Is the Chinese bullfrog (tiger frog) a nationally protected animal, and how does it differ from the common frog?
When you go to the wet market, you may see people selling Chinese bullfrogs, claiming they are wild-caught. The Chinese bullfrog generally refers to the tiger frog, also called water chicken, green chicken, or toad. So is the wild Chinese bullfrog a nationally protected animal? What is the difference between it and the common frog?
According to regulations, the Chinese bullfrog has been listed as a national Class II key protected animal. The tiger frog is also called water chicken; it has a large, sturdy build and is known as the “frog of Asia”. Females are larger than males, with a body length that can exceed 12 cm and a body weight of 250-500 g. The skin is relatively rough, with dark irregular markings on the head and sides of the body. The back is yellow-green with a slight brown tinge, with more than a dozen longitudinal rows of skin ridges, and small tubercles scattered between the ridges. The underside is white, also with irregular markings, and the throat and chest have grayish-brown spots. The forelimbs and hindlimbs have transverse bands. Because these markings look somewhat like tiger skin, it got its name. The toe tips are pointed and round, and the toes are fully webbed. The forelimbs are robust, and the finger pads are well developed and gray. Male frogs have a pair of external vocal sacs.
Living habits
The tiger frog is an aquatic frog species, often living in paddy fields, ditches, reservoirs, ponds, swamps, and other places below 900 m above sea level in hilly areas, as well as in nearby grass. During the day, it mostly hides in various stone holes and mud holes of different depths and sizes, with only its head sticking out of the opening; if food moves nearby, it quickly catches and eats it, and if it encounters enemies, it hides in the hole. Males also occupy a certain territory, and even in places with higher density, they keep a distance of more than 10 m from each other. When they find other members of the same species active in their territory, they quickly jump over and drive the intruder away.
The tiger frog is a cold-blooded poikilothermic animal and does not have a constant body temperature. Not only is its body temperature low, but it also often changes with the ambient temperature. When the temperature drops considerably on cloudy and rainy days, it temporarily stops feeding activity, and its growth rate slows or even stops. It gets through the cold winter by hibernating. Before entering hibernation, there is often a pre-winter period of active feeding, during which it preys heavily to store nutrients for the winter.
Where is the tiger frog distributed
The tiger frog has a relatively wide distribution range. In China, it is found in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Hunan, Hubei, Anhui, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Fujian, Taiwan, China, Yunnan, Jiangxi, Hainan, Shanghai, Henan, Chongqing, Sichuan, and southern Shaanxi. Abroad, it is also found in South Asia and Southeast Asia.
What does the tiger frog eat
The tiger frog eats many kinds of food, mainly Coleoptera insects, which account for about 36% of its food intake. Other items include insects of Hemiptera, Lepidoptera, Diptera, Hymenoptera, and Homoptera, spiders, earthworms, myriapods, shrimp, crabs, loaches, and animal carcasses. It is hard to believe that it also eats frogs such as the rice field frog and the black-spotted frog, as well as house mice, and these occupy a very important position in the tiger frog's diet. It seems that it not only wears a tiger-striped coat, but is indeed a true “tiger” among frogs.
What is the difference between the common frog and the Chinese bullfrog?
The common frog is the black-spotted frog; the Chinese bullfrog is the tiger frog.
The Chinese bullfrog is not a wild common frog; the tiger frog is the true Chinese bullfrog in the strict sense. Because the black-spotted frog (common frog) and the tiger frog are hard to distinguish clearly without careful observation, and the two are also somewhat similar, the name Chinese bullfrog has also become a term for the common frog among southerners.
The difference between the black-spotted frog and the tiger frog is relatively difficult to spot: the tiger frog can reach a body length of more than 100 mm, with a yellow-green-brown back and irregular markings; a white underside; and transverse bands on the forelimbs and hindlimbs. The skin is rough, with many tubercles on the back; the black-spotted frog has a body length of 70-80 mm. Its back is yellow-green, dark green, gray-green, or slightly grayish-brown, scattered with black spots. Each side of the back has 1 golden yellow or light brown fold, and between the folds there are 4-6 skin ridges of varying length, intermittently broken. There is often 1 light-colored vertebral line from the tip of the snout to the anus, and the skin is smooth