THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY

Amphibia    Anura    Eleutherodactylidae  

Coquí
Eleutherodactylus coqui Thomas, 1966

SSAR 9th Edition Comments:
 Native to Puerto Rico. It was introduced to Connecticut (Beard and Pitt. 2005, Diversity and Distributions 2005: 427–433), Florida (Austin and Schwartz 1975, Copeia 1975: 188), and Louisiana (Schwartz, and Henderson. 1988, Milwaukee Public Museum Contributions in Biology and Geology 74: 1–264; Kraus, 2009, Alien Reptiles and Amphibians: A Scientific Compendium and Analysis. SpringerVerlag, Heidelberg, Germany). It is established in California (Beard and Pitt. 2005, op. cit.; Kraus. 2009, op. cit.) and Hawai'i (islands of Hawai’i, Kaua'i, Maui, and O’ahu; McKeown. 1996, A Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians in the Hawaiian Islands. Diamond Head Publishing, Inc., Los Osos, California). In California, it was originally introduced in a plant nursery in San Diego County (Beard and Pitt. 2005, Diversity and Distributions 2005: 427–433; Erikson and Weston 2019, Bulletin of the Southern California Academy of Sciences 118: 76–78). It is unknown if individuals in California are reproducing in the wild or being replenished by the tropical plant trade. The English name Puerto Rican Coqui is used by Hedges et al. (2019, Caribbean Herpetology (67): 1–53).

Range maps are based on curated specimens and provided gratis by CNAH.
(Created by Travis W. Taggart; Version: 2025.03.29.21.38.32)
Download GeoJSON polygon range file: - 0.1 MB

Province/State Distribution:
USA: California Florida Hawaii Louisiana

First instance(s) of published English names:
Puerto Rican Coqui (Eleutherodactylus coqui: Hedges, S. Blair, Robert Powell, Robert W. Henderson, Sarah Hanson, and John C. Murphy. 2019. Definition of the Caribbean Islands biogeographic region, with checklist and recommendations for standardized common names of amphibians and reptiles. Caribbean Herpetology (67):1–53);

Taxon Links:

  
Catalog of American Amphibians and Reptiles
  
Amphibian Species of the World
  
NatureServe
  
iNaturalist
  
GenBank
  
USGS - Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database

Selected References:
1966 Thomas, Richard. New species of Antillean Eleutherodactylus. Quarterly Journal of the Florida Academy of Sciences 28:375–391
1975 Austin, Daniel F. and Albert Schwartz. Another exotic amphibian in Florida, Eleutherodactylus coqui. Copeia 1975(1):188
1984 Loftus, William F. and Rhonda Herndon. Reestablishment of the Coqui, Eleutherodactylus coqui Thomas, in southern Florida. Herpetological Review 15(1):23
1984 Loftus, William F. and Rhonda Herndon. Reestablishment of the Coqui, Eleutherodactylus coqui Thomas, in southern Florida. Herpetological Review 15(1):23
1994 Schmitz, D. C. and T. C. Brown [eds.] An Assessment of Invasive Non-indigenous Species in Florida's Public Lands, Technical Rpt. TSS-94-100. Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Tallahassee, Florida. pp.
1994 Dalrymple, George H. Non-indigenous amphibians and reptiles. Pages 67–78 in An assessment of invasive non-indigenous species in Florida's public land. Technical Report No. TSS-94-100. 78 pp. Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Tallahassee, Florida. pp.
1996 McKeown, Sean. A Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians in the Hawaiian Islands. Diamond Head Publishing, Inc., Los Osos, California. pp.
1999 Kraus, Fred, Earl W. Campbell, Allen Allison, and Thane Pratt. Eleutherodactylus frog introductions to Hawaii. Herpetological Review 30(1):21-25
2005 Beard, Karen H. and William C. Pitt. Potential consequences of the coqui frog invasion in Hawaii. Diversity and Distributions 2005(11):427–433
2013 Dodd, C. Kenneth. Frogs of the United States and Canada. John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, Maryland. 982pp.
2019 Krysko, Kenneth L., Kevin M. Enge, and Paul E. Moler (Editor) Amphibians and Reptiles of Florida. University Press of Florida, Gainesville, Florida. 728pp.
2019 Hedges, S. Blair, Robert Powell, Robert W. Henderson, Sarah Hanson, and John C. Murphy. Definition of the Caribbean Islands biogeographic region, with checklist and recommendations for standardized common names of amphibians and reptiles. Caribbean Herpetology (67):1–53
2019 Erikson, Richard A. and Weston G. Burt. Additional Information on a Nonnative Whiptail Population (Aspidoscelis flagellicauda/sonorae complex) in Suburban Orange County, California. Bulletin of the Southern California Academy of Sciences 118(1[6]):76-78

THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY — Accessed: Saturday 19 April 2025 22:16 CT