Starting from this Friday, every week, we will introduce interesting ecological knowledge and stories about the specimens found within the HKBM. Let’s start with the Rough-skinned Floating Frog (𝘖𝘤𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘰𝘻𝘺𝘨𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘢 (Gravenhorst, 1829))🐸.
The Rough-skinned Floating Frog is a small frog with a body length of 2-4cm only, under the Dicroglossidae family in the Anura order. As the name suggests, it loves floating on the water surface more than the other frogs. It rarely leaves water. Thus, its eyes have evolved to grow on top of the head, providing a panoramic vision of almost 360° which helps it to detect preys🔍, which include both aquatic and terrestrial insects, but also to avoid predators.
This species used to be common in cultivated fields on Lantau Island, but it has disappeared from Hong Kong for at least 20 years due to habitat loss following urban development😢. Luckily, the species is widespread and remains abundant in other parts of Southeast Asia (e.g., Southern China, Malaysia, Thailand) and the local extinction observed in Hong Kong does not threaten the species (listed as “Least Concern” under the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species).
The Hong Kong Biodiversity Museum hosts two specimens curated in 1970 and 1979 respectively. The latter was prepared by Father Anthony Bogadek, one of the first experts on Hong Kong amphibians. We hope to welcome you soon to visit these two specimens and the thousands of other specimens at the HKBM.
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