Pipa Surinamese is a frog that lives in South America and leads mainly night look life. It can be found in Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Suriname, Brazil or Colombia. Most The frog spends its life in bodies of water, only occasionally appearing on land during heavy rains, then it moves very clumsily through the flooded tropical forest. It is noteworthy that even during severe drought, it does not leave the water, preferring to wait out the heat in small and almost dry puddles.
Despite the fact that this amphibian has rough, keratinized skin and well-developed lungs - signs of a terrestrial form of existence, it does not like land. This frog prefers natural reservoirs with a muddy bottom and Pipa Suriname is most often found in ponds and rivers with slow flow related to the Amazon basin. Sometimes it can be seen in the irrigation ditches of plantations.
Appearance
Many people do not like and are even afraid of ordinary frogs. But the Surinamese pipa has a special appearance. Those who like to make jokes might say that this frog looks like it was hit by a roller skating rink. She is actually very puny. Gray or brown, almost flat body with a triangular head, fixed eyes and a pair of tentacles at the mouth. The abdomen is light, sometimes with a black stripe or several white spots. An adult frog can reach 20 cm in length.
The front legs are almost without membranes with long fingers, at the tips of which very sensitive star-shaped appendages can be seen. Because of them, the frog is called the star-fingered frog. Another interesting one anatomical feature This animal has a lack of tongue and teeth. Pipa Suriname usually looks for food at the bottom, moving through the mud with its front paws. Its hind legs are long and strong, their toes are connected by membranes, which allows the frog to move perfectly in the water. It should be noted that in addition to such an ugly appearance, pipa has a sharp, very unpleasant smell, resembling sulfur. Nevertheless, many amphibian lovers prefer to keep this exotic animal in an aquarium at home. What caused this desire?
Pairing
Pipa Surinamese is a wonderful mother, and watching her carry her babies is very interesting. Mating occurs only during the rainy season. It all starts with a mating dance. The male makes a metallic clicking sound when calling for a female. Soon she begins to throw eggs, and the male fertilizes them and presses them with his chest and hind legs to the back of the female, painstakingly distributing the eggs among the cells. It is there that little peeps will live and develop for two and a half months.
The cells themselves are deep - about 1.5 cm, and the size of the eggs is up to 7 mm. The partitions in the cells contain great amount blood vessels. The protruding part of each egg is covered with a dense stratum corneum. Mating can last a day, then the male considers his mission completed and leaves. Tadpoles will remain in this state for 11-12 weeks. kindergarten", where everything is provided - protection, power and ideal temperature conditions.
Reproduction
Surinamese pipa, the reproduction of which is much different from the spawning of other frogs, can lay more than 100 eggs and then carry them all on itself for about 85 days. Total weight egg laying is approximately 385 grams.
For a frog this is quite a big indicator. At the end of the period, fully formed young peeps leave their cells. The frog removes the remaining skin. To do this, she rubs her back against plants or stones. Soon after shedding, new skin appears.
Home content
To start this miracle of nature at home, you need to carefully prepare. This frog requires an aquarium with a volume of at least 100 liters, but it is better to buy one with a capacity of 200-300 liters. The next step is choosing a filter. The water in the aquarium should be warm (about 26 degrees) and well aerated.
You can pour fine gravel on the bottom, and decorate the aquarium itself with live or artificial algae. Feeding the Surinamese pipa is easy. Bloodworms and small fish are perfect for this purpose. Fans who want to breed such unusual animals should know that sexual maturity in these frogs occurs at the age of 6 years.
Conclusion
Once upon a time, having seen for the first time how the Surinamese pipa takes extraordinary care of its offspring, Zakhoder Boris wrote beautiful poem, dedicated to her maternal feelings. This is how this frog became famous.
Many people admire maternal instincts cats or dogs, but nature has not only endowed them with excellent parental qualities. And even if the male Surinamese pipa does not take care of his offspring, like the leaf-climbing frog, for example, the female copes well alone, providing her babies with everything they need.
In the end, I would like to note that no matter what mother looks like - beautiful or ugly, for her children she still remains the most wonderful and beloved.
The Surinamese pipa, or American pipa (lat. Pipa pipa) is an amphibian animal that belongs to the order Tailless, family Pipaceae, genus pipa.
Surinamese pipa - description, structure and photo.
The appearance of the Surinamese pipa is quite unusual. The almost quadrangular body is 12-20 cm long and is so flattened that it often resembles a piece of parchment or a rotten leaf of wood. Moreover, males are smaller than females and have a more flattened body. The head of the Surinamese pipa is triangular in shape and also strongly flattened. The bulging eyes are very tiny, lacking eyelids, and are located almost near the mouth.
