- Gray's Stream Frog
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Gray's Stream Frog 
Conservation status Scientific classification Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Amphibia Order: Anura Family: Ranidae Genus: Strongylopus Species: S. grayii Binomial name Strongylopus grayii
(Smith, 1849)The Gray's Stream Frog (Strongylopus grayii) is a species of frog in the Ranidae family.[1][2] It is found in Lesotho, Saint Helena, South Africa, Swaziland, possibly Botswana, and possibly Namibia. Its natural habitats are temperate forests, dry savanna, moist savanna, temperate shrubland, Mediterranean-type shrubby vegetation, temperate grassland, subtropical or tropical dry lowland grassland, subtropical or tropical seasonally wet or flooded lowland grassland, swamps, freshwater marshes, intermittent freshwater marches, coastal freshwater lagoons, arable land, pastureland, plantations , rural gardens, urban areas, water storage areas, ponds, aquaculture ponds, and canals and ditches.
This is a fairly small species (snout to vent length of breeding specimens about 25mm to 50 mm). It is locally common where conditions are favourable, such as among grassy or scrubby vegetation around streams and dams, or where there is seasonal water such as roadside ponds or vleis. In the breeding season its voice is an inoffensive musical click, rather like a drop of water falling into a pond, but when a large chorus is active, such as in sedge around a dam, the effect is of a loud, continuous rattle. They breed in standing water like most frogs and the adults can swim rapidly and with agility, but they cannot survive if they are unable to leave the water and then they die within a few hours. this seems to be the result of absorbing too much water through their skins rather than simple drowning.
References
- Minter, L. & Channing, A. 2004. Strongylopus grayii. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 23 July 2007.
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