Lithobates catesbeianus (Shaw 1802)

Barrio-Amorós, César L., Rojas-Runjaic, Fernando J. M. & Señaris, J. Celsa, 2019, Catalogue of the amphibians of Venezuela: Illustrated and annotated species list, distribution, and conservation, Amphibian & Reptile Conservation (e 180) 13 (1), pp. 1-198 : 109

Lithobates catesbeianus (Shaw 1802)

Holotype: Illustrated by Shaw (1802: 106, plate 33).

Type locality: “ Many parts of North America… Carolina, Virginia.” Attempts to restrict type locality are not accepted by Fouquette and Dubois (2014) .

Distribution: Southern Canada, eastern North America, and northern Mexico. Introduced in numerous countries of Americas (southern and western Mexico, Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Guyana, Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina, Chile) several Caribbean islands ( Cuba, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, Hispaniola), Europe ( Netherlands, France, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Greece), and Asia ( Malaysia, Indonesia, Japan, Thailand, Korea, and Taiwan). In Venezuela, known introduced population in the surroundings of La Carbonera, Mérida State.

Remarks: Since its introduction, species was the subject of a population control program by ULA (Universidad de los Andes), IVIC (Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Científicas), and MARN (Ministerio del Ambiente y los Recursos Naturales), without continuation or much success.

Selected references: Barrio-Amorós (2001c); Hanselmann et al. (2004); Lampo et al. (2004); Barrio-Amorós et al. (2011).