The Suriname pipa differs from its closest relatives, the clawed frogs, in the complete absence of teeth. The pipa also does not have a tongue. In front of the eyes and in the corners of the mouth, this amphibian has flaps of skin that look a little like tentacles. A distinctive feature of the male Surinamese pipa is a characteristic triangular shaped bone box in the pharynx area.
The body of the Surinamese pipa is covered with rough, wrinkled skin of a yellowish, gray or blackish-brown color. The belly of the amphibian is colored somewhat lighter, sometimes decorated with white spots or a black stripe running along the belly. The skin on the back of adult pips is folded and wrinkled, and in old females it may have a honeycombed surface.
Taken from: animals.sandiegozoo.org
The front paws of the Surinamese pipa are distinguished by four long toes, devoid of claws and membranes. At the end of each finger, star-like appendages grow, which is why the pipu is often called the star-toed one. This structure of the forelimbs allows the animal to deftly rake the muddy bottom and get something edible from there. The hind legs of the pipa, like those of most or, are very strong, much thicker than the front ones and are endowed with swimming membranes.
Surinamese peeps also publish bad smell, reminiscent of hydrogen sulfide vapor.
Where does the Surinamese pipa live?
The Surinamese pipa is a natural wonder that prefers turbid water and lives exclusively in slow-moving rivers, as well as lakes, irrigation canals and artificial reservoirs in the territory South America: in Colombia, Venezuela, Bolivia, Brazil, Guyana, French Guiana, Republic of Suriname, Ecuador, Peru. Individuals are also found in the southern and eastern parts of the island of Trinidad.
The respiratory system of the Surinamese pipa is well developed, but despite this, the animals lead an almost completely aquatic lifestyle: during drought they sit in half-dried puddles, and with the onset of the rainy season they happily travel through the flooded jungle tracts of the Amazon River basin.
What does the Surinamese pipa eat?
Suriname pipas are extremely unpretentious and feed on what they can find in the bottom silt. The animal happily feasts on mollusks, worms, small fish species, larvae and all kinds of organic debris.
Surinamese pipa: reproduction.
These amphibians reach reproductive age by 6 years. The breeding season of the Surinamese pipa is usually confined to the rainy season. In search of a female, males make characteristic clicking sounds, similar to the ticking of a watch with a slight metallic note. Often competitors fight among themselves, pushing with their long front paws.
Reproduction of the Surinamese pipa is the most interesting, unusual and distinctive feature these amphibians. Mating games take place in the thick muddy water, and the male, like all tailless amphibians, makes several experimental grabs of the female. The male immediately releases an individual that is not ready for mating. A sexually mature female immediately falls into a stupor from such hugs, and her body is seized with a slight trembling. After such a signal, the male thoroughly covers the female from above with his forelimbs, and the couple can remain in this state for days on end.
Before the act of copulation, the partners abruptly turn over with their bellies up, being in close proximity to the surface of the water, and the male Surinamese pipa ends up from below, directly under the back of the female. Spawning is done in portions, and for this the male presses on the female’s ovipositor located on the back: first, from 6 to 12 yellowish eggs with a diameter of 6-7 mm appear from the pipa’s cloaca. Under the influence of gravity, the eggs descend to the belly of the male, who fertilizes them. Then the pair turns over to a normal position, the female swims down, the eggs slowly settle on her back, and the male, with his body and hind legs, seems to press the eggs into the back of the female.
If a female Surinamese pipa becomes a mother for the first time, then irritation of the skin around each egg forms a hexagonal cell 1-1.5 cm deep with a valve from the egg shell - a kind of incubator for future offspring. The partitions that separate the cells are very thin and rich blood vessels. What is interesting: after the first fertilization, the back of the female Surinamese pipa remains cellular for life.
Pipa spawning occurs for 10-12 hours, with an interval of 10-15 minutes, and here the male has to work hard. With his hind paws, the male collects eggs from the sides of the female and lays them in even, clear, vertical and horizontal rows without a single skip. The development and viability of future young Surinamese pips depends on how successfully the laying of eggs in the female’s back takes place.
The male does not have time to pick up some of the caviar of the Surinamese pipa, and it falls to the bottom or sticks to aquatic plants. Unfortunately, without special conditions created only on the mother’s back, the eggs cannot develop and therefore die.
When the last portion of eggs is swept and laid, the clutch can range from 40 to 144 eggs. Having completed its mission, the male Surinamese pipa swims away, and the female is expected to wait 11-12 weeks incubation period, during which the offspring develop into ideal conditions on the mother's back. After a few hours, a spongy mass forms on the female's back gray, which swells so much within a day that the entire caviar is completely immersed in this substance, leaving the very tops on the surface.
