Description
Males reach up to 45 mm, females up to 60 mm in SVL. Dorsal colors range from light yellowish brown to gray and dark brown. Dorsum is lightly spotted with darker gray or brown, or heavily mottled. Inner three toes and webbing between them can be brightly colored with orange or sometimes a peach tinge. Vertical pupil can hardly be distinguished from blackish-brown iris. Densely reticulate palpebral venation is grayish gold. Concealed parts of thighs are bluish or grayish, plain or mottled; ventral surface is unmarked white (Menzies 1975; Zweifel 1980).

Distribution and Habitat

Country distribution from AmphibiaWeb's database: Indonesia, Papua New Guinea

View distribution map in BerkeleyMapper.

Endemic to Papua New Guinea. Occurs in the mountains of eastern New Guinea, from 1,000-2,000 m above sea level (Richards et al. 2006). Likes beds of tall reeds along fast-flowing rivers running through wide, open valleys of central highlands (Menzies 1975); also found along open and forested large, swiftly-flowing streams in tropical rainforests (Richards et al. 2006).

Life History, Abundance, Activity, and Special Behaviors
The male has a call that is a double or triple note repeated at intervals like a "churr-chuk." Males are usually found in reeds or bushes along small, fast-running rivers (Menzies 1975).

The eggs are large and unpigmented and form a solid globular mass with a glutinous jelly layer and a diameter of about 75 mm. Egg masses are tucked under rocks in the water. Tadpoles are sucker-mouth type (Menzies 1975).

Trends and Threats
Nyctimystes kubori is the most abundant species in its genus (Menzies 1975). This species is tolerant of habitat disturbance and can be found near human habitation (Richards et al. 2006). Its range overlaps with at least one protected area, the Crater Wildlife Management Area (Richards et al. 2006).

Comments
This may be a species complex (Richards et al. 2006).

References

Menzies, J. I. (1975). Handbook of Common New Guinea Frogs. Wau Ecology Institute, Papua New Guinea.

Richards, S., Allison, A., and Kraus, F. 2006. Litoria kubori. In: IUCN 2009. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2009.2. www.iucnredlist.org. Downloaded on 09 February 2010.

Zweifel, R. G. (1980). ''Results of the Archbold Expeditions 103. Frogs and lizards from the Huon Peninsula, Papua New-Guinea.'' Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, 165, 390-434.

Species Account Citation: AmphibiaWeb 2010 Nyctimystes kubori <https://amphibiaweb.org/species/1333> University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. Accessed Apr 18, 2024.

Citation: AmphibiaWeb. 2024. <https://amphibiaweb.org> University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. Accessed 18 Apr 2024.

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