Coquí facts for kids

The coquí is a small frog that lives in Puerto Rico. It's famous for its very loud call, which sounds like "co-kee!" This call is made by the male frogs at night, especially by two types: the common coquí and the upland coquí. The name "coquí" actually comes from the sound they make!

Coquís are very common in Puerto Rico. There are more than 16 different kinds of coquí frogs found there, with 13 living in the El Yunque National Forest. You can also find other frogs like them in the rest of the Caribbean and in Central and South America. The coquí is a special symbol of Puerto Rico. People often say, “Soy de aquí, como el coquí,” which means “I’m from here, like the coquí.”

What makes coquís special?

A coquí frog resting on a leaf.

The Eleutherodactylus coquí is a small tree frog. They can be different colors like brown, yellow, green, or gray on top. Their bellies are usually white or yellow, and their eyes can be brown or gold.

The scientific name for the coquí, Eleutherodactylus, comes from Ancient Greek words that mean "free toes." This is because coquís don't have webbing between their toes like many other frogs. Instead, they have special sticky disks on their feet. These disks help them climb and stick to trees and leaves, which is very useful for a tree frog!

Where do coquís live?

Coquís live in warm, wet places called tropical areas. You can find them at different heights, from sea level up to high mountains (about 1200 meters or 4,000 feet). They like humid mountain forests or even dry forests.

Sometimes, coquís share nests with common birds like the bananaquit, the Puerto Rican bullfinch, and the Puerto Rican tody. While they mostly live in forests, it's also common to find coquís near people's homes, in parks, and close to water.

Coquí family tree

Coquís belong to a large group of frogs called Eleutherodactylus. This group has over 700 different kinds of frogs! They live naturally in the southern United States, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean.

Coquís have also traveled to other places, like Hawaii, where they are considered an unwanted species. They have even been seen in California after hitching rides on plants being shipped.

In Puerto Rico, there are 17 known kinds of coquí frogs. In 2007, a new kind, the coqui llanero, was officially named Eleutherodactylus juanariveroi.

Here's how scientists classify the coquí:

• Kingdom: Animals
• Phylum: Chordates (animals with backbones)
• Class: Amphibians (animals that live on land and in water)
• Order: Frogs and Toads
• Family: Leptodactylidae
• Genus: Eleutherodactylus

What coquís do for nature

Coquí frogs are important in their environment. They help control the number of plant-eating insects. They love to eat bugs like cockroaches, spiders, crickets, and beetles. Bigger coquís might even eat small lizards and other frogs!

Coquís also help the environment by adding nutrients to the soil and plants through their waste. This helps the plants grow stronger.

The coquí's song

The coquí frog gets its name from the male's mating call, which sounds like "co-kee!" Male coquís use their loud call to find female frogs and to mark their territory. If many male coquís are in the same area, they will "sing" to challenge each other. The frog that sings less well usually moves to another spot.

Male coquís start singing when the sun goes down and continue all night until morning. In some places, like Hawaii, they might stop singing by midnight.

How coquís have babies

Coquís can have babies all year, but they have the most during the wet season, from April to October. Female frogs usually lay about 15 to 40 eggs, up to five times a year.

What's special about coquís is that they lay their eggs on land, usually on plants, instead of in water like most other frogs. The male frogs then gather the eggs and guard them in a nest. They keep the eggs moist by touching them with their damp skin, making sure they don't dry out.

Coquí life stages

The coquí frog has a very unique life cycle. Most frogs start as tiny tadpoles with tails that swim in water. But coquís skip the tadpole stage completely! They hatch directly from their eggs as tiny frogs with short tails. This means female coquís don't need bodies of water to lay their eggs.

Once they become adult frogs, most coquís live for about a year. However, some coquís have been known to live as long as six years!

Why coquí numbers are shrinking

The number of coquí frogs has been going down because of a fungus called Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis. This fungus makes amphibians sick by harming their skin. Some coquís in El Yunque National Forest are able to resist this fungus, but it makes them smaller, which can make it harder for them to survive in the wild.

