Hi all. For many years I would collect both Whistling Tree Frog and Golden Bell Frog Tadpoles from a pond near where I holiday on the coast of Manawatu.
There would always be small dark brown/black tadpoles in spring from the whistlers which breed in the winter there or larger green/brown tadpoles through to end of summer.
I collected many whistling tree frog tadpoles in early December 2014 for my small pond enclosure at home in Wellington.
After visiting this same pond again start of 2015, the pond has been absolutely dug away and a larger swimming pool sized pond has been dug. I was then told by locals that these were dug by the forestry in case of a fire, so helicopters could fight a forest fire with monsoon buckets.
At first I was very disappointed to see an entire pond ecosystem pushed aside into a sand dune. Until closer inspection. As I went down the steep slope of the newly dug pond I realised the edges were teeming with tadpoles. The water was warm/hot too.
Note to my question. These tadpoles in colour are a very light yellow and transparent. More so than golden bell frog tadpoles, although only small and hard to identify.
I have one thought on the colour of these tadpoles, with the newly dug pond the is no water vegetation and very few plants at the edges (at the moment, soon they will grow through) as a result the pond is exposed to direct sunlight all day. The pond base and sides is all a pale colored sand. Either:
-the whistling tree frog tadpoles have changed color to avoid being predated on
-the golden bell frogs have spawned early and again the tadpoles have changed colour to blend into their environment.
-or highly unlikely there are albino frogs in the wild at this location
If anyone of these stand true I greatly look forward to see the resulting colouration of the frog. Whatever species it is. Time will tell, I will keep you all posted.
If any of you could shed some light on this for me I would greatly appreciate it, other wise I hope you enjoyed the read.
Photos to come too!