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Common Name: Cuban Treefrog
Synonyms and Other Names: Rana platernera
Taxonomy: available through 
Identification:
Osteopilus septentrionalis is a very large, warty, hylid (treefrog) with an adult SVL (snout-vent length) of 28-165 mm (1.1-6.5 in); making it the largest hylid in the U.S. (Carr and Goin, 1955; Ashton and Ashton, 1988; Conant and Collins, 1998; Bartlett and Bartlett, 1999; Meshaka, 2001). The toepads (disks) are noticeably large, similar in size to its tympanum (eardrum) (Carr and Goin, 1955; Ashton, 1978; Ashton and Ashton, 1988; Conant and Collins, 1998; Powell et al., 1998; Bartlett and Bartlett, 1999). The dorsal color of Cuban treefrogs, a species which has the ability to change colors, may vary from unpatterned to heavily-patterned gray, tan, brown, bronze, olive-green to blue-green (Wright and Wright, 1949; Behler and King, 1979; Ashton and Ashton, 1988; Conant and Collins, 1998; Bartlett and Bartlett, 1999; also illustrated in Carr and Goin, 1955; Duellman and Bell, 1955; Austin, 1973; Ashton, 1978; Smith, 1978; Lazell, 1989; Carmichael and Williams, 1991; Bartlett, 1994, 2002; McKeown, 1996; Powell et al., 1996; Joglar, 1998; Rivero, 1998; Meshaka, 2001; Savage, 2002; Rivalta González and Díaz Beltrán, 2003; Knapp, 2006). Unlike indigenous U.S. hylids, the dorsal skin on adult O. septentrionalis is fused to the skull (Mittleman, 1950; Carr and Goin, 1955; Cochran and Goin, 1970; Stevenson, 1976; Powell et al., 1998). Younger individuals are difficult to distinguish from indigenous U.S. hylids because they lack “warts” and exhibit very little pattern (Conant and Collins, 1998; Lukens, 2003); however, they sometimes lack the light or dark lateral stripe found on many hylid species (Conant and Collins, 1998). Tadpoles are black or darkly pigmented dorsally, with a visible intestinal coil ventrally, and a moderately pigmented tail with light areas on the anterior musculature (Ashton and Ashton, 1988; Altig et al., 1998 [illustrated]; Conant and Collins, 1998 [illustrated], Gregoire, 2005 [illustrated]).
Unlike other U.S. hylids, the single vocal sac of calling males inflates bilaterally, giving the appearance of two sacs (Conant and Collins, 1998; Bartlett and Bartlett, 1999). The call is a rasping snarl or rubbery snore which may superficially resemble the call of Lithobates [=Rana] sphenocephalus, the southern leopard frog (Carr, 1940; Carr and Goin, 1955; Lee, 1969; Conant and Collins, 1998; Bartlett and Bartlett, 1999; Bartlett, 2000; also CD recordings available from Library of Natural Sounds, 1996; Rivero, 1998); however, a higher-pitched, scream-like escape call is used to deter predators (Schwartz and Henderson, 1991; Lukens, 2003).
Size: SVL (snout-vent length) of 28-165 mm
Native Range:
Osteopilus septentrionalis is indigenous to Cuba, Isla de la Juventud (=Isle of Youth or Isle of Pines), the Bahamas, including San Salvador and Acklins Island, and the Cayman Islands (Barbour and Ramsden, 1919; Duellman and Crombie, 1970; Crombie, 1972; Schwartz and Thomas, 1975; Schwartz and Henderson, 1985, 1991; Conant and Collins, 1998; Estrada and Ruibal, 1999; Hedges, 1999; Meshaka, 2001; Rivalta González and Díaz Beltrán, 2003).
