📸 PhotoPhoto: Kim, Hyun-tae · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons Source
Korean Water Toad
Bufo stejnegeri (Korean Water Toad · Korean Water Toad)
💡 Everyday Comparisons for Size, Mass & Speed
- 💡 Unlike the Asiatic Toad, this toad breeds in flowing mountain streams and has been confirmed in northern Gyeonggi, eastern mountainous Gangwon, and Daewonsa Valley on Mount Jiri (National Species List of Korea).
- 💡 In mountain valleys, tadpoles sometimes gather at rice scraps left behind by hikers (National Species List of Korea). Bead-like egg strings wrapped around stream rocks in April–May belong to this toad.
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 Korean Water Toad is a small toad living along flowing streams in mountain valleys, distributed in Korea and northeastern China.
🦴 2. Anatomy & Morphology
It resembles the Asiatic Toad in having distinct dorsal skin tubercles and females that turn reddish during the breeding season. However, it has a smaller build, lacks a tympanum, and has much better-developed webbing on its hind feet due to its aquatic lifestyle.
🔍 3. Ecology & Behavior
In April–May, it wraps bead-string-like egg sacs around rocks or fallen branches from shallow water down to 2 m deep in mountain streams so the eggs are not swept away. Tadpoles have large mouths that scrape algae (water moss) off rocks like a chisel, and they sometimes gather around leftover rice grains dropped by hikers.
🇰🇷 4. Connection to Korea
In Korea, it inhabits mountain ranges along the Baekdudaegan, including northern Gyeonggi Province, mountainous Gangwon Province, and Daewonsa Valley on Mount Jiri (National Species List of Korea).
📚 Sources & References
- • IUCN Red List LC (2020) — https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/54766/63862727
- • IUCN Red List category LC — latest assessment at iucnredlist.org
- • catalogueoflife.org — NPF9
- • iucnredlist.org — 63862727
- • 국가생물종목록(국립생물자원관) ktsn 120000001376 — https://species.nibr.go.kr/home/mainHome.do?cont_link=009&subMenu=009002&contCd=009002&ktsn=120000001376
- • wikidata.org — Q1136140
- • commons.wikimedia.org — File:Bufo stejnegeri.jpg
- • species.nibr.go.kr — mainHome.do
- • Silhouette: PhyloPic — Beth Reinke · CC0 1.0 (Congeneric silhouette — Bufo bufo)
Recorded dimensions are widely cited representative estimates from public literature and may vary by study or specimen.