Surinam toad

Great Surinam Toad ( Pipa pipa )

The Great Surinam Toad ( Pipa pipa ), also called Amazon Surinam Toad, is a South American Froschlurch from the family of tongueless.

Features

Females of the Great Surinam Toad are about 17 cm long, males stay shorter with a maximum of 15 cm. She has a broad, flattened body and an equally flat, triangular head with tiny, lidless black eyes. The skin is wrinkled, rough, brown to gray and fitted with dark spots; the underside is lighter in color. The hind legs are large and fin-like. The fingers of the front legs end in star-shaped, four-engine tips.

Females can be distinguished morphologically from males only during the mating season. Then they have an annular swelling at her cloaca.

Distribution and habitat

This species lives all year aquatil in turbid, slow flowing waters, as well as in ponds or swamps in eastern South America. In addition, it is widespread in Trinidad and always live below an altitude of 400 meters. In the Red List of endangered species the Great Surinam toad is listed as not at risk ( " least concern "). She hides in their habitat mostly under leaf litter, rarely they go ashore.

The Great Surinam toad -fed omnivorous itself. They eat worms, insects, crustaceans and small fish. Since they have no tongue, they are looking for with the fingers of the front legs off the ground for food. Juvenile eat invertebrates such as daphnia or types of Tubifex.

Reproduction

The male 's mating call as a series of quick click sounds. Males and females then take place under water a " mating dance " by swimming during their inguinal grip upside down loops. In the top phase of the female loops comes from three to ten eggs, while the male releases his sperm. The couple then dives back down here and then the sinking eggs land on the back of the female and stick there. The male supports this process by pressing the eggs on the back skin using its hind feet. This ritual takes place up to 18 times, a total of up to 100 eggs are laid and fertilized.

In the hours after fertilization, the eggs sink into the skin of a female and are overgrown by skin that develops into a kind of keratinized lid. During their development in the eggs the boy grows a temporary tail. After 12 to 20 weeks finally hatch fully developed young toads from the back honeycomb, it will therefore not undergo larval stages.