Along with being April Fool’s Day, today is World Water Frog Day. As I’ve said before I love frogs (yes, and spiders, too, but it’s not spider day)! My absolute favorites are the tree frogs, but they aren’t water frogs, so it’s not their day, either. Here in Florida we have five species of aquatic frogs. They are the American bullfrog, the pig frog, the bronze frog, the southern cricket frog, and the southern leopard frog. These frogs spend the majority of their time in the water, but do come out regularly to hunt, sun themselves, and look for mates. Similarly, most frogs lay their eggs in water, so just because you see a frog in the water, especially during breeding season, it doesn’t mean that it’s necessarily a water frog.

Most water frogs have webbed feet, especially on their powerful hind legs. They generally prefer cooler water, but like to bask in the sun to increase their body temperatures. Water frogs are also known to rest and sometimes hibernate on the bottoms of their aquatic environments, and can stay submerged for long periods of time. They do this by using their relatively porous skin to filter oxygen from the water. That skin, unfortunately, also allows water frogs to absorb toxins and pollutants from the water. For that reason, these frogs are a keystone species, and they are frequently studied to monitor environmental health. This is also one of the reasons that many of the world’s 63 types of water frogs are currently considered endangered.

Let’s all take a few minutes today to think about our little friends the water frogs, and to consider ways that we can improve our environment for their health and for our own. Happy World Water Frog Day!