The banded stream frog (''Strongylopus bonaespei''), also known as the banded sand frog, Cape grass frog, Cape stream frog, long-toed frog, mountain frog or Jonkersberg frog, is a species of

frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely Carnivore, carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order (biology), order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest fossil "proto-f ...

s in the family

Pyxicephalidae The Pyxicephalidae are a family of frogs currently found in sub-Saharan Africa. However, in the Eocene, the taxon '' Thaumastosaurus'' lived in Europe. Classification The Pyxicephalidae contain two subfamilies, with a total of 12 genera. This f ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to South Africa.

Description

The banded stream frog is a slender streamlined frog with a long pointed snout and long hind legs where the distance from the ankle to the knee is greater than half the length of the body. When the frog is sitting the fourth toe on the hind foot extends past the front foot. The dorsal skinis pale but is marked with brown, gold, grey, and sometimes red to orange stripes running along the body while the legs have bands which run across them. The anterior skin is smooth and white.

Distribution

The banded stream frog is endemic to South Africa, and is almost endemic to the

Western Cape The Western Cape is a province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , and the third most populous, with an estimated 7 million inhabitants in 2020 ...

but its distribution just extends into the western

Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape is one of the provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, but its two largest cities are East London and Gqeberha. The second largest province in the country (at 168,966 km2) after Northern Cape, it was formed in ...

. It range extends from extending the

Cape Peninsula The Cape Peninsula ( af, Kaapse Skiereiland) is a generally mountainous peninsula that juts out into the Atlantic Ocean at the south-western extremity of the African continent. At the southern end of the peninsula are Cape Point and the Cape of ...

north into the

Cederberg Mountains The Cederberg mountains are located near Clanwilliam, approximately 300 km north of Cape Town, South Africa at about . The mountain range is named after the endangered Clanwilliam cedar (''Widdringtonia wallichii''), which is a tree end ...

, and east as far as Witelsbos Forest Reserve in the Tsitsikamma Mountains.

Habitat

The banded stream frog typically inhabits montane fynbos but it occasionally occurs on the margins of exotic pine forest where this has been planted over fynbos. It prefers flat, open situations near streams and tends to avoid steep slopes and deep valleys. It is found in regions where the annual rainfall exceeds 500mm. For breeding it uses well vegetated shallow seasonal marshy areas and seepages, with long grass,

restio ''Restio'' is a genus of flowering plants within the family Restionaceae, described in 1772.Rottbøll, Christen Friis. 1772. Descriptiones Plantarum Rariorum 9 The entire genus is endemic to South Africa (Cape Province and KwaZulu-Natal). In c ...

s, or infrequently,

fern A fern (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta ) is a member of a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. The polypodiophytes include all living pteridophytes except t ...

Habits

The banded stream is mainly a winter breeder, .i.e. May to August, but if it is wet enough the males also call in spring or late summer. The normal calling position is a crouched position on the ground near water below marginal overhanging vegetation, and also from 10 to 20 cm above the ground, gripping grass stems and in a spread eagle posture. The banded stream frog may occasionally form dense breeding choruses early in the breeding season when there are ideal conditions, however, the advertisement calls are usually individual as the calling males are scattered and situated apart from one each other. The males may call at any time during the day or night, but mostly around sunset. The banded stream frog lays its eggs out of the water on waterlogged soil or in moss at the base of tussocks of vegetation, the eggs are laid within about 5–20 cm of temporary pools or shallow streams of water emanating from seepages. The clutch size varies from 34 to 104 eggs and they are laid singly but the females may scatter them or she may group them in clusters, or deposit them in rows of up to six or seven. The tadpoles that develop from the eggs are

benthic The benthic zone is the ecological region at the lowest level of a body of water such as an ocean, lake, or stream, including the sediment surface and some sub-surface layers. The name comes from ancient Greek, βένθος (bénthos), meaning "t ...

and they complete their metamorphosis in water.

Conservation

Although the banded stream frog is listed as least concern it is threatened by habitat loss caused by invasive alien vegetation,

forestry Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests, woodlands, and associated resources for human and environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands. Th ...

, wildflower farming, artificial drainage, fires and development. Much of the banded stream frog's habitat is in protected areas.

Etymology

The binomial name refers to the Cape of Good Hope, meaning "''bonaespei''" being Latin for "good hope".

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2245782 Strongylopus Endemic amphibians of South Africa Amphibians described in 1981 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot