New to forum. No problems, but a murder mystery.

[Rosenbeck]

@Mmathis, it remains a mystery. We have had a total of 3 tadpole sightings in the last several weeks. They are larger, but still legless. I liked the insect predator theory, but I found neither tads nor predators when I rinsed the pond filter media, so smoking gun.

 

[Rosenbeck]

@Mmathis, it remains a mystery. We have had a total of 3 tadpole sightings in the last several weeks. They are larger, but still legless. I liked the insect predator theory, but I found neither tads nor predators when I rinsed the pond filter media, so smoking gun.

While winterizing, found the smoking gun. See attached. These guys are taking a long time to mature, so I assume they are bullfrogs. We've had bullfrog visitors occasionally, but never heard any males calling. Our greens made a lot of noise, but the web says greens mature in one season.

 

[Meyer Jordan]

While winterizing, found the smoking gun. See attached. These guys are taking a long time to mature, so I assume they are bullfrogs. We've had bullfrog visitors occasionally, but never heard any males calling. Our greens made a lot of noise, but the web says greens mature in one season.

Aren't those kinda small for Bullfrog tadpoles?

 

[Rosenbeck]

Aren't those kinda small for Bullfrog tadpoles?
View attachment 87480

I agree; they look small, and the one pictured is larger than many of the ones we've got.

But we all gotta start somewhere. Assuming these tads are from the one group that I was aware of, they are only 2-3 months old. Below are two more pics; one showing the size range I've got, and the other closer in on one that's typical of my current heavyweights.

But that's my question. Since they are clearly not going to develop in this one season, does that mean they must be bullfrogs. We've got greens, bulls, and leopards, and supposedly only the bulls take more than one season.

 

[Meyer Jordan]

If these hatched late in the season, they will not fully develop until next Spring providing they survive the Winter. Nature is not always fair.
There is only one specie of American Bullfrog (Rana catesbeiana/Lithobates catesbeianus). The photo in post #18 is a photo of the tadpole stage. Neither of the photos that you posted show Bullfrog tadpoles.

 

[Rosenbeck]

I feel ya. And I'm hoping these are NOT bullfrogs. Thanks for the info on overwintering of other species. If that's the case, then these are probably greens.

But please tell me what's diagnostic about my pictures that makes you so sure that these aren't bulls; so far as I can tell from Google images, bull and green tads, at least at this young age, are hard to tell about.

 

[Meyer Jordan]

Bullfrog tads have a dorsal fin. Other species do not.
Everything that you would want to know about Bullfrogs is here.
http://www.bullfrogs.com/Bullfrog-Tadpoles.html

 

[Rosenbeck]

Bullfrog tads have a dorsal fin. Other species do not.
Everything that you would want to know about Bullfrogs is here.
http://www.bullfrogs.com/Bullfrog-Tadpoles.html

Thanks for the advice. Looking like greens to me. And just found this great comparative of green v. bull: http://landscape.acadiau.ca/herpatlas/Larvae & eggs/larvae.htm
Very similar body plans, but tail mottling vs. spotting was the easiest difference to detect.

 

[Mmathis]

Bullfrog tads have a dorsal fin. Other species do not.
Everything that you would want to know about Bullfrogs is here.
http://www.bullfrogs.com/Bullfrog-Tadpoles.html

Cool! I didn't know that about the dorsal fin!

 

[Meyer Jordan]

Cool! I didn't know that about the dorsal fin!

That was actually an incomplete statement on my part. All tads have a dorsal fin but it is not as predominant or as long as a bullfrog tad's.

 

[Rosenbeck]

Here's a good comparison. The dorsal is more prominent on the BF, but the mottling v. spots is what convinced me that mine are greens.

 

[HARO]

For what it's worth, we frequently see green frog tadpoles take two seasons to develop into frogs. We're in zone 5b here as well.
John