Massive rescue operation involving 16 firefighters is called off after barking 'dog' trapped in a stormwater drain turns out to be a common FROG

A rescue operation has been abandoned after firefighters were tricked by a barking marsh frog.

Firefighters were called to Jack Fox Drive in North Brighton in Adelaide's southwest on Saturday morning after reports of barking coming from a storm water drain.

Sixteen rescuers were tasked to the job for a full scale rescue mission, amid fears a dog was trapped underground.

Adelaide firefighters have been tricked by a barking marsh frog in an embarrassing rescue blunder

But after scanning through the site from all angles with no sign of a dog while the barking continued, firefighters were left confused by the source of the sound.

They searched the echoing sound on Youtube, only to discover the barking was coming from a barking marsh frog. 

'It's definitely an unusual one,' Metro Fire Service's Damian Joyce told 9News.

'I haven't come across anything like this before.

Rescuers were called to North Brighton after reports of barking in a storm drain, leading authorities to believe a dog was trapped underground

'There's a first time for everything I suppose.'

The small frogs are common in the area with a habitat that stretches throughout the southeast of Australia.

Male frogs call out from bodies of water including ponds, dams, lakes or rivers making a sound similar to a distant dog bark.

Firefighters were relieved to locate the frog and not a distressed dog. 

After consulting a Youtube video, firefighters worked out the sound was coming from a barking marsh frog