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Species authority page

American bullfrog

Lithobates catesbeianus · Frogs and toads · Amphibians

American bullfrog (Lithobates catesbeianus): Green or brown, usually with dark spots or mottling, not large rounded spots. No ridges along each side of the back; large eardrum with a skin fold curving around it. This profile does not establish whether taking it is legal anywhere.

Check rules for a place and dateOpen the american bullfrog map

Certified rules currently represented in Hunt: coverage in development. This is coverage, not a legal answer.

American bullfrog — verified North Ground species photograph
Adobe Stock · Standard License (asset 32847201)
Scientific name
Lithobates catesbeianus
Family
Ranidae
In North America
Native
Range
Native from Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and southern Québec west to the Great Lakes and south through most of the central and eastern US to northeastern Mexico; widely introduced in the west.
Biology

How to identify it

Green or brown, usually with dark spots or mottling, not large rounded spots. [1]

No ridges along each side of the back; large eardrum with a skin fold curving around it. [1]

Males: eardrum distinctly larger than the eye, yellow throat in breeding season, swollen thumb base. [1]

Up to about 20 cm snout-vent; 4th hind toe extends past the webbing. [1]

Compared with the green frog: Has a ridge along each side of the back and a banjo-string call; bullfrogs have no such ridges. [1]

Species it is confused with

Check these before deciding what you are looking at. If you are not certain what it is, do not shoot.

Field notes

  • Identification Confirm a american bullfrog before you act. Compared with the green frog: Has a ridge along each side of the back and a banjo-string call; bullfrogs have no such ridges.[1]
Field knowledge

Where it lives

Ponds, swamps, lakes, marshes and ditches with floating or emergent vegetation. [1]

Field knowledge

How it behaves

Breeding call is a deep bellowing 'um-rum' [1]

Movements and breeding mostly at dusk and at night, though it calls by day too [1]

Larvae usually overwinter at least once in the north [1]

Eats any animal it can swallow [1]

Regulatory handoff

Where it is listed for legal take

These authorities list this species for legal take in their own regulations.

Where legal take is listed

Being listed is not an open season. Seasons, zones, licences, methods and limits decide whether this animal may be taken on a given day and place — check Hunt or the authority before you go. Listings read 2026-09-30.

Geospatial intelligence

Where it is found

Native from Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and southern Québec west to the Great Lakes and south through most of the central and eastern US to northeastern Mexico; widely introduced in the west.

Biology

Sources

Every claim above is attributed to one of these published sources.

  1. NatureServe · reviewed 2026-09-30

    NatureServe