Nonindigenous Occurrences:
In Florida, U.S., O. septentrionalis was first detected on Key West, Monroe County, well before 1928 (Barbour, 1931, 1945). Since its initial discovery it has spread throughout the Florida Keys and Dry Tortugas, the southern half and south-central portion of mainland Florida, and northward mostly along the east coast to include the following counties: Bay, Brevard, Broward, Charlotte, Citrus, Collier, Dade, De Soto, Flagler (Palm Coast), Glades, Hardee, Hendry, Hernando, Highlands, Hillsborough (including Egmont Key), Indian River, Lee, Levy (Cedar Key and Fowlers Bluff), Manatee, Martin, Osceola, Okeechobee, Orange, Palm Beach, Pinellas, Polk, Putnam, Sarasota, Seminole, St. Lucie and Volusia (Carr, 1940; Trapido, 1947; Wright and Wright, 1949; Mittleman, 1950; Peterson et al., 1952; Schwartz, 1952; Allen and Neill, 1953; Duellman and Bell, 1955; Duellman and Schwartz, 1958; King, 1960; King and Krakauer, 1968; Lee, 1969; Austin, 1973; Stevenson, 1976; Myers, 1977; Wilson and Porras, 1983; Ashton and Ashton, 1988; Dalrymple, 1988; Lazell, 1989; Carmichael and Williams, 1991; Somma and Crawford, 1993; Bartlett, 1994, 2000, 2002; Meshaka, 1996a, 1997, 1999a, b, 2000, 2001; Conant and Collins, 1998; Bartlett and Bartlett, 1999; Campbell, 1999; Christman et al., 2000; Meshaka et al., 2000, 2004; Dodd and Griffey, 2002; Townsend et al., 2002; Johnson et al., 2003; Bartareau, 2004; Welker, 2004; Krysko et al., 2005; Florida Museum of Natural History, Herpetology Collection records). Disjunct records in northern Florida include Columbia (O’Leno Sate Park), Duval (Jacksonville), Gadsden (Havana), Holmes, Leon, Marion (Ocala), St. Johns, and Washington Counties (Meshaka, 1996a, 2001; Krysko and King, 1999; Johnson, 2004; Johnston, 2004; Meshaka et al., 2004; Krysko et al. 2005). Another adult O. septentrionalis was collected in Ocala, Marion County, on 18 October 2004 (Florida Museum of Natural History, Herpetology Collection, UF 142702), and represents a second population that has been established and observed in that city since at least 2002 (R. Weaver, personal communication 2004). Additionally, ten more Cuban treefrogs were collected from Duval County in December 2003 (Florida Museum of Natural History, Herpetology Collection).
A Cuban treefrog was found in a recent shipment of foliage plants arriving at a nursery in Orange Springs, Marion County, Florida (Florida Museum of Natural History, Herpetology Collection, UF 142699) on 14 December 2004. These plants had been shipped from Apopka, Orange County, Florida. On 3 January 1994, a single Cuban treefrog was found in fallen palm leaves, knocked down by a storm, on the University of Florida campus, Gainesville, Alachua County, Florida, by J. M. Matter and A. A. Rooney (Juniata College Vertebrate Museum #01703, J. Matter, personal communication 2002). Meshaka (2001:173) recorded a second O. septentrionalis from Gainesville, but did not include a collection date. Krysko et al. (2005) recently discovered an established population at SW 34th Street, Gainesville, on 2 October 2002. Since these initial discoveries, O. septentrionalis has become widespread in the city of Gainesville and the records of the Herpetology Collection at the Florida Museum of Natural History now more than 90 individuals from Alachua County, Florida (last accessed on 1 July 2008) including two tadpoles (UF 151127-28) I found in a plastic wading pool used to raise aquatic plants (L. Somma, personal observation 2006). In Gainesville I have observed (L. Somma, personal observation 2004-2006) adult O. septentrionalis being sold as pets at a local pet store. Diane Butler collected a single adult O. septentrionalis from a backyard pond in Savannah, Chatham County, Georgia, on 23 September 2004 (Bynum, 2004; Johnson, 2007). Since 2004 two other adult Cuban treefrogs have been collected in Savannah (Knapp, 2008) and at least one other in Brunswick, Glynn County, Georgia (Jensen et al., 2008). In 1927 a gravid, female O. septentrionalis (USNM 218509) was collected in Baltimore, Maryland, in a shipment of bananas from Cuba (Meshaka, 1996a). In 1989 a single Cuban treefrog was found with recently shipped greenhouse plants in the Aurora Mall, Aurora, Arapahoe County, Colorado (Livo et al., 1998). In 1992, in Warrenton, Fauquier County, Virginia, a single Cuban treefrog found on an “exotic plant” in a horticultural nursery, was photographed by R. C. Simpson (Mitchell, 1999). In southern Indiana a single live O. septentrionalis, found in a bag of cypress mulch, was photographed (K. Fuller, personal communication 2000). McKeown (1996) claims nonindigenous O. septentrionalis occur on Oahu, Hawaii, without providing vouchered evidence. Nonindigenous O. septentrionalis occur in Puerto Rico (Schwartz and Thomas, 1975; Frost, 1985; Schwartz and Henderson, 1991; Joglar, 1998; Joglar et al., 1998; Rivero, 1998; Hedges, 1999; Thomas, 1999).
