Xenopus Borealis breeding

[TommyBoi]

Hello everyone! I just wanted to add another update, in regards to my colony. Last Wednesday, May 18th, in the early to mid morning hours, my pair of Borealis bred. Unfortunately, I was away, and came home early evening, and saw the tank had a lot of eggs scattered thruout. I removed the parents, and set up the airstone, and I had initially estimated maybe 150 eggs, it didnt appear to be a lot actually, lol. But after 24 hou, already most of the tads had hatched, and I realized there were more eggs laid than I thought. They are all free swimming now, and I have begun the regimen of using powder & using a turkey baster to serve it in the water. It looks like there are at LEAST, 200-250 tads. I am VERY nervous & maybe even a little skeptical, of a lot fo them surviving. I am considering going out and getting another tank (a 15g or a 20gallon Long) Cuz I would really like to bring as many of the borealis tads to froglet stage. My last batch of tads, from the laevis spawning, I had them in a 20g High tank (about 100 tads - all of which grew & made it to frogpole stage---and only started dying off, when they were put in the small tupperware bins. I just wanted to share with you guys, and of course, I will be taking some videoclips & uploading them as well!
I'm starting my new project, with isolating my male x. muelleri, for a couple days, then tomorrow mid evening, I will place the female in with him, and let them be for a couple days... ;o)

[tgampper]

Good luck with your tadpoles!

I am expecting a full report soon

[Jack]

Tommy what do you do with them all? Do you really keep them all?

I've got 3 ACF's and I've been thinking what I'm going to do if they breed. I don't have enough resources to keep and look after hundreds of tads or frogs. But I wouldn't mind raising some tads to see if i can get a reticulated adult. Hmmm

[TommyBoi]

I plan on waiting a couple week, then take most of them to some of the local pet shops, for store credit, and I will of course, keep a couple to raise ;o) I'm also considering, mating the Male Borealis with the female x. Muelleri, if the male X. Muelleri doesn't attempt with the female. I know hybrid males can be sterile, but I would just want a few cool ones to keep as pets. I have pairs of x. laevis, x. borealis, 2 young x. boumbaensis, pairs of x. amieti, x. clivii, and CO3 as well!

[tgampper]

There is another combination that might prove to be difficult or impossible, laevis X borealis. According to a study by Brun and Kobel in 1977, there is a fertilization barrier that exists between male laevis spermatozoa and eggs of borealis. The spermatozoa could not penetrate the inner jelly of the eggs.

"Observations on the fertilization block between X. borealis and X. laevis laevis". Journal of Experimental Zoology. 201:135-138.

It would be interesting to see what a cross between boumbaensis and amieti would bring. These two species are octoploids and belong to the frasieri-like subgroup.

[TommyBoi]

Hey Terry, I am interested in knowing what "-ploids" my species are...like, tetraploid, octoploid, etc.... I have pairs of: Can you let me know, in regards to the species I have, thanks!!
I have Laevis; Borealis; Amieti; Boumbaensis; Clivii; Muelleri; and CO3. I would definitely like to attempt cross-breeding, just for my own colony, and who knows, we could end up with some beautiful frogs!

About 11 years ago, I had ordered several laevis x borealis hybrids, the males were sterile, and their spotting was washed out & elongated, but it was cool to have a hybrid...but, if I can breed a hybrid with the same "ploid" characteristics, then maybe the male offspring would possibly be fertile? And, I will def be attempting the amieti x boumbaensis spawn..I just have to wait and see if my boumbaensis are male or female, or 1 of each, etc... sincerely, DJ (Tom)

[tgampper]

Hey Terry, I am interested in knowing what "-ploids" my species are...like, tetraploid, octoploid, etc.... I have pairs of: Can you let me know, in regards to the species I have, thanks!!)

Interspecific hybridization among species in the genus Xenopus seems to be a rarity. However, there are some examples of a failure in reproductive barriers, allowing the occurrence of 3 known natural hybrids - laevis X gilli, laevis X muelleri and victorianus X borealis. The Station Experimentale de Zoologie at the University of Geneva (Switzerland) is the leader in producing a variety of Xenopus crosses. Hybrids are sterile.

