Description: Gopher frogs have robust, stocky bodies with relatively short forelimbs. They have tapered snouts and a single lateral ridge down each side of the back. Their light-colored body is marked with dark brown or black blotches of various sizes and shapes. Adult snout-vent length ranges from 2.35 to 3.55 inches and weight ranges from 1.65 to 5.3 ounces. Adult males are smaller than adult females. Skin texture can ranges from rough to smooth and the color ranges from yellow-white to brown or gray. The venter is often white, cream, or yellow and usually mottled with dark spots. Tadpoles range from yellow-green to olive-green or gray with large black spots on the upper body, tail and fin. Tadpoles typically reach a length of 3.3 inches; however, in North Carolina tadpoles can exceed 3.55 inches in length.

Habitat: The primary habitat of gopher frogs is native xeric upland habitats, comprised mainly of longleaf pine and sandy substrates. The habitat also contains xeric to mesic hardwoods such as sand pine scrub, longleaf pine flatwoods, and xeric hammocks. These habitats in early successional stages are ideal. Gopher frogs seek shelter in underground refuges, such as the burrows of gopher tortoises, after which they were names, and several species of small mammals, such as rodents, as well as under logs and in stump holes. Gopher frogs also use clumps of grass and leaf litter as refuge during its migration. Refuges protect against adverse weather and predation. Newly metamorphosed gopher frogs are at a high risk of predation and desiccation due to their unfamiliarity with refuge habitat. Fire-maintained habitats with open canopy contain a higher density of gopher tortoise and small mammal burrows. Thus, juvenile gopher frogs avoid closed-canopy habitat and select open-canopy habitat that has been maintained by fire. As a result of fire suppression, habitat loss and degradation, many wildlife species including the gopher frog associated with longleaf pine forests have declined. Gopher frogs breed in temporary or semipermanent (seasonally flooded) ponds but spend the majority of their lives in the burrows of surrounding terrestrial habitat.

Range: Lithobates capito is found mainly in the Coastal Plain of the southeastern United States. Its range extends from central North Carolina to the east and west coasts of southern Florida. There are isolated populations in central and southeastern Alabama, central Tennessee and southwestern Georgia.

Found in these States: AL | FL | GA | MS | NC | SC | TN |

Diet: Gopher frogs are carnivorous and are known to consume a variety of invertebrates, including earthworms, cockroaches, spiders, grasshoppers, beetles as well as other toads and frogs. They travel significant distance at night to forage. Tadpoles eat microscopic algae, organic debris, bacteria and protozoans found on underwater vegetation or along the pond bottom. Water quality and lack of canopy cover have a significant impact on prey abundance.

Reproduction: Little is known of development of gopher frogs. Egg masses are laid in semiperminant ponds just below the surface of the water. Tadpoles metamorphose after 87 to 225 days and disperse into drier upland habitat. Gopher frogs are polygynous and breed from January to April, immediately after a heavy rain. Males actively call to potential mates during this time. Males occupy breeding ponds for about a month while females stay less than a week.

Breeding generally occurs during winter and early spring from January through April. Reproduction can occur as early as September and October following heavy rains. Breeding sites are seasonally flooded isolated ponds free of predatory fish. Males usually occupy breeding ponds for about a month while the females stay less than a week. Females lay cluster containing thousands of eggs. Eggs are gray to gray-black and range in size from 1.67 to 2.7 mm in diameter. Evidence suggests that each female lays one egg mass per breeding season. She deposits the egg mass near the surface of the water on a rigid support (e.g., semi-submerged shrub) in order to keep the eggs at a desired depth. As surface waters warm, development of embryos progresses. Tadpoles metamorphose after a larval period ranging from 87 to 225 days, and disperse into the drier uplands.

Status: Its primary threats include loss of habitat and fire suppression. It is entirely dependent upon small vernal pools for its annual reproduction. These pools in pine flatwoods are being lost to development, and to fire suppression, which allows forests to invade the natural savanna habitat. Hence, prescribed burns and habitat acquisition are considered key management strategies for its survival.

Because of declining populations, Lithobates capito is listed as “near threatened” on the IUCN's Red List of Threatened Species.Major threats include fire suppression, habitat loss and fragmentation from roads and construction, agriculture and off-road vehicles. Gopher tortoise populations are also declining, leaving fewer burrows for L. capito to use. In general, the area occupied by this species is rather small and is very specific, leaving L. capito highly vulnerable to habitat change. Although precise numbers are difficult to estimate, recent population estimates suggest that less 10,000 individuals remain in the wild, which is significantly reduced from historical number.

Subspecies: None

Taxonomy: This species was placed in the genus Lithobates by Frost et al. (2006). However, Yuan et al. (2016, Systematic Biology, doi: 10.1093/sysbio/syw055) showed that this action created problems of paraphyly in other genera. Yuan et al. (2016) recognized subgenera within Rana for the major traditional species groups, with Lithobates used as the subgenus for the Rana palmipes group. AmphibiaWeb recommends the optional use of these subgenera to refer to these major species groups, with names written as Rana (Aquarana) catesbeiana, for example.