Crawfish Frog

Lithobates areolatus (State Status: S2; imperiled)

Description

The Crawfish Frog is in decline due to habitat loss and is not often seen in Mississippi. Skin is relatively smooth with dark spots encircled by a lighter ring. Coloration is usually golden or yellow with dark brown or black spots. When calling, dual vocal sacs can be observed. Males’ are larger than the eyes, females’ are about the same size as the eye. Uses crawfish burrows as refugia. 

Crawfish Frog, © Nathan Kutok

Identifying Traits

  • Dark spots with light ring around
  • Paired vocal sacs
Range

Habitat

Prairies, pastures, scrublands (Powell at al., 2016)

Behavior

“Low pitched nasally call” can last for about 1 second. Similar to snoring sound (Powell et al., 2016)

Diet

Various invertebrates

Crawfish Frog, © Nathan Kutok
Crawfish Frog, © Nathan Kutok
Crawfish Frog with dark coloration, © Nathan Kutok