The mountain stream tree frog (''Ranoidea barringtonensis'') is a species of

tree frog A tree frog (or treefrog) is any species of frog that spends a major portion of its lifespan in trees, known as an arboreal state. Several lineages of frogs among the Neobatrachia have given rise to treefrogs, although they are not closely rela ...

native to highland areas of NSW, Australia stretching from the

Myall Lakes Myalls are any of a group of closely related and very similar species of ''Acacia ''Acacia'', commonly known as the wattles or acacias, is a large genus of shrubs and trees in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the pea family Fabaceae. Initially, i ...

area, north to around

Dorrigo National Park Dorrigo National Park is a national park in New South Wales, Australia, north of Sydney on Dome Road off the Waterfall Way, east of the town of Dorrigo. History The park is part of the New England Group of the World Heritage Site Gondw ...

and west to

Barrington Tops National Park The Barrington Tops National Park is a protected national park located in the Hunter Valley in New South Wales, Australia. Gazetted in 1969, the park is situated between Scone, Singleton, Dungog, Gloucester and East Gresford. The park is par ...

Taxonomy

''Ranoidea barringtonensis'' may be conspecific to the

Pearson's green tree frog Pearson's green tree frog (''Ranoidea pearsoniana''), also known as the Cascade tree frog, is a species of tree frog inhabiting rainforest creeks from north of Lismore, New South Wales, to Kenilworth, Queensland, with a disjunct population at Kro ...

(''Ranoidea pearsoniana''). Morphological differences have not been fully studied yet, but visible physical differences between frogs from

Barrington Tops Barrington Tops is part of the Great Dividing Range in New South Wales, Australia, between Gloucester and Scone. In 1934, the area was difficult to access and was described as being "not traceable to any man-made feature". Part of the area ha ...

and

Dorrigo, New South Wales Dorrigo, a small town on the Waterfall Way, is located on the Northern Tablelands, in northern New South Wales, Australia. The town is part of Bellingen local government area. It is approximately north of the state capital, Sydney via the ...

, in comparison to frogs from south-eastern

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

and northern NSW are discussed in a key on the

leaf green tree frog The leaf green tree frog (''Ranoidea phyllochroa'') is a species of stream-dwelling frog, native to eastern Australia from the Queensland/New South Wales border south to Sydney. Description This is a fairly small species of tree frog, up to ab ...

page. These are representative of frogs described as ''L. barringtonensis'' and ''L. pearsoniana''.

Description

The mountain stream tree frog is a relatively small tree frog growing up to 45 mm in length. It is light green to dark/olive green on the dorsal surface and sometimes brown morphs are encountered. The thighs are a mango-yellow colour and the belly is off-white. A pale brown (almost light yellow) stripe runs from the nostril, across the eye, over the tympanum, and down to the shoulder, where the line widens and dissipates. Randomly placed black dots are scattered over the dorsal surface. Metamorphs closely resemble the adults, although they are mostly brown in colour. The tadpoles of the ''R. phyllochroa'' complex (

(''R. phyllochroa''), Pearson's green tree frog (''R. pearsoniana''),

southern leaf green tree frog The southern leaf green tree frog (''Ranoidea nudidigitus'') is a species of tree frog native to coastal areas and the ranges of south-eastern Australia. It is distributed from just south of Sydney to eastern Victoria. Description ''Ranoidea n ...

(''R. nudidigitus'') and the mountain stream tree frog (''R. barringtonensis'') are very similar in appearance and are very hard to tell apart. Range is best used to distinguish the species.

Ecology and behaviour

This species inhabits flowing creeks in mountainous areas, in rainforests and adjacent wet sclerophyll forests, as its name suggests. Males call from stream-side vegetation during spring and summer; the call is similar to that of the ''

''. This species is rarely described in field guides due to its similarity to the Pearson's green tree frog and due to the taxonomy being under review.

As a pet

It is kept as a pet; in Australia this animal may be kept in captivity with the appropriate permit.

References

*Anstis, M. 2002. Tadpoles of South-eastern Australia. Reed New Holland: Sydney. (under ''Litoria pearsoniana)
Article Road: List of All Frog Breeds: Things You Can Do to Ensure Your Frog Has a Long, Happy and Healthy Life: Mountain Stream Tree FrogDepartment of Environment, Climate Change and Water, New South Wales: Amphibian Keeper's Licence: Species Lists
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1848441 Ranoidea (genus) Amphibians of New South Wales Amphibians described in 1957 Frogs of Australia