Hurricanes and droughts have also hurt the coquí population. For example, Hurricane Maria in 2017 badly damaged the forest canopy in El Yunque. This made the ground much hotter, which is bad for coquís. Some types of coquí frogs, especially those living at lower heights in El Yunque, are now in danger of disappearing. However, some stronger types of coquí, like the Red Eyed Coquí, can handle drier and hotter conditions better.

Where coquís are found (and where they're not wanted)

Coquís are found in Puerto Rico, Hawaii, St. Croix, St. John, St. Thomas, California, Florida, and the Dominican Republic.

In Hawaii, coquís are considered an unwanted species because they were brought there by accident around the late 1980s, often hiding in plants. In Hawaii, there can be as many as 20,000 coquís per acre! They have very few enemies there, so their numbers have grown a lot.

While coquís have helped some native plants in Hawaii by increasing nutrients, they have also caused problems. They compete with native birds and other frogs for food. They also eat native spiders and insects, some of which are already rare.

Controlling coquí numbers

It's been hard to control the coquí population in places where they are not native, like Hawaii. However, some efforts are being made. In Hawaii, it's against the rules to intentionally move frogs, and coquís are seen as pests.

One way to reduce coquís in plant nurseries is to give the plants a hot shower. This helps get rid of both adult coquís and their eggs.

For chemicals, only a few are allowed. Citric acid can be used in Hawaii, but it needs to touch the frogs directly, sometimes many times. It can also harm plants. Other things used are hydrated lime and caffeine. People also try to catch them by hand.

The coquí in Puerto Rico

The coquí and the Taino people

The coquí as a symbol

Scientists have found ancient carvings called petroglyphs on Mona Island in Puerto Rico. These images, made by the Taino people around the 13th century, show how they lived and what they believed. The coquí symbol appears often in these carvings, showing how important the frog was in their art, pottery, and beliefs.

In these carvings, frog-like hands often represented "femaleness." Coquí frogs, with their loud calls before it rained, were also linked to female fertility and children.

The Taino frog legend

There's a Taino legend about how the coquí came to be. A goddess fell in love with a chief's son named Coquí. She promised to visit him one evening, but instead, a terrible storm god named Juracán arrived. Juracán took Coquí away, and the goddess never saw him again. To remember her lost love, she created a frog that would forever call out his name: "Co-kee! Co-kee!"

Another legend says that a god took all the women from the island. The men were left to care for the children, who cried "toa toa" (mother-mother) because they were hungry. When the men couldn't comfort them, the children turned into frogs.

The coquí in stories

The coquí has also appeared in children's books. One famous example is Callaloo: The Legend of the Golden Coquí. This story is about two kids from New York who go to Puerto Rico to free a golden coquí frog trapped in El Yunque forest. They use clues from the Taino people and get help from other coquí frogs.

Other notable books include:

• Kiki Kokí: La Leyenda Encantada del Coquí by Ed Rodríguez
• The Coquí and the Iguana by Aldis Vincente
• La leyenda del Coquí by Lourdes M. Alvarez

The coquí and climate change

Studies show that rising temperatures from climate change are changing the coquí's call. Their calls are becoming higher-pitched and shorter. Warmer temperatures can also make coquís smaller and reduce their numbers. This is a big problem because coquí frogs are very important to the rainforest in Puerto Rico.

If temperatures keep rising, coquís might sound and even look different in the future. The female coquís need to adapt to these changes. If their ears can't hear the higher-pitched calls, it could affect their ability to find mates. Also, having smaller coquís could upset the entire food web in Puerto Rico's rainforest.

Images for kids

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  Graffito of a coqui on a woman's shoulder on the Bloomingdale trail in Humboldt Park, Chicago, a neighborhood with many Puerto Ricans.

See also

In Spanish: Eleutherodactylus para niños