During the incubation period, a young Surinamese pipa develops inside each egg. As the young grow, the cell cavities become larger. Pipa eggs are rich in yolk and reach a diameter of 6-7 mm. At the beginning of its development, each egg weighs approximately 2.95 g, by the end of development the weight increases to 3.37 g. After approximately 80 days, a fully formed pipa first cautiously peeks out from under the lid of its cell, and then carefully crawls out, completely ready to become independent. life. Freed from the offspring, the mother cleans off the remains of the egg shells on stones and plant stems, molts and grows new skin until the next mating season.
What kind of living creatures can you find in wildlife. Each has its own difference, a special uniqueness. It would seem that these are ordinary toads, what could be unusual about them? It's worth getting to know them better.
Description and structural features of the Surinamese pipa
Peeps Surinamese This toads, belonging to the amphibian tailless family Pipidae. South America, Brazil, Peru, Suriname - these are all countries, places a habitat Surinamese peeps.
She settles in lakes and rivers. It can also be found on farm plantations in irrigation canals. And nothing in this life can force frogs to get out of the water.
Even during periods of great drought, somewhere she will find a dirty, small, silted puddle and will wait in it until the onset of more favorable conditions for her life.
And with the onset of the rainy seasons, she begins a new life full of travel. From puddle to puddle, from pond to pond, she will wander, following the flow of streams. And so the toad traveler will freely swim around the entire perimeter surrounding it up and down.
But, despite her unearthly love to water, she can lead a terrestrial lifestyle absolutely without any harm to her health. The frog's lungs are well developed, and it also has fairly rough skin, which allows it to be freely even in the sun.
Look at photo of Surinamese pipa, the frog itself is obviously an incredible animal. From a distance it can be confused with some kind of leaf or piece of paper.
It is like a fifteen-centimeter flat quadrangle, which at one end ends in triangles with an acute angle. It turns out that that sharp corner is the head of the frog itself, imperceptibly emerging from the body.
The amphibian's eyes are located far from each other, on two sides of the head and look upward. This animal does not have a tongue, and scraps of skin resembling tentacles hang near the corners of its mouth.
The animal's front paws are not at all similar to the paws of its relatives; there are no membranes between its four toes, with the help of which frogs swim. With its forelimbs, it obtains food by raking up kilograms of silt, which is why it has long, strong phalanges.
On the very edges of the fingers, small star-shaped processes grew in the form of warts. Therefore, many people know them as Star-toed Surinamese pipa.
Hind limbs bigger size than the front ones, there are membranes between the toes. With their help, the pipa swims well, especially during its travels.
The color of the frog is, frankly, a camouflage color, matching the tone of the dirt in which it is poking around, either dark gray or dirty brown. Its abdomen is slightly lighter, and some have a dark stripe along its entire length.
But what distinguishes the Surinamese pipa from all other frogs is its hypermaternity. The whole point is that Surinamese pipa bears her children on her own back. There, on its back, it naturally has special depressions of a size suitable for the development of tadpoles.
This frog has one drawback, its terrible-smelling body "scent". Perhaps nature came to her aid here too; firstly, more than one predator who wanted to eat pipu could not stand such a smell.
Secondly, with its smell the amphibian notifies of its presence, since due to its appearance it is not too noticeable. And hiding in a drought, in a small dirty puddle, you can easily crush it, simply without seeing it, but because of the stench, it is impossible not to smell it.
Lifestyle and nutrition of the Surinamese pipa
Living its entire life in the water among algae, mud and rotten driftwood, the pipa leads a fishy lifestyle and feels comfortable. Her eyelids, palate and tongue are completely atrophied.
However, accidentally getting out, the Surinamese pipa turns into a sloth. She clumsily, slowly tries to crawl somewhere, and having reached the nearest swamp, she does not leave it until it is completely dry.
If a frog crawls to the river, then it chooses those places where there is no current. Feeds Surinamese pipa mainly in the dark. They look for their food at the bottom of the reservoir in which they settled.
With their long, four-legged forelimbs, pipas loosen the mud that gets in their way, and with the help of star-shaped wart-shaped processes they look for food. Everything that floats up is mostly small fish, worms, bloodworms Suriname frog puts it in his mouth.
Reproduction and lifespan
Surinamese peeps, ready for reproduction when her body grows to the size of a matchbox, that is, five centimeters. Pipa toads reach this size in the sixth year of their life. Pipa boys are slightly different from their girls in that they are darker in color and smaller in size.
Before mating begins, like a gallant gentleman, the male serenades his chosen one, clicking and whistling. If the lady is not in the mood for a meeting, the gentleman will not insist. Well, if the female is ready, she freezes for a moment and begins to have a slight tremor. For a male, this behavior is a guide to action.
