Please help identify these toad tadpoles/toadlet.

[bugmankeith]

I think they all are toads at least. I live on Long Island, NY and late August we had heavy rain causing flooding in a parking lot at a large park and eggs were laid in a temporary pool in the middle of the parkinglot! Right after next week we had bad heat and the pool was drying up quickly, I took a few tadpoles home, the rest at the park all perished the pool dried up completely. Not many species breed at this time of year, I thought eastern spadefoot or grey tree frog, or american or fowlers toad. Anyway, most are nearing adulthood and I have one toadlet, trouble is its in the 50's at night here and these guys belong back in the wild I dont want to keep them, I want to let them go as soon as the toadlets start to hunt which this one is at. But its wont eat the fruit flies its tries but has a hard time, in the wild there are smaller prey like springtails at least. I need to know species of them and when its best to release them. Here is thread with photos of them growing. What frog/toad tadpoles could they be?

[UncleChester]

The Eastern Spadefoot has a vertical pupil, American and Fowler's Toads have a horizontal pupil. Shine a light at one and watch it dilate. Fowler's vs American will be beyond me to distinguish at this size.

Either way, you should be good to set them free near where you found them once they make it onto land (local laws permitting and also assuming they've been safely quarantined from any other amphibians you may have). They'll be pretty lousy at catching prey at the start, sometimes taking several stabs at getting even stationary prey, but they'll get the hang of it pretty quick. It is late in the season but given an abundance of food (like they'll have in the wild) they will grow very fast.

[bugmankeith]

The Eastern Spadefoot has a vertical pupil, American and Fowler's Toads have a horizontal pupil. Shine a light at one and watch it dilate. Fowler's vs American will be beyond me to distinguish at this size.

Either way, you should be good to set them free near where you found them once they make it onto land (local laws permitting and also assuming they've been safely quarantined from any other amphibians you may have). They'll be pretty lousy at catching prey at the start, sometimes taking several stabs at getting even stationary prey, but they'll get the hang of it pretty quick. It is late in the season but given an abundance of food (like they'll have in the wild) they will grow very fast.

ok so spadefoot can be ruled out pupil isn't that shape. The area is full of ponds, leaf litter, grass, fallen trees, it's in the 50's F, but even so I imagine tiny bugs still are around and during the day we still get in the 70's and today it's raining so might be a good day for release for this little one.

supposedly fowlers live in our area, no reports of American toads, but that's why I wanted to try and find out, if we have american toads breeding in this area it would be big news and possible to get fowlers anerican hybrids. Any key characteristics I can try to look for if possible?

[UncleChester]

I think it's near impossible to determine if they're Fowler's or American at this young stage- the features that distinguish them are not fully developed. For older specimens:

-Fowler's have 3 or more 'warts' per dark spot, Americans will have 1 or 2
-Fowler's have creamy coloured belly with virtually no spots, Americans are usually spotty
-Fowler's paratoid gland should be touching the cranial crests, American's don't, except possibly a short spur
-Call of the Fowler's Toad is higher pitched, 'nasaly', and faster

An illustration of the crest difference can be found here Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency - Frog ID Guide and calls can be found here https://www.naturewatch.ca/english/f...ml?Province=on Possible hybrids can make this very confusing, as well as the natural variation within a species.

The range maps do exclude American Toads on Long Island and you have a pretty natural barrier there from where they are known to occur so these are most likely Fowler's. Not that range maps are definitive of course. If you're interested trying to find some definite American Toads on Long Island, the best bet would be to familiarize yourself with their calls and drive around on warm, rainy, early spring nights with your windows down. Toad calls are very loud and travel pretty far (they're almost hypnotic up close). This will make it more like finding a very loud needle in a haystack rather than a quiet one.

[bugmankeith]

Here are photos of them soon before release!