Although the rainy season, the period when amphibians are more active, is coming to an end soon, the year 2021 is the Year of Bull (or Ox) in Chinese New Year and we still have time to meet some BULLfrogs! American Bullfrog (Lithobates catesbeianus) is the largest frog species in North America and the call of males sounds similar to bull bellowing. Therefore, when we talk about “Bullfrog”, people often think of American Bullfrog. Actually, “Bullfrog” does not taxonomically indicate a certain family or genus of frogs. It is a common name which refers to frogs with large size. In Hong Kong, there are two native “Bullfrogs” - Banded Bullfrog (Kaloula pulchra pulchra) from Family Microhylidae & Chinese Bullfrog (Hoplobatrachus rugulosus) from Family Dicroglossidae.
Chinese Bullfrog is the second largest native frog species in Hong Kong.
Distribution: widely distributed in Lantau and the New Territories
Habitat: a lowland species, can be mainly found in farmlands, ponds, marshes and streams
Reproduction period: Spring to summer, from March to September
Diet: Adults - insects, frogs, fish, rodents; Tadpole - algae and leaf litter
Read the following cartoon field guide to know more about the ecology of Chinese Bullfrog:
Stay tuned for the next post about Banded Bullfrog (Asiatic Painted Frog)!
References:
Arvin Diesmos, Peter Paul van Dijk, Robert Inger, Djoko Iskandar, Michael Wai Neng Lau, Zhao Ermi, Lu Shunqing, Geng Baorong, Lue Kuangyang, Yuan Zhigang, Gu Huiqing, Shi Haitao, Chou Wenhao. (2004). Hoplobatrachus rugulosus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2004: e.T58300A11760194.
https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/58300/11760194 Downloaded on 30 July 2021.
Chan, K.F., Cheung, K.S., Ho, C.Y., Lam, F.N, Tang, W.S., Lau, W.N., Bogadek, A. (2005). Field Guide to the Amphibians of Hong Kong.
Yu, D., Zhang, J., Li, P., Zheng, R., & Shao, C. (2015). Do cryptic species exist in Hoplobatrachus rugulosus? An examination using four nuclear genes, the Cyt b gene and the complete MT genome. PLoS One, 10(4), e0124825.
楊懿如、李鵬翔. (2019). 台灣蛙類與蝌蚪圖鑑.
國立東華大學自然資源與環境學系. 台灣地區兩棲類描述資料. 網頁：http://metadata.froghome.org/page.php?v=p&namecode=416160&__cf_chl_jschl_tk__=pmd_24d42960e36f526a52d92f6034f4e5955f0c446e-1627645994-0-gqNtZGzNArijcnBszQQO
中國兩棲類. (2021). “中國兩棲類”資訊系統. 中國, 雲南省, 昆明市, 中國科學院昆明動物研究所. 網站：http://www.amphibiachina.org/
About the author: Henry received his Bachelor of Science degree in Ecology & Biodiversity from The University of Hong Kong. After graduation, he worked on environmental education programmes on amphibians and reptiles. He is currently a MPhil student of the Environmental Science Programme in the Science Unit, Lingnan University. He is also a wildlife artist. Inspired by nature, he founded RedstART Studio (IG link: redstart.studio / FB link: RedstART Studio) to incorporate his ecological knowledge into illustrations to raise people’s awareness on nature conservation.
牛年見牛蛙 - 虎紋蛙 (Chinese Bullfrog)
雨季已漸漸進入尾聲，每年兩棲類最活躍時期也快要告一段落。今年是牛年，要抓緊夏天的尾巴，不如來認識一下「牛蛙」。美洲牛蛙(Lithobates catesbeianus)是北美最大的青蛙，牠們擁有低沈如牛的叫聲，因此每當提起「牛蛙(Bullfrog)」時，大部分人普遍會想起美洲牛蛙。其實Bullfrog在分類學上並非指某一科或某一屬的青蛙，而是一個通用名稱用作形容一些體型龐大的青蛙。香港也有兩位原生「牛蛙」代表：姬蛙科的花狹口蛙 (Banded Bullfrog)和叉舌蛙科的虎紋蛙 (Chinese Bullfrog)。
虎紋蛙，又名田雞，是香港體型第二大的原生青蛙物種。
分布：廣泛分布於大嶼山和新界
生境：屬低地物種，主要棲息於農地、池塘、沼澤和溪流
繁殖期：春夏季，三月至九月
食性：成體 - 昆蟲，蛙類，魚和鼠類；蝌蚪 - 主食為藻類、落葉
以下的卡通小圖鑑將介紹更多有關虎紋蛙生態的資訊：
請密切留意最新消息，下回將介紹花狹口蛙！
參考資料：
Arvin Diesmos, Peter Paul van Dijk, Robert Inger, Djoko Iskandar, Michael Wai Neng Lau, Zhao Ermi, Lu Shunqing, Geng Baorong, Lue Kuangyang, Yuan Zhigang, Gu Huiqing, Shi Haitao, Chou Wenhao. (2004). Hoplobatrachus rugulosus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2004: e.T58300A11760194. https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/58300/11760194. Downloaded on 30 July 2021.
Chan, K.F., Cheung, K.S., Ho, C.Y., Lam, F.N, Tang, W.S., Lau, W.N., Bogadek, A. (2005). Field Guide to the Amphibians of Hong Kong.
Yu, D., Zhang, J., Li, P., Zheng, R., & Shao, C. (2015). Do cryptic species exist in Hoplobatrachus rugulosus? An examination using four nuclear genes, the Cyt b gene and the complete MT genome. PLoS One, 10(4), e0124825.
楊懿如、李鵬翔. (2019). 台灣蛙類與蝌蚪圖鑑.
國立東華大學自然資源與環境學系. 台灣地區兩棲類描述資料. 網頁：http://metadata.froghome.org/page.php?v=p&namecode=416160&__cf_chl_jschl_tk__=pmd_24d42960e36f526a52d92f6034f4e5955f0c446e-1627645994-0-gqNtZGzNArijcnBszQQO
中國兩棲類. (2021). “中國兩棲類”資訊系統. 中國, 雲南省, 昆明市, 中國科學院昆明動物研究所. 網站：http://www.amphibiachina.org/.
作者簡介：陳文灝在香港大學取得理學士學位（主修：生態學與生物多樣性），畢業後加入保育團體，負責保育兩爬動物的環境教育項目。現時為嶺南大學環境科學研究生。他同時是一名生態藝術工作者，從大自然中得到靈感，他成立了 RedstART Studio (IG link: redstart.studio / FB link: RedstART Studio)，用畫筆結合自己的生態知識去傳遞自然保育的訊息，將藝術融入環境教育。