📸 PhotoPhoto: Marek Szczepanek · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons Source
European Fire-bellied Toad
Bombina bombina (European Fire-bellied Toad · ヨーロッパスズガエル)
💡 Everyday Comparisons for Size, Mass & Speed
- 💡 A maximum length of 56 mm is slightly longer than two Korean 500-won coins (26.5 mm diameter) placed side by side (53 mm) (Comparison).
- 💡 In Denmark, it is a legally protected species with only about 2,000 individuals remaining, and conservation efforts clean and dig ponds and release individuals to restore populations (Natural History Museum of Denmark).
Reference standards: coach bus ~12 m, mid-size car ~4.9 m, compact car ~1 t, basketball hoop 3.05 m, credit card 8.56 cm.
📖 1. Overview
The European Fire-bellied Toad (Bombina bombina) is a small, toad-like frog inhabiting lowlands from Eastern Europe to the Ural Mountains. In Denmark it is called the 'bell frog' (klokkefrø) and is very rare.
🦴 2. Anatomy & Morphology
Measuring 37–56 mm in body length, it has a stocky, toad-like body, warty skin, and short hind legs. The back is gray with black and dark green blotches, while the belly is bluish black with striking orange-red markings, and its skin secretes toxic mucus.
🔍 3. Ecology & Behavior
In late May to June, when water warms to around 20 degrees, females attach loose egg clumps to aquatic plants, with up to 130 eggs per clump and up to 700 eggs in total per female. Newly metamorphosed frogs eat springtails, mosquitoes, and flies, while adults mainly hunt underwater for mosquito larvae and pupae as well as diving beetle larvae.
🇰🇷 4. Connection to Korea
No direct record connecting this species to Korea has been found.
📚 Sources & References
- • IUCN Red List LC (2023) — https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/2865/89699662
- • IUCN Red List category LC — latest assessment at iucnredlist.org
- • catalogueoflife.org — 5WNNB
- • iucnredlist.org — 89699662
- • wikidata.org — Q372267
- • commons.wikimedia.org — File:Bombina bombina 1 (Marek Szczepanek) tight crop.jpg
- • naturhistoriskmuseum.dk — klokkefrø
- • bok.or.kr — contents.do
- • Silhouette: PhyloPic — Luca Leicht · CC BY 4.0 (Congeneric silhouette — Bombina variegata)
Recorded dimensions are widely cited representative estimates from public literature and may vary by study or specimen.