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Species
Eleutherodactylus coqui (Thomas, 1966)
IUCN
NCBI
EOL Text
The population size of E. coqui outnumbers all other frogs within the forests of Puerto Rico. The availability of shelter and nesting, when limited, is a factor in the population size of E. coqui. Worldwide, populations have increased as E. coqui have been introduced and established in Florida and the Hawaiian Islands through the importation of greenhouse plants from Puerto Rico.
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| Rights holder/Author | ©1995-2013, The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors |
| Source | http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Eleutherodactylus_coqui/ |
Global Range: (1000-20,000 square km (about 400-8000 square miles)) Native and present throughout Puerto Rico, though not common in arid southwest. Sea level to 1200 m (Toro Negro) (Schwartz and Henderson 1988).
Introduced on St. Thomas and St. Croix, Dominican Republic (Joglar and Rios-Lopez, 1998, Herpetol. Rev. 29:107), and Hawaii (Kraus et al. 1999). Also introduced in Florida, where this frog now exists apparently only in greenhouses; not clearly established (Bartlett and Bartlett 1999). Purported record from New Orleans, Louisiana (e.g., Conant and Collins 1991), is based only on a few males that lived in a greenhouse for a few years and do not constitute a legitimate occurrence (Dundee, 1991, Herpetol. Rev. 22:122).
Puerto Rican coquis feed primarily on arthropods. Diet varies with size and age but not gender. Smaller, juvenile frogs eat smaller prey, such as ants. Larger frogs have a more diverse diet, including larger organisms such as spiders, moths, crickets, snails and even small frogs. It seems that more than half of the adult coqui’s diet is made up of roaches and crickets and the remaining half is made up of primarily ants, due to their abundance in the forest. Their mode of predation is the energy conserving ambush method. E. coqui individuals will sit on leaves, not moving at all, until the prey is very close, whereupon they strike. They often move less than 5 cm to reach prey in a strike. E. coqui often remain at profitable foraging sites throughout the night.
Animal Foods: amphibians; insects; terrestrial non-insect arthropods; mollusks
Primary Diet: carnivore (Insectivore )
- Duellman, W., L. Trueb. 1986. Biology of Amphibians. New York: McGraw Hill Book Company.
| License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
| Rights holder/Author | ©1995-2013, The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors |
| Source | http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Eleutherodactylus_coqui/ |
Red List Criteria
Year Assessed
Assessor/s
Reviewer/s
Contributor/s
History
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2006Least Concern (LC)
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2004Near Threatened (NT)
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| Rights holder/Author | International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources |
| Source | http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/56522 |
There are over 800 species of neotropical frog. These frogs live in tropical parts of the Americas. The Puerto Rican Coqui is named after the male’s loud call. The “co” part is a warning to other males. The “qui” part attracts females. Coquis lay eggs on leaves and do not have a tadpole stage. This lets them live in drier areas than many frogs.
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| Rights holder/Author | Life on Earth, Life on Earth |
| Source | No source database. |
Comments: Eats mainly arthropods, rarely small vertebrates such as lizards. Nonbrooding adults forage at night in forest canopy (Stewart 1993). Juveniles forage on upper surfaces of leaves within 2 m of ground (Formanowicz et al. 1981). Foraging success reduced during dry season (Woolbright and Stewart 1987).
United States
Rounded National Status Rank: NNA - Not Applicable
This frog, known as the Puerto Rican coqui, is small. The dorsal colors vary from brown to grayish-brown with highly variable color patterns. On the dorsal surface it varies from uniform brown to gray and may have a faint "M" between its shoulders. It may also have two broad cream or light colored dorsolateral stripes irregularly bordered with tiny black spots. Some individuals have a broad cream or light colored band across the head between the eyes. The belly is white or yellow, stippled with brown. These frogs have large toe pads with no webbing between the toes. The eye color varies from brown to gold. (Conant and Collins 1991).
- Conant, R. and Collins, J. T. (1991). A Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians: Eastern/Central North America. Houghton Mifflin, Boston.
- Joglar, R. L. (1998). Los CoquÃes de Puerto Rico: Su Historia Natural y Conservación. University of Puerto Rico Press, Puerto Rico.
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| Rights holder/Author | See http://www.amphibiaweb.org/datause.html. |
| Source | http://amphibiaweb.org/cgi/amphib_query?where-genus=Eleutherodactylus&where-species=coqui&account=amphibiaweb |
Eleutherodactylus coqui is important to the health of the forest ecosystem. Large invertebrate predators, such as spiders, rely heavily on E. coqui for prey. Birds and snakes also rely on them for consumption. E. coqui functions as a secondary predator, preying on ants and crickets, as well as a tertiary consumer, eating spiders and centipedes.
| License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
| Rights holder/Author | ©1995-2013, The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors |
| Source | http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Eleutherodactylus_coqui/ |
Rounded Global Status Rank: G4 - Apparently Secure
Intrinsic Vulnerability: Moderately vulnerable
Environmental Specificity: Broad. Generalist or community with all key requirements common.