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Viewing Hints
These frogs are often out and about scurrying over the floor of their tank in search of a meal (usually a piece of a night crawler).
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Dwarf Surinam toad
Pipa parva
| Size |
The Dwarf Surinam toad is one of the smaller in its group, measuring 40-60mm. |
| Weight |
They can weigh up to 20-25g in captivity, but rarely exceed 18g in the wild. |
| Conservation Status |
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| Diet |
These completely aquatic toads have a unique feeding strategy; they find their prey using their long fingers. Their fingers are very sensitive allowing the toad to find their prey in the floor of the murky bottom waters where they live. Wild toads prey on worms, insects, crustaceans and even fish. At the Zoo the toads are offered small aquatic worms. |
| Geographic Range |
Found mainly in the Lake Maracaibo basin of Venezuela and extreme northwestern Colombia. There is an introduced population in Lake Valencia, about 400 km east of Lake Maracaibo. |
| Where to find me in the Zoo |
Reptile and Amphibian House |
Note: Description below should include Longevity, Behavior, and Reproduction information
The Dwarf Surinam toad is part of a strange, primitive group of frogs of the Family Pipidae. Ironically enough, it is not a true toad, nor is it found on Suriname. It is entirely aquatic and prefers to live in lakes, ponds, and marshes especially flat, open areas, including sabanas (that’s grasslands in Spanish) and flooded habitats. It is able to cross-land under heavy rains, but rarely ventures out of the water. The eggs are carried on the back of the female; the larvae emerge into water, where they develop.
Longevity
It is hard to determine the life span of amphibians in the wild, especially for elusive creatures like Surinam toads. Frogs in general live to about 5 years in the wild, and captive individual of this species may live up to 8 or 10 years.
Behavior
These are fully aquatic frogs with a marvelous array of behaviors. They mostly forage on the bottom of the pond, which is usually murky and full of leaf litter, and rarely leave the water, only in dispersal events after heavy rains or if the pool dries up.
Reproduction
All of the Surinam toads have a remarkable mode of reproduction. After a lengthy calling period, with the male producing clicks and buzzes incessantly underwater, an impressive courtship ritual takes place. Both frogs swim synchronously from the bottom of the pond while in amplexus (the nuptial embrace of frogs), creating various arcs underwater as they flip backwards. At each turn, the female releases a few eggs. The eggs secrete a sticky substance, which gets embedded in the skin of the female with the help of the leg movements of the male as he fertilizes them. Once all the eggs are safely arranged in the female’s back, they start to sink over the next days. The eggs develop in the females back! When eggs are ready to hatch, baby frogglets less than 2 cm long start to emerge from the skin of the female in a scene that looks like a classic horror movie. After the tadpoles hatch, the back of the females looks like a honey comb, and slowly returns to its normal shape.
The colony of dwarf Surinam toads on exhibit were hatched at the Zoo on May 22, 2007.
Enrichment
Adoption Information
Featured Foster Parent
Amphibian Conservation
Conservation at a Glance
- Amphibians are an important component of the global ecosystem, as indicators of environmental health and contributors to human health.
- Amphibians provide vital biomedicines and are considered an indicator species for endocrine disruptors and unsafe environmental conditions
- They are also vital components of their ecosystems - in areas of the world where amphibians have declined, there has been an increase in invertebrate pests that damage crops and carry human diseases.
- Today, one third to one half of all amphibian species worldwide are threatened with extinction.
- The World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) has joined with two branches of the IUCN Species Survival Commission (IUCN/SSC) - the Conservation Breeding Specialist Group (CBSG) and the Amphibian Specialist Group (ASG) - to form the Amphibian Ark (AArk).
- As an integral part of the Amphibian Conservation Action Plan, AArk was formulated to ensure that select species which would otherwise go extinct will be maintained in captivity until they can be secured in the wild.
- AArk keeps constant attention on the obligation to couple ex situ (in a captive setting) conservation measures with necessary efforts to protect or restore species in their natural habitats.
- AArk’s goal is to save as many species as possible by providing global coordination, technical guidance, training, necessary linkages to other IUCN groups, communications, and guiding publicity and capital campaigns.
- AArk’s goal is 100% participation of WAZA zoos and aquariums and the regional associations.
To learn more about the conservation efforts at the Philadelphia Zoo, click here.
Zoo Research
Fun Facts
- Because they are practically blind they use their extremely sensitive star-shaped terminals in their front fingers to help them find food in the bottom of lakes.
- Unlike the majority of toads, the males of this species cannot attract mates with croaks and other sounds often associated with these aquatic animals. Instead they produce a sharp clicking sound by snapping the hyoid bone in their throat.
- Surinam toads are also referred to as the star-fingered toad.
Conservation
Introductions
Animal Lingo
Want More?
Sources:
Duellman, W.E. & Trueb, L. 1986. Biology of Amphibians. McGraw-Hill, New York, St. Louis, San Francisco. 687 pp.; La Marca, E. 1992. Catálogo taxonómico, biogeográfico y bibliográfico de las ranas de Venezuela. Cuadernos Geográficos, Universidad de Los Andes. 1:1-197. Instituto de Geografía y Conservación de Recourses, Universidad de Los Andes. Mirada.; Lutz, A. 1927. Notes sober batrachians ad Venezuela e ad Iola de Trinidad. Memories do Instituto Oswald Cruz. 20(1):35-65; Ruiz-Carina, P.M., Ardila-Robayo, M.C. and Lynch, J.D. 1996. Lista actualizada de la fauna de Amphibia de Colombia. Revista de la Academia Colombiana de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales. 20(77):365-415.; AmphibiaWeb: Information on amphibian biology and conservation. [web application]. 2008. Berkeley, California: AmphibiaWeb. Available: http://amphibiaweb.org/. (Accessed: Jul 26, 2008).
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