Fejervarya cancrivora (Gravenhorst, 1829)

Common Names

Java Wart Frog (Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 99).

Javan Wart Frog (Nguyen, Ho, and Nguyen, 2005, Checklist Amph. Rept. Vietnam: 21).

Mangrove Frog (Ananjeva, Borkin, Darevsky, and Orlov, 1988, Dict. Amph. Rept. Five Languages: 121; Das, 2007, Amph. Rept. Brunei: 45; Grismer, 2012, Field Guide Amph. Rept. Seribuat Arch.: 65).

Marsh Frog (Iskandar, 1998, Amph. Java Bali: 71).

Rice Field Frog (Iskandar, 1998, Amph. Java Bali: 71).

Crab-eating Frog (Lim and Lim, 1992, Guide Amph. Rept. Singapore: 28; Iskandar, 1998, Amph. Java Bali: 71).

Marsh Frog (Lim and Lim, 1992, Guide Amph. Rept. Singapore: 28).

Brackish Water Frog (Gaulke, 2011, Herpetofauna Panay Island: 76).

Pattani Wart Frog (Fejervarya raja [no longer recognized]: Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 100).

Southern Field Frog ((Fejervarya raja [no longer recognized]: Nutphund, 2001, Amph. Thailand: 134).

Rajah Frog ((Fejervarya raja [no longer recognized]: Chan-ard, 2003, Photograph. Guide Amph. Thailand: 110).

Gulf Coast Frog (Fejervarya cancrivora: Fei, Ye, and Jiang, 2012, Colored Atlas Chinese Amph. Distr.: 438). 

Crab-eating Grassfrog (Zug and Mulcahy, 2020 "2019", Amph. Rept. S. Tanintharyi: 32). 

Crab-eating Frog (Poyarkov, Nguyen, Popov, Geissler, Pawangkhanant, Neang, Suwannapoom, and Orlov, 2021, Russ. J. Herpetol., 28 (3A): 22). 

Distribution

Bangkok and Cholburi provinces, Thailand, south to and including West Malaysia, Singapore, East Malaysia and Brunei and Kalimantan, Bunguran and Serasan Is. (Natuna Is.), Sumatra, West and Central Java, Komodo Is., and Bali in Indonesia, with introduced populations in Papua New Guinea and Guam; populations from Komodo I. and Flores I.,and the introduced populations in Philippines, Papua New Guinea, and Guam require confirmation and may refer to Fejervarya moodiei or unnamed species. 

Geographic Occurrence

Natural Resident: Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Malaysia, East (Sarawak and/or Sabah), Malaysia, West (Peninsular), Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand

Introduced: Guam, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Philippines

