The Epirus water frog (''Pelophylax epeiroticus'') is a species of

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

in the family Ranidae. It is found in western Greece, including

Kerkyra Corfu (, ) or Kerkyra ( el, Κέρκυρα, Kérkyra, , ; ; la, Corcyra.) is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the margin of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The isl ...

,Schneider, H., Sofianidou, T. S., Kyriakopoulou-Sklavounou, P.: ''Bioacoustic and morphometric studies of water frogs (genus Rana) of Lake Ioannina in Greece, and description of a new species (Anura, Amphibia).'' In: ''Zeitschrift für zoologische Systematik und Evolutionsforschung.'' Volume 22, 1984, pp. 349–366. and the southern areas of Albania.Schneider, H., Haxhiu, I. (1992): ''The distribution of the Epeirus frog (Rana epeirotica) in Albania.'' In: ''Amphibia-Reptilia''. Volume 13, 1992, pp. 293–295. The species is collected from the wild for human consumption.

Description

Like most frogs, Epirus water frogs show sexual dimorphism. Males can grow to in length, with females growing larger to . The dorsal side is typically green with irregular black spots. The underside is pale. Male vocal sacs are olive aside from mating season, when they can turn a dark gray.

Distribution and habitat

The species occurs in Mediterranean-type shrubby vegetation, rivers, swamps, freshwater lakes and marshes, and plantations. It is threatened by

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

, and is classified as vulnerable as populations within its relatively small range are fragmented.

Reproductive behavior

The spawning period extends from the end of April to the beginning of May and can change by a few days depending on the latitude and altitude of a population and the local weather. In the case of high reproductive activity, calling begins in the morning at around 9 a.m. and lasts until midnight or longer with a longer break at dusk, during which the frogs are catching insects. Calling Epirus water frogs have been observed at water temperatures between 13 and 24.5 °Celsius.

Mating call

The calls consist of very short pulses with intervals in between, which is why the calls sound creaky. According to the calculated equations, the calls last for 616 milliseconds at a water temperature of 15 °Celsius and consist of 32 pulses. As the temperature rises, the duration of the calls decreases, while the number of pulses per call increases. The frequency spectrum has a strong component between 1400 and 2400 Hertz. The males mostly give the calls in series.

References

Pelophylax Amphibians of Europe Amphibians described in 1984 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Ranidae-stub