page_title: Oriental fire-bellied toad
section_title: Description
hierarchical_section_title: Oriental fire-bellied toad / Description
caption_attribution_description: Photographer: LA Dawson Oriental Fire-belly Toad, Bombina orientalis en:Category:Frog images
context_page_description: The Oriental fire-bellied toad is a small semiaquatic frog species found in Korea, northeastern China, and adjacent parts of Russia. An introduced population exists near Beijing. They are commonly kept as pets in land and water vivaria. B. orientalis is also known as the 'tuti toad'.
  It may properly be referred to as a frog, despite its common name: it is commonly called a toad because of the tubercles on its back.
context_section_description: Oriental fire-bellied toads, species of Bombina, are typically a bright green with black mottling on their dorsal regions, but their complexion may also darken to brown and even black depending on their background scenery. Like other Bombina species, B. orientalis has a bright yellow to red (generally bright reddish-orange) ventral region mottled with dark brown to black. The skin on its dorsal side is covered in small tubercles, and although it is typically referred to as a toad, the fire-bellied toad is not a true toad - family Bufonidae.
  They are noted for the bright green and black coloration on their backs, and orange and black on their undersides. In the wild, B. orientalis eats various small aquatic arthropods (among other things) from which they obtain beta-carotene, which aids in the coloration in the ventral region. These bright colors serve as a warning to predators of toxicity. The toxin is secreted through the skin mostly from the hind legs, and sometimes the belly, in a milky-like substance when the frog is disturbed or frightened. When disturbed, the frog may emit this toxin, and may also lie on its back to show the color of its belly, indicating its toxicity to any predators.
caption: Held by a human hand
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