Other nonindigenous populations of Cuban treefrogs are reported from the Caribbean: St. Croix and St. Thomas (U.S. Virgin Islands), St. Maarten/ St.-Martín, Anguilla (U.K.) (Frost, 1985; Schwartz and Henderson, 1991; Conant and Collins, 1998; Censky and Kaiser, 1999; Hedges, 1999; Meshaka, 2001), and Beef Island, Necker Island, Peter Island, Tortola and Virgin Gorda (British Virgin Islands) (Lazell in Meshaka, 1996a; Meshaka, 2001; Owen et al., 2005, 2006; G. Perry, personal communication 1999). Nonindigenous Cuban treefrogs occur in the urban center of Puerto Limón, Limón Province, Costa Rica (Savage, 2002). “Several” live Cuban treefrogs have been found in horticultural shipments arriving at the zoo in Toronto, Ontario, Canada (Jackson in Meshaka, 1996a).
Means of Introduction:
Osteopilus septentrionalis is usually introduced through horticultural shipments and plantings (especially palm trees) (Meshaka, 1996a, b, 2001; Jackson in Meshaka, 1996a; Livo et al., 1998; Mitchell, 1999; Owen et al., 2006), building materials (Meshaka, 1996b; Dodd and Griffey, 2002; Owen et al., 2005, 2006), and motorized vehicles (Meshaka, 1996a). In addition to anthropogenic dispersal, it also is possible that they can disperse throughout much of the Caribbean by rafting on floating vegetation (Meshaka, 2001). Several authors have suggested that indigenous Cuban treefrogs may have existed on Key West and the lower Florida Keys since pre-Colombian times (Lazell, 1989; Meshaka, 2001). James R. Wiley (personal communication 2005, 2006) has repeatedly observed Cuban treefrogs hidden between the doors and door jams of his car when leaving Melbourne (Brevard County, Florida) on his way home to Gainesville (Alachua County, Florida) where they escape into his residential neighborhood. The population on Oahu, Hawaii, is the only example of O. septentrionalis being introduced (illegally) through pet releases during the 1980s (McKeown, 1996; Meshaka, 2001).
Status:
In southern and central, peninsular Florida, including the Florida Keys and Dry Tortugas, O. septentrionalis is well-established, invasive, and dispersing northward along the both coasts (Crowder, 1974; Smith and Kohler, 1978; Wilson and Porras, 1983; Ashton and Ashton, 1988; Moler, 1988; Lazell, 1989; Somma and Crawford, 1993; Bartlett, 1994; Dalrymple, 1994; McCoid and Kleberg, 1995; McCann et al., 1996; Meshaka, 1996a, b, 2001; Butterfield et al., 1997; Conant and Collins, 1998; Bartlett and Bartlett, 1999; Krysko and King, 1999; Frost, 2000; Johnson et al., 2003; Lever, 2003, Goodnough, 2004; Meshaka et al., 2004; Ferriter et al., 2006; King, 2006). In Pinellas County, Florida, Cuban treefrogs are so common that they are illustrated in a magazine advertisement promoting tourism through the beauty of nature (Anonymous, 2006)!
