Celebes Toad

The Celebes toad is endemic to Sulawesi and nearby islands. It has slender, raised parotoid glands extending behind the eyes and highly variable upper colouring, from brown through orange to pinkish tones, with a paler underside. A south-east Sulawesi sample showed marked size differences: males measured 4.9–5.9 cm and females 6.8–8 cm, while females were also substantially heavier (EcologyAsia; Gillespie et al. 2004).

Field observations place adults and juveniles in undisturbed forest, secondary growth and plantations, although breeding activity centres on water. Egg strings were wrapped around submerged woody debris or root mats in slow or still stream pools, and tadpoles were found in streams. The tadpoles are bottom-feeders with oval bodies, dark upper surfaces and paler undersides; observed males have called by day from boulders beside rocky streams (Leong and Chou 2000; Gillespie et al. 2004).