THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY

Amphibia    Anura    Microhylidae  

Eastern Narrow-mouthed Toad
Gastrophryne carolinensis (Holbrook, 1836)
gas-TROH-fry-nee — kair-oh-lin-EN-sis

SSAR 9th Edition Comments:
 There are no current SSAR comments for this taxon.
Errata/Changes: Page 4: Authority should be (Holbrook, 1835), not (Holbrook, 1836). — (9/11/2025)

Range maps are based on curated specimens and provided gratis by CNAH.
(Created by Travis W. Taggart; Version: 2025.10.14.15.43.44)
Download GeoJSON polygon range file: - 0.7 MB

Province/State Distribution:
United States: Alabama Arkansas Florida Georgia Illinois Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maryland Mississippi Missouri North Carolina Oklahoma South Carolina Tennessee Texas Virginia

Taxonomic Etymology:
Named for its range in the Carolinas.
Gastrophryne — From Greek: gaster (γαστήρ) – “stomach” or “belly”; phryne (φρύνη) – “toad” or “frog”
carolinensis — From Latin: The suffix -ensis means “from” or “originating in”; carolinensis means: “From Carolina” (referring to the U.S. region of North and South Carolina)

First instance(s) of published English names:
Chestnut-colored Frog (Engystoma carolinense: Yarrow, Henry C. 1876. List of Skeletons and Crania in the Section of Comparative Anatomy of the United States Army Medical Museum for use during the International Exhibition of 1876 in Connection with the Representation of the Medical Department U.S. Army. Army Medical Museum, Washington, D. C. pp.); Carolina Tree Frog (Engystoma carolinense: Yarrow, Henry C. 1882. Check list of North American Reptilia and Batrachia with catalogue of specimens in U. S. National Museum. Bulletin of the United States National Museum (24):1-249); Nebulous Toad (Engystoma carolinense: Garman, H. 1892. A synopsis of the reptiles and amphibians of Illinois. Illinois Laboratory of Natural History Bulletin 3():215-403); Carolina Toad (Engystoma carolinense: Hurter, Julius. 1911. Herpetology of Missouri. Transactions of the Academy of Science St. Louis 20(5):59-274); Narrow-mouthed Toad (Engystoma carolinense: Brimley, Clement S. 1915. List of reptiles and amphibians of North Carolina. Journal of the Elisha Mitchell Scientific Society 30(4):195-206); Narrow Mouth Frog (Gastrophryne carolinensis: Wright, Anna Allen, and Alex Hazen Wright. 1933. Handbook of frogs and toads. The frogs and toads of the United States and Canada Comstock Publishing Associates, Ithaca, NY. xi+231pp.); Frogtoad (Gastrophryne carolinensis: Wright, Anna Allen, and Alex Hazen Wright. 1933. Handbook of frogs and toads. The frogs and toads of the United States and Canada Comstock Publishing Associates, Ithaca, NY. xi+231pp.); Rain Frog (Gastrophryne carolinensis: Wright, Anna Allen, and Alex Hazen Wright. 1933. Handbook of frogs and toads. The frogs and toads of the United States and Canada Comstock Publishing Associates, Ithaca, NY. xi+231pp.); Carolina Tree Frog (Gastrophryne carolinensis: Wright, Anna Allen, and Alex Hazen Wright. 1933. Handbook of frogs and toads. The frogs and toads of the United States and Canada Comstock Publishing Associates, Ithaca, NY. xi+231pp.); Carolina Toad (Gastrophryne carolinensis: Wright, Anna Allen, and Alex Hazen Wright. 1933. Handbook of frogs and toads. The frogs and toads of the United States and Canada Comstock Publishing Associates, Ithaca, NY. xi+231pp.); Narrow-mouthed Frog (Gastrophryne carolinensis: Wright, Anna Allen, and Alex Hazen Wright. 1933. Handbook of frogs and toads. The frogs and toads of the United States and Canada Comstock Publishing Associates, Ithaca, NY. xi+231pp.); Nebulous Toad (Gastrophryne carolinensis: Wright, Anna Allen, and Alex Hazen Wright. 1933. Handbook of frogs and toads. The frogs and toads of the United States and Canada Comstock Publishing Associates, Ithaca, NY. xi+231pp.); Rainy Day Frog (Gastrophryne carolinensis: Wright, Anna Allen, and Alex Hazen Wright. 1933. Handbook of frogs and toads. The frogs and toads of the United States and Canada Comstock Publishing Associates, Ithaca, NY. xi+231pp.); Narrow Mouth Toad (Gastrophryne carolinensis: Wright, Anna Allen, and Alex Hazen Wright. 1933. Handbook of frogs and toads. The frogs and toads of the United States and Canada Comstock Publishing Associates, Ithaca, NY. xi+231pp.); Narrow-mouthed Toad (Gastrophryne carolinensis: Wright, Anna Allen, and Alex Hazen Wright. 1933. Handbook of frogs and toads. The frogs and toads of the United States and Canada Comstock Publishing Associates, Ithaca, NY. xi+231pp.); Toothless Frog (Gastrophryne carolinensis: Wright, Anna Allen, and Alex Hazen Wright. 1933. Handbook of frogs and toads. The frogs and toads of the United States and Canada Comstock Publishing Associates, Ithaca, NY. xi+231pp.); Narrow-mouthed Toad (Microhyla carolinensis: Schmidt, Karl P. 1953. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280pp.); Narrow-mouthed Toad (Microhyla carolinensis carolinensis: Schmidt, Karl P. 1953. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280pp.);