I think the problem with producing viable hybrids goes beyond chromosome count, most of the Xenopus species has a very restricted range - laevis, muelleri, S. tropicalis and S. epitropicalis being exceptions. Restricted range increases the chances for reproductive isolation.

laevis: tetraploid (4 sets of 9 chromosomes = 36); laevis-subgroup
boeralis: tetraploid (4 sets of 9 chromosomes = 36); muelleri-subgroup
amieti: octoploid (8 sets of 9 chromosomes = 72); fraseri-like subgroup
boumbaensis: octoploid (8 sets of 9 chromosomes = 72); fraseri-like subgroup
clivii: tetraploid (4 sets of 9 chromosomes = 36); muelleri-subgroup
muelleri: tetraploid (4 sets of 9 chromosomes = 36); muelleri-subgroup
CO3: unknown taxa

It is possible that CO3 could be a newly described octoploid species from the Congo, sister taxon of X. vestitus:

Evans, B. J., Greenbaum, E., Kusamba, C., Carter, T. F., Tobias, M. L., Mendel, S. A. and Kelley, D. B. (2011), Description of a new octoploid frog species (Anura: Pipidae: Xenopus) from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with a discussion of the biogeography of African clawed frogs in the Albertine Rift. Journal of Zoology, 283: 276–290. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-7998.2010.00769.x


Good luck with your breeding project

[TommyBoi]

Interspecific hybridization among species in the genus Xenopus seems to be a rarity. However, there are some examples of a failure in reproductive barriers, allowing the occurrence of 3 known natural hybrids - laevis X gilli, laevis X muelleri and victorianus X borealis. The Station Experimentale de Zoologie at the University of Geneva (Switzerland) is the leader in producing a variety of Xenopus crosses. Hybrids are sterile.

I think the problem with producing viable hybrids goes beyond chromosome count, most of the Xenopus species has a very restricted range - laevis, muelleri, S. tropicalis and S. epitropicalis being exceptions. Restricted range increases the chances for reproductive isolation.

laevis: tetraploid (4 sets of 9 chromosomes = 36); laevis-subgroup
boeralis: tetraploid (4 sets of 9 chromosomes = 36); muelleri-subgroup
amieti: octoploid (8 sets of 9 chromosomes = 72); fraseri-like subgroup
boumbaensis: octoploid (8 sets of 9 chromosomes = 72); fraseri-like subgroup
clivii: tetraploid (4 sets of 9 chromosomes = 36); muelleri-subgroup
muelleri: tetraploid (4 sets of 9 chromosomes = 36); muelleri-subgroup
CO3: unknown taxa

It is possible that CO3 could be a newly described octoploid species from the Congo, sister taxon of X. vestitus:

Evans, B. J., Greenbaum, E., Kusamba, C., Carter, T. F., Tobias, M. L., Mendel, S. A. and Kelley, D. B. (2011), Description of a new octoploid frog species (Anura: Pipidae: Xenopus) from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with a discussion of the biogeography of African clawed frogs in the Albertine Rift. Journal of Zoology, 283: 276–290. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-7998.2010.00769.x


Good luck with your breeding project

Hey Terry, thanks for all the info! Of the frogs I have, what do u want to see me try to cross-breed, besides the amieti/boumbaensis? The boumbaensis are not sexually mature yet..maybe another couple months ;o) Right now, I have the x. clivii male by himself, and am gonna put a female in there tonight. Either the female clivii, or the female muelleri...what do u think?

[tgampper]

I would start out with clivii X clivii. That way you can have a pure breeding stock for the future. This particular species is quite rare on the market. Then you can cross breed them at a later time. You don't want to wear out the female on a venture that may or my not work.

[Geoff]

Of the frogs I have, what do u want to see me try to cross-breed, besides the amieti/boumbaensis?

In my opinion, for what it's worth, I don't think hybridisation is a sensible idea. If successful and the progeny get into the pet trade it carries the risk of people not knowing, or being confused about, what species they have. It just muddies the water unnecessarily (no pun intended). Hybridisation has created many identity problems in the tarantula hobby in the past (Brachypelma and Avicularia species). Likewise, international killifish societies discourage hybridisation for the same reason (Aphyosemion spp.). I believe also that poison dart frog hobbyists avoid hybridisation, particularly with D. tinctorius species. It's in the long-term interests of all these hobbies to make sure that species are kept as natural as possible.

[TommyBoi]

I was doing some reading, and tho a lot of hybrid-oriented articles refer to the males as being sterile, some mention that females are, or are very possibly fertile . If this is the case, then, my idea from many years ago, to produce as close to an Albino form of Borealis as possible, would be to Cross a Male X borealis w/ a female albino or retic...from the mature offspring, take a Female with albino traits, and breed her with a pure Male borealis, and those offspring would have heavier borealis traits, and include some albinos or reticulated form...a couple people over the years said they think that could be a possibility, not a definitive. But the only way to find out, is to attempt.
Btw, I want to let everyone know, the "cross-breeding" is not a full-time effort on my part...I want to achieve it a couple of times, partially for research, and partially out of curiosity, as to what those frogs would look like, and I would ONLY give them to friends,etc.
NO, I would not be taking the hybrids to petshops for that exact reason Geoff mentioned in the previous reply. All other breeding would be normal same-species breeding. As well, because Muelleri & borealis have such striking spotting & pigmentation, I am very curious to see what those hybrid offspring would look like, etc...I hope I haven't upset anyone by talking about it here..I apologize if I did.
Sincerely - tommy

