AmphibiaChina 中国两栖类.

Description
This toad ranges in snout-vent length from 56-102 mm. It is very similar to the Common Toad (Bufo bufo), but differs from it mainly by having spines on the dorsal skin tubercles and a black band which extends from the outer surface of the parotoid onto the body flank. Tympanic membrane either very small or covered with skin. Dorsal skin tubercles large. Dorsal coloration dark-gray, olive-gray or olive-brownish, with three wide longitudinal bands. Wide dark band extends from the inner surface of the parotoid onto the body flank. This band is interrupted posteriorly into large spots. Belly grayish or yellowish, without pattern or with small spots posteriorly. The sexual differences are the same as in the Common Toad. Females are larger than males. The hindlegs seem to be relatively longer in males, whereas females have a wider head.

Distribution and Habitat

Country distribution from AmphibiaWeb's database: China

	View distribution map in BerkeleyMapper.
	View Bd and Bsal data (50 records).

Bufo gargarizans lives in China (provinces of Fujian, Hunan, Jiangxi, Zhajiang, Jiangsu, Anhui, Hubei, Guizhou, Sichuan, Qinghai, Gansu, Inner Mongolia, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan, Shandong, Hebei, Liaonin, Jilin and Heilongjiang).

Previous populations in Korea, Japan, the Russian Far East (northwards to the Amur River valley, as well as some islands, including Sakhalin) and East Siberia (Transbaikalia) have been distinguishable into other closely related species (see Othman et al 2022).

Life History, Abundance, Activity, and Special Behaviors
The population density of the toad reaches in some places to dense levels (3600 individuals per square kilometer). Population density varies considerably between years and habitats. In the northeastern part of the range hibernation occurs from September - October to April - May, and reproduction from April - May, or in some habitats to late June. Hibernation occurs on land and also occurs in rivers and lakes at depths of more than one meter.

Reproduction occurs in lakes, ponds, swamps, puddles, old riverbeds, ditches and rivulets with stagnant or semi-flowing water. Males enter breeding areas before females. Amplexus is pectoral.

The clutch in the form of two strings of eggs, 1.5-2.3 m in length, containing 1200-7400 eggs. Metamorphosis occurs in summer. Mass mortality of B. gargarizans larvae occurs in pools with high tadpole density of the brown frog Rana dybowskii.

Sexual maturity of this toad is probably attained during the 3rd-4th year of life; the majority of adults are 5-6 years old.

Adult B. gargarizans consume insects, especially Coleoptera and Hymenoptera. Other invertebrates such as Mollusca, Myriapoda and Arachnoidea are eaten in smaller quantities.

Trends and Threats
The Asiatic Toad is a widespread species and is not declining.

Some peripheral populations, especially at the northern margin of the range (North China, probably Transbaikalia), are small and isolated, and they may be vulnerable to the alteration of habitats.

Relation to Humans
The influence of anthropogenic factors on B. gargarizans is insufficiently known. The species possesses a good potential for synanthropization, especially in central, optimal parts of its range. It often occurs in settlements and cities which results, however, in its mortality on roads.

References

Bannikov, A. G., Darevsky, I. S. and Rustamov, A. K. (1971). Zemnovodnye i Presmykayushchienya SSSR [Amphibians and Reptiles of the USSR]. Izdatelistvo Misl, Moscow.

Bannikov, A. G., Darevsky, I. S., Ishchenko, V. G., Rustamov, A. K., and Szczerbak, N. N. (1977). Opredelitel Zemnovodnykh i Presmykayushchikhsya Fauny SSSR [Guide to Amphibians and Reptiles of the USSR Fauna]. Prosveshchenie, Moscow.

Fei, L. (1999). Atlas of Amphibians of China. Henan Publishing House of Science and Technology, Zhengzhou.

Kuzmin, S. L. (1995). Die Amphibien Russlands und angrenzender Gebiete. Westarp Wissenschaften, Magdeburg.

Kuzmin, S. L. (1999). The Amphibians of the Former Soviet Union. Pensoft, Sofia-Moscow.

Nikolsky, A. M (1936). Fauna of Russia and Adjacent Countries: Amphibians (English translation of Nikolsky, 1918, Faune de la Russie et des Pays limitrophes. Amphibiens. Académie Russe des Sciences, Petrograd, USSR). Israel Program for Scientific Translations, Jerusalem.

Othman SN, Litvinchuk SN, Maslova I, Dahn H, Messenger KR, Andersen D, Jowers MJ, Kojima Y, Skorinov DV, Yasumiba K, Chuang M-F, Chen Y-H, Bae Y, Hoti J, Jang Y, Borzee A. (2022). "From Gondwana to the Yellow Sea, evolutionary diversifications of true toads Bufo sp. in the Eastern Palearctic and a revisit of species boundaries for Asian lineages." eLife, 11(e70494.). [link]

Stejneger, L. H. (1907). Herpetology of Japan and Adjacent Territory, United States National Museum Bulletin 58. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C..

Terent'ev, P. V. and Chernov, S. A (1965). Key to Amphibians and Reptiles [of the USSR]. Israel Program for Scientific Translations, Jerusalem.

Won, H.-K. (1971). Choson Ryangso Pyachyungryuchji [Amphibian and Reptilian Fauna of Korea]. Korean Academy of Sciences, Pyongyang.

Ye, C., Fei, L., and Hu, S. Q. (1993). Rare and Economic Amphibians of China. Sichuan Publishing House of Science and Technology, Chengdu.

Zhao, E. and Adler, K. (1993). Herpetology of China. Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles, Oxford, Ohio.

Zhao, E. and Zhao, H. (1994). Chinese Herpetological Literature: Catalogue and Indices. Chengdu University of Science and Technology, Chengdu.

Species Account Citation: AmphibiaWeb 2022 Bufo gargarizans: Asiatic Toad <https://amphibiaweb.org/species/179> University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. Accessed Jun 2, 2023.

Citation: AmphibiaWeb. 2023. <https://amphibiaweb.org> University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. Accessed 2 Jun 2023.

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