Hello, I have a few Q’s about some western toad larva that I saved from a drying up pool. I live in San Diego and with our recent rain we got some perennial pools in which the local westerns propagated in. unfortunately the pools dried up but not before I could save several thousand of them. I have some questions though about what I observed.
The main large pool was formed from the largest rainstorm we’ve had in ten years, yet it dried up before any of the tadpoles could fully develop. How can they continue to propagate with that survival rate?
I also observed that most of the tadpoles (for lack of a better word) were the typical blackish-brown color while about 2% of them were stark white with gold dust. They all have exactly the same body structure and mouth parts. What is the difference here between the two drastic color morphs? Will they keep that color into adulthood?
What’s more, I found another pool about a mile away (far enough away with hills and thick bushes which would prevent toads from pool-hopping) which might last long enough for the tadpoles in it to finish their metamorphosis, but all I could find in that one were the stark white tadpoles.
Lastly, at the large pool I also found pacific chorus frogs! This place in in the middle of chaparral for miles with no lasting water source. I thought that chorus frogs needed a continual water source. Can they hibernate like the western toads?
Thank you for slogging through my post, and any answers will be appreciated!