Hi there and can anyone help please?

[Sephiri]

Hello everyone,

I'm new to the forum and quite a new amphibian enthusiast but need a bit of help if anyone can. I recently aquired a frog that came across in a crate of bananas from the Ivory Coast. It's a dear little thing, about 1 inch long with gorgeous little yellow spots and it's underside is almost translucent. I've spent hours and hours trolling through thousands of photographs online but cannot find anything even remotely similar.

I'm afraid I can't work out how to add an image to a message (it just comes up as a broken link) So have put it as my profile pic. Can anyone help tell me what it is please? I'm not even sure if it's fully grown or still a juvenile, any help will be much appreciated.

Many thanks
Sephi

[1beataway]

Hi there! Welcome.

I have no idea what that frog is but it is just adorable! Hopefully someone on here will recognize it.

[Jace]

I am afraid I can't really say for sure what kind of frog this is. However, I am going to go out on a limb and suggest looking up information for Reed frogs. This is an incredibly large and diverse group, and colour variations are amazing, so you might not be able to find a picture that looks exactly like your frog. A more experienced Forum member will be able to confirm or deny my suggestion, but it might be at least a good place to start. You have a gorgeous little frog there. Best of luck.

[1beataway]

Any chance it's a type of glass frog? All the pics I see though, the frogs are green.

[Jace]

I found a pic on the internet very similar to the avatar picture-Painted Reed frog was the name of it. However, there are something like a 100 species in this group, so it is very diverse. Reed frogs are pretty prevalent in Africa, so I would place my bet on it being part of that group. I'm not sure about their care requirements, but would hazard a guess that they can be kept like treefrogs as long as temps and humidity levels were matched. What those might be exactly, I have no idea.

[1beataway]

I guess glass frogs aren't found in Africa, so ignore my post!

I did see the painted reed frog and thought it looked kinda similar, before Jace mentioned it. But, I'm pretty sure we have some experts who will look at it immediately and name off the scientific name in bold letters, maybe with some emoticon, and a silent little, "I rock."

[Jace]

Lol!! I am not certain on the Painted part of the Reed frog-I think I was looking at the wrong name for the picture I found. But I am pretty sure Reed frog is accurate. Hopefully someone can confirm that for me....

[Paul Rust]

Hello and welcome:

It looks like a Hyperoliidae. Try Opisthothylax.immaculatus

[hyla]

Hopefully Paul is right so you can help it along. It is truly unusual and so cute!

[RobM]

Kinda makes me think of:
Heterixalus alboguttatus
See: http://www.nickgarbutt.com/images/dm...nomafana_1.jpg

But its from Madagascar!

[Paul Rust]

Kinda makes me think of:
Heterixalus alboguttatus
See: http://www.nickgarbutt.com/images/dm...nomafana_1.jpg

But its from Madagascar!

At least this one has similar markings. But wrong range

[pangee123]

it is infact a yellow bellied reed frog

[Paul Rust]

Opisthothylax.immaculatus

Range includes Ivory Coast.



http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/im...ax+immaculatus

[Paul Rust]

it is infact a yellow bellied reed frog

Reed frogs originate from central and southern Africa, Madagascar, and the Seychelles Islands. The Ivory Coast is out of their range.

[SethD]

Reed frogs originate from central and southern Africa, Madagascar, and the Seychelles Islands. The Ivory Coast is out of their range.

Strike.... "Reed frogs" is a a term usually applied to hyperolius species. The ivory coast is indeed in the range of some hyperolius species. I actually have some reed frogs from ghana which is right next to the ivory coast. Some of the hyperolius group are are found in south africa but they are not found in Madagascar or the Seychelles Islands. Some similar groups like Heterixalus(which is from Madagascar) and Afrixalus are sometimes called "reed frogs" too. That is incorrect usage of the term in my opinion but given that "reed frogs" is a common name I suppose there is no definite right or wrong there.

[Paul Rust]

Strike.... "Reed frogs" is a a term usually applied to hyperolius species. The ivory coast is indeed in the range of some hyperolius species. I actually have some reed frogs from ghana which is right next to the ivory coast. Some of the hyperolius group are are found in south africa but they are not found in Madagascar or the Seychelles Islands. Some similar groups like Heterixalus(which is from Madagascar) and Afrixalus are sometimes called "reed frogs" too. That is incorrect usage of the term in my opinion but given that "reed frogs" is a common name I suppose there is no definite right or wrong there.

Agreed, O.immaculatus is a Hyperoliidae with a very small range that includes the Ivory Coast. It is not refered to as a reed frog. But with the loose usage of the term 'reed frog' I suppose any argument here would be both right and wrong. I think the important matter is to identify it for the OP so he can care for it, regardless of what it's various names might be.

[SethD]

Agreed, O.immaculatus is a Hyperoliidae with a very small range that includes the Ivory Coast. It is not refered to as a reed frog.

I was thinking more along the lines of several different reed frog species, some of which are even found in the trade. For example I know the ghana species of reed I have, Hyperolius fusciventris, also extends into the ivory coast. I am pretty sure there are a number of other reed frog species in the ivory coast as well but don't know which ones of the top of my head, would need to look it up.

[Sephiri]

Hello,

Sorry, internets been down. Thank you all for your suggestions, Paul - I had looked at Opisthothylax.immaculatus but information I've read says it has rough/warty skin with 'vertical pupils', my frogs skin is very smooth and the pupils appear to be round, so I'd discounted that species.

I'm trying to get some better pictures of it to help but it's hiding where I can't get at it and don't want to disturb it too much until it's settled, it hasn't eaten yet either.

If it helps it does get much darker at night, almost dark brown with the yellow spots still quite bright, I'll try to get a picture of that too.

Thanks again
Dawny

[Sephiri]

Me again!

Just looked up Hyperolius guttulatus and so far this looks to be the most favourable but I'm not 100% convinced, will do a bit more research on this one when I have the time.

Thanks Seth

Dawny

[Tropicok]

Maybe the labeling on the bananas is wrong. I think it (the frog) has been identified but no telling what route the bananas took getting to the UK. Just a thought.