Crinia signifera
Copyright © Graeme Gillespie
Crinia signifera tadpole
Copyright © Marion Anstis
Distribution map
Distribution Map of Crinia signifera
Copyright © Hal Cogger
Status
IUCN Classification:
Not listed
(International Union for Conservation of Nature)
Bioregion occurrence:
(this is not a distribution map)
- East Central Queensland
- Humid East Coast
- South-East Uplands
- Australian Alps
- Tasmania
- Victorian Lowlands
- Naracoorte-Yorke-Eyre
- Murray Darling Basin
State occurrence:
Links
- Common Eastern Froglet
Wildlife of Sydney Fact File on Crinia signifera
- Common Eastern Froglet
Frogs of Victoria page about Crinia signifera
Search on this family or genus
Crinia signifera
Family: Myobatrachidae
Common names: Clicking Froglet; Common Eastern Froglet; Common Froglet; Signifera Froglet
Description: The colour patterns of this frog vary a lot between individuals. They can range from black through shades of brown to grey. The patterning on the back can be:
- light coloured with black sides
- grey to brown with dark patches
- a dark band down the spine with bordering brown and grey stripes
- light coloured with an incomplete band down the spine between longitudinal skinfolds and black sides
The throat and chest of males is dark grey to brown. The belly is granular and blotched black and white. The skin on the back varies in texture from smooth to warty and may even have raised folds like ridges. The fingers and toes have no webbing.
Size: 30 mm
Habitat: This frog is found in almost all habitats including wet schlerophyll forests, grasslands, disturbed areas and sometimes surburban ponds. It is always associated with water.
Call: A rapid repeated "crick…crick...crick…crick". Call available in 
Windows Media or 
Quicktime audio. Recording Copyright © David Stewart.
Breeding: Males call nearly all year round but choruses of males are usually heard during and after rain. Females lay up to 150 eggs in shallow water.
Eggs: Are laid singly and are either attached to vegetation or roll around on the substrate. Eggs may may cluster together when several are laid at one time.
Tadpoles: Are small and vary in colouration. Some individuals have lots of gold clusters over a dark background while others are entirely sandy gold in colour. These tadpoles can also be dark in colour or grey with dark mottling.
Similar species: This species can be distinguished from frogs in the same genus through its belly colouration and call. Frogs in the genus Crinia can be distinguished from species of Uperoleia by their lack of parotoid glands, Paracrinia and Assa by the presence of a granular belly and Pseudophryne by their less vivid belly markings.
Conservation Information
Suspected threatening processes
- Direct human impact/urbanisation/tourism
Population size: An estimate of the total number of adults present in the species entire range is >50000 individuals. Some factors affecting population size and distribution are known, but 1 or more major factors are unknown.
Population trend in Australia over the past 50 years: Population size stable or suspected to be stable or increasing.
Knowledge of population trend in Australia: Monitored locally.
Population concentration: Not known to concentrate or exist in discrete locations. (e.g. the number of sites in which individuals group together either seasonally, such as breeding sites, or they may occupy discrete habitat patches within the broader landscape, such as discrete water bodies or drainage units.)
Ongoing management activities in Australia: None directed primarily at the taxon.
Reproductive potential for recovery: The average number of eggs deposited per adult female per year is 51-200 eggs/female/year. Minimum age at which females are known or suspected to first reproduce is <2 years.
Range size in Australia: The size of the geographic area over which the taxon is distributed: 80,001-1,000,000 km² (up to 12% area of Australia or about the area of South Australia).
Distribution trend: Area occupied is stable or has increased. (This is an estimate of change in the portion of the total range that is occupied or utilised; it may not equal the change in total range.)
Knowledge of distribution in Australia: Broad range limits or habitat associations are known, but local occurrence cannot be predicted accurately.
References
Anstis, M. 2002. Tadpoles of South-eastern Australia. Reed New Holland: Sydney.
Barker, J., G.C. Grigg and M.J. Tyler. 1995. A Field Guide to Australian Frogs. Surrey Beatty & Sons: Chipping Norton.
Cogger, H.G. 2000. Reptiles and amphibians of Australia. Reed Books: Sydney.
Robinson, M. 2002. A Field Guide to Frogs of Australia. Australian Museum/Reed New Holland: Sydney.
Swan, G. 2001. Green Guide to Frogs of Australia. New Holland: Sydney.