Mjoberg's Dwarf Litter Frog

(Leptobrachella mjobergi) (Smith)

Description: A small, slender species lacking webbing on the foot. The skin is smooth on the back, while the sides have elongate glands forming a low, narrow, broken ridge.

The colour is brown or black, with several black spots on the back. There is no black streak over the eardrum. The chest is flecked with brown or has a brown network; the rest of the belly is usually unmarked.

Males: 17-20 mm.

Females: 18-21 mm.

Tadpoles: Larvae are grayish and extremely elongated like the tadpoles of Slender Litter Frogs. Although tadpoles of both groups have heavy black beaks, those Dwaft Litter Frogs lack the rows of fine, tiny teeth present on the lips of tadpoles of the Slender Litter Frogs. When ready to metamorphose, Leptobrachella tadpoles measure 40-47 mm.

Habits and habitat: This species lives in hilly lowland forests from 150 to 500 metres above sea level and breeds along small, clear, rocky streams. Adults and juveniles wander over the forest floor leaf litter, where they forage for small insects and other invertebrates. Adults are most commonly seen along the banks of clear, rocky streams about 1-2 metres wide, where they congregate to breed. Males call while sitting on dead ground. For their size Leptobrachella species are some of the loudest frogs in Borneo. They have an extremely intense, high-pitched, metallic trill. Large numbers of breeding males along streams can drown out even some of the night insects of the forest. Tadpoles of Dwarf Litter Frogs live in crevices between gravel and small rocks on the bed of riffles, sharing this environment with tadpoles of the Slender Litter Frogs.

Distribution: So far known only from Sarawak, though it is to be expected in Kalimantan.