Euphlyctis cyanophlyctis (Schneider, 1799)

Deuti, Kaushik, Ray, Sukumar, Bag, Probhat & Dey, Swapan Kumar, 2017, Amphibians of the Duars area of Northern West Bengal, Records of the Zoological Survey of India 117 (3), pp. 221-241 : 228-229

8. Euphlyctis cyanophlyctis (Schneider, 1799)

1799. Rana cyanophlyctis Schneider, Hist.Amph. Nat , 1: 137.

Size: 30-70 mm (snout-vent length).

Distinguishing features: Medium-sized aquatic frogs, normally seen floating in open water. The eyes are placed above the head and protrudes out of the water when the frog is floating. Snout is rounded. Nostril is equidistant between the tip of the snout and the eye and projects upwards. Fingers are without webbing, the tips of the fingers are pointed. Toes are fully webbed, appearing more like that of ducks. Skin on the back is smooth but some small warts are present. A prominent skin fold runs from behind the eye to the shoulder. Belly is smooth with a single row of porous warts on each flank.

Colour: The dorsum is dark olive-brown or grayish-brown or grayish-black with darker rounded spots on the back and stripes on the limbs. Belly is white with black spots on the flanks. The vocal sacs in males are bluish and visible on either side of the throat when the males call.

Habitat: Found in all types of water-bodies in the duars area especially the permanent ones with standing water. The species is also seen in rain-pools and puddles. They spend most of their time in the water or in the vicinity of water-bodies.

Remarks: One of the commonest frogs of the duars area. They float passively in water with only the nostrils projecting above the surface but when disturbed, can skip smoothly over the water for some distance and then float above the surface with the hind legs held outstretched and parallel. While calling, the inflated bluish-white vocal sacs of the male project through slits on the floor of the mouth. The call is distinctive and can be heard throughout the year. The eggs are laid in a frothy mass in standing water. Reported earlier from West Bengal ( Sarkar, Biswas and Ray, 1992) and Deuti (1995).