NEWS104
18
Themaintenanceofmany aquatic frogs is largely something for dedicated
animal enthusiasts who are prepared largely to overlook the fact that
decorative planting of the aqua-terrarium is not entirely compatible with
their pets. As the vastmajority of aquatic frogs, that is frogs that live year-
round in the immediate vicinityofwater,grow to significantlymore than5
cm long.Sodelicateplantsdon’t standmuchof achance in the long term…
But for awhilenow therehasbeena little frogon themarket that grows to
onlyaround3.5-4cm longand isperfectly suited to theattractivelyplanted
aqua-terrarium:theGreenPuddleFrog,
Occidozyga lima
.
Dwarf aquatic frogs
byThorstenHoltmann
his little frog has a vast distribution
that encompasses Cambodia, China,
HongKong, India (WestBengal), Indonesia,
Laos, Malaysia, Burma, Thailand, and
Vietnam.However, the species isn’t equally
common everywhere. In parts of its range
this frog is common in association with
human cultures, but in West Bengal it
appears tobe far lesscommonplace,as the
author of a scientific work on the
amphibian fauna of the state had to rely
solely on data from the literature: not a
single preserved specimen was available!
Thatmay, of course, simply reflect the fact
that the Green Puddle Frog is often
overlookedbecauseof its small sizeand in
T
addition is of no economic value. InHong
Kong the once abundant population has
purportedly almost completely collapsed
for reasons unknown. These frogs are
imported for thepet trade from Indonesia,
where they occur in vast numbers, and
hence can be purchased cheaply here in
Germany.
Appearance
Occidozyga lima
is rather variably colored,
but generally inconspicuous. Every
specimenhas itsown individual coloration
consisting of shades of gray, brown, and
green on the upper surface of the body.
The skin is warty. Twomain color variants
can be roughly distinguished, namely
specimens with and thosewithout stripes
on the back. This is not a sexual
characteristic. Themales remain about 0.5
cm smaller than the females and aremore
delicatelybuilt,but otherwise there areno
noticeable external sexual differences.
Even the throatsacof themale,withwhose
aid these little chaps can call very loudly,
lies inside the body and is invisible when
the frog isn’t calling. The churring-clicking
call, usually a sort of “ae ae ae”, is far from
melodious, but at the same time not so
loud as to make the maintenance of
Occidozyga lima
inadvisable in the living-
or bed-room.Theundersideof thebody is
just as uniform in color as the upper
surfaceof the frog is variable.On the inner
side of the front legs there is a dark stripe
that continues along theedgeof thebelly
asa flankstripe. Often thereareextensions
of thesearmstripeson thebreastaswell,in
the formof narrowbands at a90° angle to
the main stripe. A particularly striking
feature is the L-shapeddark bands on the
undersides of thehind legs; these are very
characteristic of this frog species. Apart
from thebreast stripes,whichareabsent in
some individuals, the underside is dirty
whitewithout any striking patterning.The
eyes are sited high up on the head and
allow theGreenPuddleFroganalmost360
Occidozyga lima
only rarelygoesonto land.
All photos:FrankSchäfer
Frogs