Taxon Links:

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

Selected References:
1836 Holbrook, John E. North American Herpetology; or, a Description of the Reptiles Inhabiting the United States. Volume 1. J. Dobson, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 120pp.
1947 Smith, Hobart M. Microhyla carolinensis in Kansas. Herpetologica 4:13-14
1950 Bragg, Arthur N. Observations on Microhyla (Salientia: Microhylidae). Wasmann Journal of Biology 8(1):113-118
1950 Blair, Albert P. Notes on Oklahoma microhylid frogs. Copeia 1950(2):152
1953 Hardy, Jerry D., Jr. Notes on the distribution of Mycrohyla carolinensis in southern Maryland. Herpetologica 8:162-166
1955 Blair, W. Frank. Mating call and stage of speciation in the Microhyla olivacea-M. carolinensis complex. Evolution 9(4):469-480
1955 Blair, W. Frank. Size difference as a possible isolation mechanism in Microhyla. The American Naturalist 99(848):297-301
1955 Blair, Albert P. and Harold E. Laughlin. Range extensions of Gastrophryne carolinensis. Copeia 1955(4):311
1968 Nelson, Craig E. and H. S. Cuellar. Anatomical comparison of tadpoles of the genera Hypopachus and Gastrophryne (Microhylidae). Copeia 1968(2):423-424
1972 Nelson, Craig E. Gastrophryne carolinensis. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (120):1-4
1972 Nelson, Craig E. Systematic studies of the North American microhylid genus Gastrophryne. Journal of Herpetology 6(2):111-137
1973 Nelson, Craig E. Gastrophryne. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (134):1-2
1973 Nelson, Craig E. Mating calls of the Microhylinae: Descriptions and phylogenetic and ecological considerations. Herpetologica 29(2):163-176
1976 Bogart, James P. and Craig E. Nelson. Evolutionary implication from karyotypic analysis of frogs of the families Microhylidae and Rhinophrynidae. Herpetologica 32(2):199-208
1991 Miller, Larry L. Study of the Eastern Narrowmouth Toad in southeast Kansas Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, Pratt, Kansas. 12pp.
2005 Lannoo, Michael (Editor) Amphibian Declines: The Conservation Status of United States Species. University fo California Press, Berkeley. 1115pp.
2013 Dodd, C. Kenneth. Frogs of the United States and Canada. John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, Maryland. 982pp.
2023 Dodd, C. Kenneth. Frogs of the United States and Canada. Second Edition. John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, Maryland. 1032pp.

THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY — Accessed: Friday 05 December 2025 16:58 CT