The status of Cuban treefrogs further north in colder, temperate Holmes, Leon and Washington Counties, the Florida panhandle (Meshaka, 2001; Meshaka et al., 2004), were determined to be erroneous by Johnson (2004). The status of the single verified specimens from Bay and Gadsden Counties in the Florida panhandle is unclear (Johnson, 2004; Krysko et al., 2005). However, other recent northern county records (Alachua, Columbia, Duval, Flagler, Levy, Marion, Putnam, St. Johns) represent established populations (Krysko and King, 1999; Johnson et al., 2003; R. Weaver, personal communication 2004; Krysko et al., 2005; Johnson cited in Crabbe, 2007; Florida Museum of Natural History, Herpetology Collection records). The two earlier specimens from Alachua County, northern peninsular Florida, are waifs that originally did not represent an established population (Meshaka, 2001:173; J. Matter, personal communication 2002), until the more recent discovery of more frogs by Krysko et al. (2005; Krysko cited in Crabbe, 2007), and others collected as recently as 2007 (Florida Museum of Natural History records). The single Cuban treefrog collected at a nursery in Orange Springs, Marion County, Florida (UF 142699), does not represent an established population in that city. Currently, the Cuban treefrogs collected from Chatham and Glynn Counties, Georgia, do not yet seem to represent established populations (Johnson and Jensen in Bynum, 2004; Jensen et al., 2008; Knapp, 2008). No O. septentrionalis populations have become established from the waifs found in Colorado, Indiana, Maryland, Virginia, or Ontario, Canada (Benson et al., 2004). McKeown (1996) claims Osteopilus septentrionalis is an established, invasive species in Oahu, Hawaii; however, there is no vouchered evidence to verify this (Kraus, 2008).
In Puerto Rico, Cuban treefrogs have been established since the 1950s and are invasive (Joglar et al., 1998; Vargas-Salinas, 2006a, b, c). Almost all other nonindigenous populations of Cuban treefrogs in the Caribbean and Costa Rica are established (Conant and Collins, 1998; Censky and Kaiser, 1999; Meshaka, 2001; Savage, 2002; Owen et al., 2005; G. Perry, personal communication 1999), and potentially invasive. The single exception is the population from St. Maarten/St Martín, which is actually a misidentified Scinax rubra population (Powell and Henderson, 2003; see the species account titled “Scinax rubra (Daudin, 1802)” on this website). Meshaka (2001) predicts that O. septentrionalis will eventually reach Jamaica.
Impact of Introduction:
The impact of the highly invasive Cuban treefrog throughout its nonindigenous range is not yet clear; however, its ability to prey on indigenous frogs is a cause for concern in Puerto Rico (Meshaka, 2001), Costa Rica, and perhaps Florida (Lever, 2003). Butterfield et al. (1997) believe that the notion of competition with indigenous species in Florida is somewhat overplayed, but provide no data to validate their assertion. A laboratory study utilizing Cuban treefrogs from Florida indicates that they readily feed on adult native hylids even though insects are preferred (Wyatt and Forys, 2004). Cuban treefrog tadpoles compete with indigenous anuran larvae in Florida and have a negative impact on their growth and development (Smith, 2005). Smith (2004) found a male O. septentrionalis amplexing with an indigenous female L. sphenocephalus in Hillsborough County, Florida, in May 2002. While these two species cannot hybridize, the result of these pairings may cause reproductive interference with indigenous frogs (Smith, 2004). In Hawaii, where there are no indigenous frogs (McKeown, 1996), their potential impact is negative if they are ever verified as established. The toxic skin secretions in this species can cause irritation to humans (Carmichael and Williams, 1991; Dalrymple, 1994). Fitcher (1970) makes the dubious, undocumented claim that O. septentrionalis attacks electrical transformers, mistaking the buzzing noise for insects; thus, resulting in electrical shock to the frog and power outages to the immediate neighborhood. However, it is possible that may cause damage to transformers simply by getting caught in them (Perkins cited in Crabbe, 2007). Their propensity for showing up in and around residences in Florida (including drain pipes and vents) has caused them to be regarded a nuisance (Crabbe, 2007).
