Crab-eating frog

Crab-eating frog
Fejervarya cancrivora from Bogor, West Java
Conservation status

Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Anura
Family: Dicroglossidae
Genus: Fejervarya
Species: F. cancrivora
Binomial name
Fejervarya cancrivora
(Gravenhorst, 1829)
Synonyms

Rana cancrivora Gravenhorst, 1829
Rana cancrivora ssp. raja Smith, 1930
Fejervarya raja (Smith, 1930)

The crab-eating frog (Fejervarya cancrivora), is a frog native to south-eastern Asia including Taiwan,[2] China, the Philippines and more rarely as far west as Orissa in India.[3] It inhabits mangrove swamps and marshes and is the only known modern amphibian which can tolerate brief excursions into sea water.

This frog can tolerate marine environments (immersion in sea water for brief periods or brackish water for extended periods) by increasing urea production and retention, and by remaining slightly hyperosmotic within urea and sodium flux.[4][5][6] Adults can survive in salt water with salinity as high as 2.8%, and tadpoles can survive salinities as high as 3.9%.[7]

Cultural Significance


It is locally favored for its eating quality and is often farmed for its edible legs.

References

  1. Yuan, Zhigang; Zhao, Ermi; Shi, Haitao; Diesmos, Arvin C.; Alcala, Angel C.; Brown, Rafe M.; Afuang, Leticia E.; Gee, Genevieve V. A.; Sukumaran, Jeet; Yaakob, Norsham Suhaina; Ming, Leong Tzi; Chuaynkern, Yodchaiy; Thirakhupt, Kumthorn; Das, Indraneil; Iskandar, Djoko Tjahono; Mumpuni, I. D.; Inger, Robert F. (2004). "Fejervarya cancrivora". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2012.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 12 December 2012.
  2. Lue, Kuang-Yang. "Fejervarya cancrivora". BiotaTaiwanica. Retrieved 12 December 2012.
  3. Rare species of frog, snake in Orissa
  4. Schmidt-Nielsen, Knut; Lee, Ping (1962). "Kidney function in the crab-eating frog (Rana cancrivora)". Journal of Experimental Biology 39 (1): 167–177.
  5. Dicker, Sebastian Ernest; Elliott, Annie B. (March 1970). "Water uptake by the crab-eating frog Rana cancrivora, as affected by osmotic gradients and by neurohypophysial hormones". Journal of Physiology 207 (1): 119–32. PMC 1348696. PMID 5503862.
  6. Tatsunori, Seki; Sakae, Kikuyama; Noboru, Yanaihara (1995-10-15). "Morphology of the skin glands of the crab-eating frog: Rana cancrivora". Zoological Science 12 (5): 623–6. doi:10.2108/zsj.12.623.
  7. Gordon, Malcolm S.; Schmidt-Nielsen, Knut; Kelly, Hamilton M. (1961), "Osmotic regulation in the crab-eating frog (Rana cancrivora)", Journal of Experimental Biology 38 (3): 659–678

External links