The Chinese edible frog (''Hoplobatrachus chinensis''), also known as East Asian bullfrog and Taiwanese frog, is a species of

frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely semiaquatic group of short-bodied, tailless amphibian vertebrates composing the order (biology), order Anura (coming from the Ancient Greek , literally 'without tail'). Frog species with rough ski ...

in the family

Dicroglossidae The frog family Dicroglossidae occurs in tropical and subtropical regions of Asia and Africa, with most genera and species being found in Asia. The common name of the family is fork-tongued frogs. The Dicroglossidae were previously considered to ...

. It is found in Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, Laos,

Macau Macau or Macao is a special administrative regions of China, special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). With a population of about people and a land area of , it is the most List of countries and dependencies by p ...

, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

s are freshwater marshes, intermittent freshwater marshes,

arable land Arable land (from the , "able to be ploughed") is any land capable of being ploughed and used to grow crops.''Oxford English Dictionary'', "arable, ''adj''. and ''n.''" Oxford University Press (Oxford), 2013. Alternatively, for the purposes of a ...

, pasture land, rural gardens, urban areas, ponds, aquaculture ponds, open excavations, irrigated land, seasonally flooded agricultural land, and

canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface ...

s and ditches. They breed in spring to early summer. The domesticated Thai variety and wild Chinese populations of ''H. chinensis'' belong to two separate

genetic lineage A genetic lineage includes all descendants of a given genetic sequence, typically following a new mutation. It is not the same as an allele because it excludes cases where different mutations give rise to the same allele, and includes descendants th ...

s respectively.Yu D, Zhang J, Li P, Zheng R, Shao C (2015) Do Cryptic Species Exist in Hoplobatrachus rugulosus? An Examination Using Four Nuclear Genes, the Cyt b Gene and the Complete MT Genome. PLoS ONE 10(4): e0124825. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0124825 Yu et al. (2015) suggest that ''H. chinensis'' may in fact be a

cryptic species In biology, a species complex is a group of closely related organisms that are so similar in appearance and other features that the boundaries between them are often unclear. The taxa in the complex may be able to hybridize readily with each oth ...

complex Complex commonly refers to: * Complexity, the behaviour of a system whose components interact in multiple ways so possible interactions are difficult to describe ** Complex system, a system composed of many components which may interact with each ...

Description

''H. chinensis'' is a large, robust frog, up to or more in snout-vent length. Females are larger than males. They are primarily

insectivore file:Common brown robberfly with prey.jpg, A Asilidae, robber fly eating a hoverfly An insectivore is a carnivore, carnivorous animal or plant which eats insects. An alternative term is entomophage, which can also refer to the Entomophagy ...

Usage

The frogs are commonly found in wet markets, seafood markets, and pet stores. In wet markets, they are usually sold per piece or per kilogram. The medium-sized frogs are sold as pets in pet stores, and the smaller variant is sold as live food for

arowana Arowanas are freshwater bony fish of the subfamily Osteoglossinae, also known as bony tongues (the latter name is now often reserved for Arapaiminae). In this family of fish, the head is bony and the elongated body is covered by large, heavy sca ...

s or other

predator fish Predatory fish are hypercarnivorous fish that actively prey upon other fish or aquatic animals, with examples including shark, billfish, barracuda, alligator gar, tuna, dolphinfish, walleye, perch and salmon. Some omnivorous fish, such as t ...

. They are widely farmed in Sichuan, China, Malaysia, and Thailand. These frogs, though much smaller than their Western counterparts, are used by Chinese to cook

frog legs Frog legs () are the muscular hindlimbs of frogs that are consumed as food by humans in some cuisines. Frog legs are rich in protein, omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin A, and potassium. They are often said to taste like chicken because of the mild fl ...

and by Filipinos who cook them for ''

adobo or (Spanish language, Spanish: marinade, sauce, or seasoning) is the immersion of food in a stock (or sauce) composed variously of paprika, oregano, Edible salt, salt, garlic, and vinegar to preserve and enhance its flavor. The Portuguese cu ...

'' dishes. The frog's forelimbs and hind legs are fried in oil, while in the

method (in which the entire frog is utilized), they are cooked in

soy sauce Soy sauce (sometimes called soya sauce in British English) is a liquid condiment of China, Chinese origin, traditionally made from a fermentation (food), fermented paste of soybeans, roasted cereal, grain, brine, and ''Aspergillus oryzae'' or ''A ...

and

vinegar Vinegar () is an aqueous solution of diluted acetic acid and trace compounds that may include flavorings. Vinegar typically contains from 5% to 18% acetic acid by volume. Usually, the acetic acid is produced by a double fermentation, converting ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q711322 Hoplobatrachus Frogs of Asia Amphibians of Myanmar Amphibians of Cambodia Frogs of China Fauna of Hong Kong Amphibians of Laos Amphibians of Malaysia Amphibians of the Philippines Amphibians of Taiwan Amphibians of Thailand Amphibians of Vietnam Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Amphibians described in 1834