Comment

See Boulenger, 1920, Rec. Indian Mus., 20: 23; Inger, 1954, Fieldiana, Zool., 33: 260–267, Taylor, 1962, Univ. Kansas Sci. Bull., 43: 377–379; and Inger, 1966, Fieldiana, Zool., 52: 175–176, for synonymy and accounts, bearing in mind that these accounts reflect a broader taxonomic concept than presently embraced. See also Berry, 1975, Amph. Fauna Peninsular Malaysia: 62–63, and Lim and Lim, 1992, Guide Amph. Rept. Singapore: 28–29, for brief accounts. Nishioka and Sumida, 1990, Sci. Rep. Lab. Amph. Biol. Hiroshima Univ., 10: 125–154, discussed allozyme variation (in the sense of including Fejervarya moodiei). See identification table by Manthey and Grossmann, 1997, Amph. Rept. Südostasiens: 84–86, to compare the ranids and dicroglossids of the Sunda Shelf region. Dubois, 1987 "1986", Alytes, 5: 60, placed this in his Limnonectes (Hoplobatrachus) tigerinus group, but subsequently (Dubois, 1992, Bull. Mens. Soc. Linn. Lyon, 61: 315) moved it into Hoplobatrachus. Lever, 2003, Naturalized Rept. Amph. World: 201, reported on introduced populations in the Philippines and Papua New Guinea, although the taxonomic status of these frogs is currently unconfirmed. McKay, 2006, Field Guide Amph. Rept. Bali: 36–37, provided a brief account (in the sense of including Fejervarya moodiei in the species' concept) of the Nicobar and Andaman Islands and a photograph. Menzies, 2006, Frogs New Guinea & Solomon Is.: 65–66, provided a brief account for New Guinea, although the taxonomic status of these frogs is currently unconfirmed. Das, 2007, Amph. Rept. Brunei: 45, provided a photograph and a brief account. Christy, Clark, Gee, Vice, Vice, Warner, Tyrrell, Rodda, and Savidge, 2007, Pacific Sci., 61: 469–483, reported specimens from Guam but could not determine whether the species was established. See Taylor, 1962, Univ. Kansas Sci. Bull., 43: 373–376, for discussion (as Rana raja). See identification table by Manthey and Grossmann, 1997, Amph. Rept. Südostasiens: 84–86, to compare this species (as Rana raja) with other ranids of the Sunda Shelf region (Fejervarya cancrivora in the sense of including Fejervarya moodiei). Dubois, 1987 "1986", Alytes, 5: 60, placed this species (as Limnonectes raja) in his Limnonectes (Hoplobatrachus) tigerinus group, but subsequently (Dubois, 1992, Bull. Mens. Soc. Linn. Lyon, 61: 315) moved it into Fejervarya. Chan-ard, 2003, Photograph. Guide Amph. Thailand: 110–111, provided a very brief account (as Fejervarya raja), map for Thailand, and photograph. Das and Dutta, 2007, Hamadryad, 31: 154–181, noted several larval descriptions of varying levels of completeness in the literature (Fejervarya cancrivora including what is now Fejervarya moodiei). Kurniawan, Islam, Tjong, Igawa, Belabut, Yong, Wanichanon, Khan, Iskandar, Nishioka, and Sumida, 2010, Zool. Sci., Tokyo, 27: 222–233, reported on geographic variation in allozymes and mtRNA that suggested that this is minimally composed of three species, one of which is these is now named as Fejervarya moodiei and the third, in Sulawesi and Java may have the name Rana angustopalmata available, although this remains unconfirmed. Dutta, 1997, Amph. India Sri Lanka: 127, provided range (Andaman and Nicobar Is.), systematic comments, and a taxonomic bibliography. In addition they suggested that Fejervarya raja is a junior synonym of Fejervarya cancrivora sensu stricto. Kurniawan, Tjong, Islam, Nishizawa, Belabut, Sen, Wanichanon, Yasir, and Sumida, 2011, Zool. Sci., Tokyo, 28: 12–24, reported on the morphometrics and interfertility experiments of the the members of the Fejervarya cancrivora complex (Fejervarya cancrivora, Fejervarya moodiei, and an unnamed species from Sulawesi. Chan-ard and Makchai, 2011, Thailand Nat. Hist. Mus. J., 5: 28, provided a record from Rayong Province, Thailand. Chan-ard, Cota, and Makchai, 2011, Amph. E. Region Thailand: 58–59, provided a photograph and brief account for eastern Thailand, and (p.132–133) detailed (as both Fejervarya cancrivora and Fejervarya raja) the distribution in Thailand. Wanger, Motzke, Saleh, and Iskandar, 2011, Salamandra, 47: 17–29, reported the species from central Sulawesi, Indonesia, although this population is now regarded as an unnamed allied species. Hasan, Islam, Khan, Alam, Kurabayashi, Igawa, Kuramoto, and Sumida, 2012, Zool. Sci., Tokyo, 29: 162–172, using molecular techniques reported on a genetic tree that suggests considerable numbers of cryptic species within this nominal taxon. See brief account by Grismer, 2012, Field Guide Amph. Rept. Seribuat Arch.: 65–66, for the Seribuat Archipelago, West Malaysia. Nidup, Wangkulangkul, Satasook, Bates, and Juthong, 2013, Proc. World Biodiversity Congr., 2013: 1–13, reported a population on Tarutao Island, Satun Province, Thailand. Shahriza and Ibrahim, 2014, Check List, 10: 253–259, provided a photograph and brief natural history observations for a population in Kedah, West Malaysia. Zug, 2013, Rept. Amph. Pacific Is.: 62–63, provided a brief account and photograph for the Guam population although the identity of this population remains unconfirmed.  Somaweera, Azis, Resa, Panggur, Saverinus, and Muga, 2018, Amph. Rept. Komodo Natl. Park: 7, provided a brief characterization and photograph for the associated population on Komodo, Indonesia. Reported for Pulau Langkawi, Kadeh, northwestern West Malaysia, by Grismer, Youmans, Wood, Ponce, Wright, Jones, Johnson, Sanders, Gower, Yaakob, and Lim, 2006, Hamadryad, 30: 61–74. Yodthong, Stuart, and Aowphol, 2019, ZooKeys, 883: 119–153, clarified the systematics and range of species in the Fejervarya cancrivora complex, including this species. Zug and Mulcahy, 2020 "2019", Amph. Rept. S. Tanintharyi: 32–33, provided a brief account for South Tanintharyi, peninsular Myanmar, which they considered likely to occur there. See brief account for East Java by Amin, 2020, Frogs of East Java: 74–77. Kennedi, Kusrini, Mardiastuti, and Ariefiandy, 2021, Media Konservasi , 26: 217–230, reported the species on Rinca and Sumbawa islands, Indonesia. Gillespie, Ahmad, and Shia, 2021, Field Guide Frog Lower Kinabatangan Region Sabah: 12, provided a brief account, summarizing identification and life history in Lower Kinabatangan Region, Sabah, Malaysia. Rahman, Nneji, and Hossain, 2022, J. Asia-Pacific Biodiversity, 15: 147–156, included this species in the Bangladesh fauna without comment, presumably based on old taxonomy or misidentifications. Badriah, Wahyuni, Usman, Mahrawi, Ratnasari, and Rifqiawati, 2022, Berkala Ilmiah Biologi, 13 (3): 1–8, reported specimens from Ujong Kulon National Park, extreme western Java, Indonesia. Herlambang, Riyanto, Munir, Hamidy, Kimura, Eto, and Mumpuni, 2022, Treubia, 49: 78, reported the species from Bunguran and Serasan Is., Natuna Is., Indonesia. Figueroa, Low, and Lim, 2023, Zootaxa, 5287: 1–378, provided records, literature, and conservation status for Singapore. Wibowo, Basukriadi, Nurdin, Meylani, and Nasution, 2023, Treubia, 50: 71–86, modeled the distribution in West Java under climate change. Tambun, Hutabarat, Suri, Nuryati, Mardiah, and Wahyuni, 2023, J. Biol. Tropis, 23: 293–303, provided characters to identify the species in the Langsah City, Aceh, northern Sumatra, Indonesia. Tanoyo, Reilly, Doughty, Arida, and Iskandar, 2024, Rec. W. Aust. Mus., 39: 15–62, reported on the molecular phylogenetics and comparative morphology from the populations found in the Lesser Sundas, Indonesia, noting its occurrence there on Bali, Nusa Penida, Sumbawa and Mojo Islands, but its absence from the Banda Arcs.

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• For additional information see AmphibiaWeb report
• For information on conservation status and distribution see the IUCN Redlist
• For information on distribution, habitat, and conservation see the Map of Life
• For related information on conservation and images as well as observations see iNaturalist
• For access to available specimen data for this species, from over 350 scientific collections, go to Vertnet.