlyctis, Johann Gottlob Theaenus Schneider (1799)
  • Rana cyanophlyctis, Johann Gottlob Theaenus Schneider (1799)
  • Rana cyanophlyetis, Johann Gottlob Theaenus Schneider (1799)

Conservation status

Least Concern (IUCN3.1)

Least Concern (IUCN3.1)

Range Map