[tgampper]

I was doing some reading, and tho a lot of hybrid-oriented articles refer to the males as being sterile, some mention that females are, or are very possibly fertile . If this is the case, then, my idea from many years ago, to produce as close to an Albino form of Borealis as possible, would be to Cross a Male X borealis w/ a female albino or retic...from the mature offspring, take a Female with albino traits, and breed her with a pure Male borealis, and those offspring would have heavier borealis traits, and include some albinos or reticulated form...a couple people over the years said they think that could be a possibility, not a definitive. But the only way to find out, is to attempt.

Sounds like you have an interesting project - getting an albino borealis. I haven't found any information on crossing a female albino laevis with a male borealis. What would be interesting to find out if the borealis sperm can penetrate the egg. Since the albino trait is probably recessive, you may get 100% heterozygous normal on the first generation. By breeding the male and female of generation one, it is likely you can have 25% albino and 50% heterozygous normal and 25% dominant normal, that is if Mendel is right Once again, your major problem will be overcoming generations of reproductive barriers.

Btw, I want to let everyone know, the "cross-breeding" is not a full-time effort on my part...I want to achieve it a couple of times, partially for research, and partially out of curiosity, as to what those frogs would look like, and I would ONLY give them to friends,etc.
NO, I would not be taking the hybrids to petshops for that exact reason Geoff mentioned in the previous reply. All other breeding would be normal same-species breeding. As well, because Muelleri & borealis have such striking spotting & pigmentation, I am very curious to see what those hybrid offspring would look like, etc...I hope I haven't upset anyone by talking about it here..I apologize if I did.
Sincerely - tommy

There is nothing wrong with being curious. I also have an interest in genetics and would love to breed my frogs, but just don't have the room or the time right now. However, it is important to maintain species integrity. There are now 19 species of Xenopus and 2 species of Silurana so far and several more yet to be described.

[TommyBoi]

Hello all. I just wanted to let you know, 2 nites ago (June 8th), I took out a bunch of the borealis tads and placed them in the 15g tank. There are so many borealis tads, and I cant bring myself to thin them out yet ;o( So, I now have at least 150-200+ tads in the 20 gallon, and around 100+ in the 15 gallon. They all seem to be doing fine, and I should have no problems taking them to the local pet shops, since they are smaller than laevis, and should have striking pigmentation & spots, etc.
I will be taking a couple of video clips over the next few days, and uploading them for you all to see!! So for now, I don't plan on doing any breeding until I take the current laevis froglets to the shops, and the borealis tads are in the growing tanks.
My next breeding projects (which wont be for at least 1-2 months) will include, a muelleri x muelleri; pigmented male x female albino retic; and one cross-breed attempt, with male borealis x female muelleri or female x clivii...

[Jenste]

aw congratulations!!! Pictures please!

I can't wait to try breeding my borealis - I hope to towards the end of the summer if I sell the laevis froglets fast enough I am putting my pigmented laevis female and golden ret albino together for breeding this week and am raising a batch of pigmented X reticulated albino right now. Gotta love lil tads


I will be waiting for your muelleri batch eagerly - that is one I will be buying from!!

[TommyBoi]

aw congratulations!!! Pictures please!

I can't wait to try breeding my borealis - I hope to towards the end of the summer if I sell the laevis froglets fast enough I am putting my pigmented laevis female and golden ret albino together for breeding this week and am raising a batch of pigmented X reticulated albino right now. Gotta love lil tads


I will be waiting for your muelleri batch eagerly - that is one I will be buying from!!

Sounds awesome, Jen!! The muelleri will def be my next project once I have the space ;o) I really want to get some reticulated...from the very brief spawning of my male albino laevis x female retic, I have about 10 or 11 tads remaining. Only about 50 or so hatched, from the 100 or so eggs that were laid. So, the remaining albino x retic tads are in the 15g with the borealis tads...the borealis tads are much larger, but the lil albino tads seem to be holding their own so far...

[TommyBoi]

Here is a clip of my borealis tadpoles, filmed last night, shortly before mealtime and water change. Hope u enjoy! This clip shows the 20 gallon high aquarium. I will add a clip of the 15 gallon VERY soon!

YouTube - ‪X borealis tads 3 weeks old, June 10th, 2011‬‏

[Jenste]

love this video!!!! some lovely looking tads you have!