Rana nigromaculata

Basic information
Scientific name	Rana nigromaculata	Click to magnify
Major synonym	Pelophylax nigromaculatus
Common names	black-spotted pond frog
Higher taxon	Ranidae, Anura, Amphibia
Natural range	Continental China, Korean Peninsula, and Japan. In Japan, Honshu (except Kanto District, Sendai Plain, and Shinano River basin), Shikoku, Kyushu, and several peripheral islents (Hirado, Tanegashima, etc.).
Habitat	Lowland rice field and pond.

Invasion information
Range in Japan	A part of Hokkaido, Tsushima (Toyotamacho)
Origin	From Shizuoka to Hokkaido, and from mainland of Nagasaki Pref. to Tsushima.
Date	The first records in Hokkaido and Tsushima was in 1993 and 2003, respectively.
Route	Deliberate: Release of education material (Hokkaido). Unknown for Tsushima population.
Impact	In Kitahiroshima of Hokkaido, a native frog Hyla japonica tend to have small population size in rice fields with Rana nigromaculata. This implies an impact of competition and/or predation on native frogs. Predation on native invertebrates. There is a record of predation on a larva of Cybister japonicus. Native organism(s) affected: Native frogs (competition, predation). Terrestrial and aquatic invetebrates (predation).
Regulation in Japan	No action for prevention, mitigation, control, or eradication.
Introduced range in other countries	Eastern Turkmenistan. An isolated population in Yunnan, continental China might be non-native.

Reference

Notes

Ecol Soc Jpn (ed) (2002) Handbook of Alien Species in Japan. Chijinshokan, Tokyo (in Jpn)
Frost et al. (1998-2010) Amphibian Species of the World (Accessed on 2012-6-25) http://research.amnh.org/herpetology/amphibia/.
Maeda & Matsui (1999) Frogs and Toads of Japan. Bun-ichi Sogo Shuppan, Tokyo (in Jpn)
Matsuo (2004) Amphibians and Reptiles of Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. Nagasaki Shinbunsha (in Jpn)
Takenaka (1997) Distribution of the introduced frog, Rana nigromaculata, in Kita Hiroshima, Hokkaido. Proc Hokkaido Tokai Univ, Sci Eng. 10, 43-49 (in Jpn)
Sengoku et al. (eds) (1996) The Encyclopedia of Animals in Japan 5 Amphibians, Reptiles, Chondrichthyes. Heibonsha, Tokyo (in Jpn)
Tokuda (2011) Compact Picture Guide to Hokkaido Reptiles & Amphibians. Hokkaidoshinbunsha, Sapporo (in Jpn)
Yoshihisa et al. (2011) Preying on the predaceous diving beetle (Cybister japonicas) by the introduced black-spotted pond frog (Rana nigromaculata) in Hokkaido, Japan. Bull Herpetol Soc Jpn. 2011(2), 112-114 (in Jpn)
etc.