Remarks:
The most thorough, overall literature reviews on Cuban treefrogs are by Duellman and Crombie (1970), and Meshaka (2001). The most current taxonomic reviews are by Duellman and Crombie (1970), Frost (1985, 2000), Maxson (1992), Anderson (1996), Collins and Taggart (2002), Faivovich et al. (2005), and Frost et al. (2006). Lazell (1989) continues to place O. septentrionalis in the genus Hyla; a taxonomic arrangement that is no longer accepted. Schwartz and Henderson (1991), Rivalta González and Díaz Beltrán (2003), and Vargas-Salinas (2006a, b, c) have reviewed the natural history of O. septentrionalis, but by far the most thorough review of its natural history, distribution, and dispersal is by Meshaka (2001, and his other studies listed therein).
Osteopilus septentrionalis is a tropical, mostly arboreal hylid, which has an insectivorous/carnivorous diet (Schwartz and Henderson, 1991: Meshaka, 1996c, 2001; Conant and Collins, 1998; Bartareau and Meshaka, 2007). Smaller vertebrates are eaten, including indigenous frogs, indigenous and nonindigenous lizards, native hylids and other O. septentrionalis (Allen and Neill, 1953; Meshaka, 1996c, 2000, 2001; Wyatt and Forys, 2004; Campbell, 2007). They are in turn preyed upon by native snakes and owls (Meshaka and Ferster, 1995; Meshaka, 2001), and parasitized by the nematode, Skrjabinoptera scelopori (Meshaka, 1996d). Adult activity is both arboreal and terrestrial (Meshaka, 2001). Cuban treefrogs have an extended breeding season that may last throughout most of the year in southern Florida (Meshaka, 2001). Female O. septentrionalis in Puerto Rico exhibit no selectively in mate choice; a reproductive adaptation that may ultimately increase this frog’s invasiveness (Vargas-Salinas, 2006c). Females are continuously fertile, laying very large clutches of 1, 200 to over 16, 000 eggs (Meshaka, 2001). Eggs can be laid in any warm, shallow body of water, usually lacking predatory fish; including man-made structures and holes formed by storm-toppled trees (Meshaka, 1993, 2001). Tadpoles are omnivorous, even cannibalistic, and could potentially eat the eggs of indigenous frogs (Babbitt and Meshaka, 2000; Meshaka, 2001). However, eggs of the nonindigenous toad, Rhinella marina, are toxic to O. septentrionalis tadpoles (Punzo and Lindstrom, 2001).
Cuban treefrogs are a storm-adapted species that can immediately increase its fecundity and rapidly disperse during and after hurricanes (Meshaka, 1993, 1996b, 2001). Meshaka (2001) predicts that O. septentrionalis will eventually disperse to Jamaica, much of the Caribbean and, more speculatively, throughout the Hawaiian Islands. Additionally, Florida populations probably will spread along the Gulf Coast, throughout the coastal United States, then southward into Mexico (Meshaka, 2001). Their northward dispersal in the United States may be limited by climate (Meshaka, 2001). However, this fails to take into consideration the future potential for a certain degree of adaptation to a more temperate climate. Osteopilus septentrionalis may eventually spread north of Duval County, Florida, along the eastern Atlantic coast, as far north as the Georgia coastline. Noncoastal Florida populations might also spread slightly northward, perhaps limited to disjunct populations in highly sheltered, especially anthropogenic, habitat.
References
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Other Resources:
Osteopilus septentrionalis (Cuban treefrog) (Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission)
Florida's Frogs and Toads - Cuban Treefrog (University of Florida, IFAS)
Cuban Treefrog (UF Florida Wildlife Extension)
Author: Somma, Louis A.
Revision Date: 7/22/2008 Citation for this information:
Somma, Louis A.. 2009. Osteopilus septentrionalis. USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database, Gainesville, FL.
<http://nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/FactSheet.asp?speciesID=57> Revision Date: 7/22/2008
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