Iberian water frog
| Iberian water frog | ||||||||||||
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Iberian water frog ( Pelophylax perezi ) |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Pelophylax perezi | ||||||||||||
| ( López Seoane , 1885) |
The Iberian water frog ( Pelophylax perezi , Syn . : Rana perezi ) belongs to the family of real frogs (Ranidae) within the order of the frog auger. In addition, it is counted according to appearance, way of life and relationships to the water frogs , which are now placed by many authors in their own genus Pelophylax . This appears to be the only representative for large parts of the Iberian Peninsula within the water frog complex, which has not yet been conclusively investigated .
features
The species is very variable in body size as well as coloring and drawing. Most specimens reach head-trunk lengths of five to eight centimeters. Females can sometimes be 9.4 centimeters tall and are on average slightly larger than the males. On the green, gray or brown upper side there are often irregularly shaped dark spots as well as the bulging dorsal ridges typical of the water frogs and a greenish longitudinal line along the middle of the back. The latter can also be absent - in some populations on Mallorca this is the case with around three quarters of all animals. The underside is whitish and covered with gray, sometimes network-like patches. The pair of sound vesicles in the corners of the mouths of the males are just as gray in color as the oestrus calluses at mating season ; the heel bumps on the soles of the feet are flat and short. There is no distinction between subspecies .
The Iberian water frog can easily be confused with other forms of the water frog complex, all of which are also partially aquatic , pointed and long-nosed frogs with eyes that are relatively close together and slightly upward (compare on the other hand: brown frogs ). In particular, strong similarities exist with in the northeast of Spain and in France sympatric and syntopically occurring Graf's hybrid frog ( Pelophylax "grafi" ) consisting of crosses between Pelophylax perezi and the marsh frog ( Pelophylax ridibundus ) emerged. For a long time, the Iberian water frog was also considered a subspecies of the sea frog. Based on the mating calls, which sound very similar, it can also be determined that there is a close relationship with the North African Saharan water frog ( Pelophylax saharicus ). The calls of the pond frog ( Pelophylax "esculentus" ) also sound similar.
distribution
Pelophylax perezi inhabits the entire Iberian Peninsula as well as parts of southwest and southern France with a fairly high degree of continuity. (Since according to the current state of knowledge it is the only water frog form in large areas of Spain and in the whole of Portugal , the species can be clearly identified in these regions at least in spite of the similar relatives and their own variability.) doubt with Pelophylax saharicus . In addition, the species was settled by humans on various archipelagos in the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean , such as the Canary Islands , the Azores and Madeira . In the case of the occurrences in the Balearic Islands and Pityuses, it is controversial whether they are allochthonous or natural populations.
In Mallorca, for example, is the Iberian Wasserfrosch a occurring of four Lurcharten addition to endemic Majorcan midwife toad ( Alytes muletensis ), the toad ( Bufo viridis complex) and the Mediterranean tree frog ( Hyla meridionalis ), wherein the latter two well with the aid of People have come to the island. Many specimens of Pelophylax perezi can be seen in the S'Albufera nature reserve .
Habitat, way of life
Iberian water frogs live all year round in and around water, where they sunbathe on the banks in "water frog fashion" and jump into the water with long leaps in danger. A wide variety of wetlands such as floodplains, rice fields, mountain lakes, bog gullies, cattle troughs, wells and water reservoirs are populated, especially along rivers. They only avoid fast flowing waters themselves. Some pollution and slightly brackish water is tolerated. Young animals also move away from the aquatic habitat and migrate larger distances over land, presumably to develop new aquatic habitats .
Pelophylax perezi feeds day and night on insects, earthworms, spiders, freshwater crabs and mollusks . Examined Spanish tadpoles of the species had consumed 98 percent algae , 96 percent detritus , 54 percent parts of higher plants, 21 percent fungal organisms, 9.4 percent animal organisms, 28 percent pollen and all sand. As predators, among others, are barn owls , Viper snakes , grass snakes and various waterfowl called. The maximum life expectancy in the wild is four to six (ten) years, although the males tend to reach a lower age due to their more conspicuous mating behavior.
Reproduction, individual development
After an aquatic or terrestrial hibernation between November and February / March (with island populations this is partly not applicable), the reproductive period usually lasts from February to June, but occasionally also into autumn. The males are able to make loud calls thanks to their paired sound bubbles. The mating call should sound particularly similar to that of the pond frog , but should start "harder". As with all "modern frogs" ( Neobatrachia ), attracted females are clasped from the back in the armpit area (compare Amplexus ). Later, the couple lays spawn in the form of gelatinous clumps on underwater plants, with a female producing between 800 and 10,000 eggs, each one to two millimeters in size, depending on age, size and physical constitution.
From the four to six millimeter large hatchlings, five to seven (after wintering sometimes eight to eleven) centimeter long tadpoles grow in the course of about two to four months before the metamorphosed animals can leave the water. Sexual maturity is reached in the second year of life, and in males sometimes even in the first year of life, depending on the time of transformation.
protection
Legal protection status
- Habitats Directive : Annex V ("Type of Community Interest")
- Federal Species Protection Ordinance (BArtSchV): particularly protected
Sources and further information
- Andreas Nöllert & Christel Nöllert: The amphibians of Europe. - Franckh-Kosmos, Stuttgart, 1992. ISBN 3-440-06340-2
- Jörg Plötner: The western Palearctic water frogs - from martyrs of science to a biological sensation. - Supplement 9 of the Zeitschrift für Feldherpetologie, Laurenti-Verlag, Bielefeld, 2006. ISBN 3-933066-26-3
Web links
- Photos of the Iberian water frog at www.herp.it
- Photos at www.herpetofauna.at: croaking male , tadpole
- Pelophylax perezi inthe IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2013.1. Posted by: Jaime Bosch, Miguel Tejedo, Pedro Beja, Iñigo Martínez-Solano, Alfredo Salvador, Mario García-París, Ernesto Recuero Gil, Trevor Beebee, 2008. Retrieved November 19, 2013.