Meeting Abstract
Tadpoles have many predators in the wild and are able to escape from them because they have less myotomes in the tip of their tail, which allows the tail to simply tear off. We examined the effects of tail damage in the early tadpole stages on the development of the tadpole and its leaping and swimming abilities after metamorphosis. We obtained 120 Cuban tree frogs, and to simulate predation, we cut off a piece of the top of the tadpole tails in one experimental group, cut off a piece of the bottom of the tadpole tails in the second experimental group, and did not make any cuts to tails of the control group. After tadpoles completed metamorphosis, they were subjected to a swimming endurance test and subsequent measurement of their leaping abilities. We found no significant effect of tail damage as tadpoles on the leaping abilities of frogs after metamorphosis. We also found no significant difference in body size at metamorphosis among our groups. We then wanted to find out if the tadpoles were actually stressed from the tail damage. We replicated the experiment and tested tadpole corticosterone (CORT) levels after completing the cuts. We found significantly elevated CORT levels in tadpoles with a history of tail damage compared to the tadpoles without tail damage. We conclude that the regeneration abilities of the Cuban tree frog tadpoles afford them the opportunity to survive minor predation events and recover with no apparent long-lasting ill effects even though they were physiologically stressed from the damage. These abilities likely contribute to the Cuban tree frogs’ success as an invasive species throughout the Florida peninsula.
