Frogs of the United States and Canada, 2-vol. set

Family Hylidae

Family Hylidae Osteopilus septentrionalis (Duméril and Bibron, 1841) Cuban Treefrog ETYMOLOGY septentrionalis: Latin for ‘northern.’ The original describers thought that the frog came from Norway. NOMENCLATURE Synonyms: Hyla dominicensis [in part], H. septentrionalis . Complete synonymy in Amphibian Species of the World 5.1, an online reference. IDENTIFICATION Adults and juveniles. This is the largest treefrog in Florida, in particular, the adult females. The ground color is gray to light brown; some frogs are uniform in coloration whereas others have brown or green mottling or lichen-like patterns dorsally. The skin is bumpy, and the skin on the head is fused to the skull. This allows Cuban Treefrogs to back into tight places with the head blocking the entrance. Since the skin is fused to the skull, the frog is difficult to handle, and the bony skull prevents water loss. The eyes and toepads are exceptionally large and conspicuous . A yellow wash may be present in the axil of the forelegs. Venters are white to off-white. The male has bilateral vocal sacs. Juveniles have a pale green to light tan ground color with a broad dorsolateral cream to yellow stripe. They are sometimes confused with Hyla cinerea, but the expanded toe disks are much larger in Osteopilus septentrionalis. In addition, juvenile Cuban Treefrogs often have red eyes, and they have blue bones that are especially evident in the long hind limbs. Females are substantially larger than males, but the sexual size dimorphism decreases with increasing latitude; females tend to be smaller in the north, but male SULs remain about the same. In central Florida, females are 25–79 mm SUL (mean 53 mm) whereas males are 25–62 mm SUL (mean 43.1 mm). Females have eggs by 53 mm SUL and males have external nuptial pads by 26 mm SUL (McGarrity and Johnson, 2009). In south Florida, males averaged 46.1 to 52.9 mm SUL whereas females averaged 57.3 to 71.3 SUL, depending upon population. Waddle et al. (2010) reported a mean length of 38.6 mm SUL from southwest Florida. In the Everglades, males averaged 46.1 mm SUL (range 28.9 to 59.8 mm) whereas females averaged 64.2 mm SUL (range 44.5–99 mm) (Meshaka, 2001). Meshaka (2001) provides additional information on body size for populations in the lower Keys, Palmdale, Lake Placid, Okeechobee, and Tampa, Florida. In contrast, Duellman and Schwartz (1958) recorded males averaging 53 to 57.5 mm SUL and females averaging 71.7 to 78.6 mm SUL from Miami and Key West, with the largest female measuring 96.5 mm SUL and the largest male 61.6 mm SUL. Cuban Treefrogs within their native range are larger, with males averaging 44 to 56.2 mm and females averaging 68.5 to 77.3 mm SUL. The largest Florida male is 85 mm SUL and the largest Florida female is 122 mm SUL (McGarrity and Johnson, 2009). Larvae. Larvae retain yolk for several days after hatching. Mature tadpoles are black dorsally and around the eyes with grayish-brown tail musculature . This grayish-brown color extends onto the body laterally. They have a round body and wide transparent tail fin that may contain small brown pigment spots. Venters are light. Tadpoles reach at least 32 mm TL. Duellman and Schwartz (1958) provide a figure of the tadpole and its mouthparts. Eggs. Eggs average 1.2 mm in diameter (range OSTEOPILUS SEPTENTRIONALIS 823 Duellman and Schwartz (1958), Austin (1973), Meshaka (2001), and Johnson and McGarrity (2010). The northward spread of O. septentrionalis will likely be limited by minimum ambient temperature. LIFE HISTORY The life history of Osteopilus septentrionalis in Florida is reviewed by Meshaka (2001). The Cuban Treefrog is especially common in humandisturbed habitats such as urban and suburban residential developments and agriculture (Surdick, 2005). It also has moved into mesic hardwood forests, scrubby and mesic pine flatwoods, cypress ponds and domes, wet prairies, hydric hammocks, bottomland forest, swamps, and even into xeric sandhill Florida habitats (McGarrity and Johnson, 2009). Cuban Treefrogs are often present in great abundance. Females grow faster than males and mature later. Meshaka (2001) recorded differences in the age and sex structure among populations. Osteopilus septentrionalis is active mostly during warm weather (>15°C), as the CTmin is only 6.4°C; the CTmax is 39°C (John-Alder et al., 1988). In the winter during the dry season and in the heat of the day, they take refuge in shelters offering con...