Leoptobrachella arayai (formerly Leptolalax arayai) inhabits the primary forests of Gunung Kinabalu, Trus Madi, and Crocker Range, from approx. 400–1.700 m asl.

It is a medium sized frog (30–40 mm) that lives along the banks of mountain streams. The upper side is brown, grey or olive with dark markings. The groin region and the upper sector of the iris are red-orange.

Males usually call 2–10 m away from the stream, sometimes on the ground, but more often from low vegetation. The lound call can easily be confused with that of a cricket.

Reproduction takes place in small to mid-sized streams. As in other species within the genus, tadpoles are highly specialized interstitial burrowers. They live under leaf litter or  among the superficial layers of gravel in the stream beds and are very difficult to find.

The depicted tadpole is tentatively assigned to L. arayai although we could not exclude the sympatric L. sabamontanus. However, tadpoles of all Bornean Leptobrachella in the subgenus Leptolalax are very similar; diagnostic features have not yet been established. In general Leptobrachella (Leptolalax) tadpole is long and slender. The tail is strong and the tail fins are low. The oral disk forms a cup-like structure. The eyes are small.