Species
River frog
Lithobates heckscheri
A large, dark frog of southern blackwater swamps whose tadpoles gather in huge schools.
Photo Unknown photographer (opens in a new tab) / iNaturalist, CC0 1.0 (opens in a new tab)
At a glance
- Size
- About 8 to 13 cm long
- Habitat
- Swamps and slow blackwater rivers
- Diet
- Insects, crayfish and other frogs
- In Georgia
- The southeastern Coastal Plain
- Voice
- A deep snore
- Rabies vector
- No
Identification
- Key marks
- Large, dark green to black with light spots on the lips; white belly with dark mottling
- Told apart from
- Pig frog and bullfrog, which lack the light spots on the lips
- Where to look
- At the edges of blackwater swamps and rivers
Behaviour
River frog tadpoles form large, moving schools. Adults sit at water's edges and, when grabbed, may go limp and ooze a bad-tasting secretion.
Why they matter
It is part of the blackwater swamp community of the southeast, and its tadpole schools feed many predators.
Reproduction and lifecycle
Eggs — Thousands in floating films
Hatching — In a few days
Tadpoles — Large; spend the winter as tadpoles
Maturity — In two years
Lifespan — Several years
Calling — Summer
Living around people
- It is harmless.
Misconceptions
- Large black tadpoles in schools are fish. They are river frog tadpoles.
Related species
Seasonal activity
When this species is breeding, and when there are nests on the ground. Mowing during the shaded months is how most nests are found.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Breeding | Jan: no | Feb: no | Mar: no | Apr: no | May: no | Jun: no | Jul: no | Aug: no | Sep: no | Oct: no | Nov: no | Dec: no |
| Active nests | Jan: no | Feb: no | Mar: no | Apr: no | May: no | Jun: no | Jul: no | Aug: no | Sep: no | Oct: no | Nov: no | Dec: no |
| Notes | Under water | Active on warm days | Active | Active | Breeding | Breeding | Breeding | Tadpole schools | Active | Active | Active on warm days | Under water |
Where it lives
Recorded in 3 states and provinces. Each one links to the other animals there, and to the rehabilitators licensed for them.
United States
If you found one
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