They have dark spots about the back and sides. These spots have a light border. Female have a poorly defined dorsolateral ridge, but males have a yellowish ridge and may have yellow on the inner portions of the legs and groin. The only frogs the crawfish frog could be confused with are the leopard and pickerel frogs. Crawfish frogs a reticulated upper lip rather than a stripe and are never green as in the northern and southern leopard frogs.
Crawfish frogs have a plain light belly.
Subspecies Rana areolata circulosa, the northern crawfish frog, is the only subspecies found in Iowa. The most records are from Van Buren County. This frog has only been reported in Iowa from the late 1930s into the early 1940s. These frogs seem to have disappeared from the state. If anyone finds a frog resembling a crawfish frog, retain it or at least get a picture of it and send it to the IA DNR or us.