Their mating dances begin, or rather, everything that happens, lasting for 24 hours, is very similar to dances. The female begins to lay eggs, the male, using all his dexterity and dexterity, catches them and carefully places them in each “mini house” located on the back of the expectant mother.
The female can lay from sixty to one hundred and sixty eggs. But she doesn’t do it right away. Gradually, the frog lays ten sticky eggs, the male deftly places them on the female’s back, pressing his belly against her.
The man immediately fertilizes the eggs, and, using his hind paws, compactly inserts each one into its own house, presses his tummy against the back of the female, as if pressing them. Then after a ten minute rest the process is repeated.
Some eggs may fall out of the father's paws and stick to the vegetation, but they will no longer give new life. When the female finishes spawning, the male secretes a special mucus to seal each house until the offspring emerge. Afterwards, hungry and tired, he leaves his partner forever, and his mission is over. The female also swims away in search of food.
After a couple of hours, out of nowhere from under the “houses” for the tadpoles, a certain liquid mass appears from the very bottom, which rises upward, attaching to itself all the garbage that was on the toad’s back.
Also, with the help of this mass, eggs are culled; those that are small and without embryos are also removed. Afterwards, the pipa rubs its back against some surface to clean off all the dirt.
For the next eighty days, the expectant mother will faithfully carry the eggs on herself. When the tadpoles are fully formed and ready to live independently, the top of each egg swells and a small hole forms in it.
At first it serves for breathing of the unborn baby. Then, through it, the tadpoles get out. Some walk with their tails first, some with their heads.
From the side, looking at the frog, you can see that its back is dotted with the heads and tails of babies. The tadpoles very quickly leave their temporary home and the stronger ones instantly rush to the surface of the water to breathe in the air.
The weaker ones, having fallen several times to the bottom, another attempt swim out and still reach the goal. Then all of them, gathered in one group, head towards a new life that has not yet been explored for them. Now they have to independently escape from enemies, look for food for themselves, burying themselves in the muddy bottom of the reservoir.
At the seventh week of their life, the tadpoles are ready for transformation and begin to turn into a frog. They grow three to four centimeters, first the hind legs form, then the front ones, and soon the tail disappears.
Well, the accomplished mother, having wiped herself thoroughly on the stones and shed her old skin, is ready again for love adventures in a new image. Surinamese peeps live in favorable environment up to fifteen years.
Breeding Surinamese pipa at home
For lovers of exotic things and those who want to keep such a toad, you need to know that it needs space. Therefore, the aquarium should be at least one hundred liters. If you place your unusual pet in a three-hundred-liter house, the toad will be only too happy.
Under no circumstances should you add aquarium frogs to frogs, the predator pipa will definitely eat them. The upper surface of the aquarium is covered with a mesh or a lid with holes, otherwise the peeps, suddenly getting bored at night, can get out of it and die.
The water temperature should be room temperature, twenty to twenty-five degrees. You can take well-settled tap water. Also, it should not be salty and well saturated with oxygen. The bottom of the aquarium can be covered with beautiful gravel, all sorts of vegetation can be placed there for beauty, but the frog will still not eat it.
Well, you need to feed it with large bloodworms, fry, earthworms, daphnia, and hamarus. You can give small pieces raw meat. Pipa is a very voracious amphibian; she will eat as much as is offered to her.
Therefore, to avoid obesity, control the amount of food. If obesity begins in at a young age, the frog's vertebrae become deformed and an ugly hump grows on its back.
It is important to know that Surinamese pipas are shy; under no circumstances should you knock on the glass of the aquarium with anything. In fright, she will rush around and may break violently against its walls.
Surinamese pipa. Unusual species of toad
Surinamese pipa is very unusual look toads with a flat body and head. Like their distinctive webbed feet, they have unique mating and breeding behavior. Suriname toads belong to the family Pipaceae, the tongueless toad or frog, which also includes clawed frogs and dwarf clawed frogs.
Pipovye frogs and toads live almost entirely in aquatic environment. To achieve this, they have flattened organs and relatively large membranes on their paws compared to the rest of their body.
Many reptiles developed along a completely unique evolutionary path in a relatively small geographical area.
Although the tuatara are one of the most obvious examples, Suriname toads, common in tropical forests South Americans have developed a unique breeding behavior to protect their offspring. Their marriage ritual developed to support reproduction.
There are a few different types Suriname toads. The Common Pipa species is better known as the common Suriname toad.
Unlike other tongueless toads, Suriname toads have sensitive areas on the tips of their front legs. They have no claws and are primarily nocturnal.
Mating ritual and reproduction Suriname toad
The mating ritual is an impressive behavior that is unique to Suriname toads. Due to the fact that an ordinary pipa does not have vocal cords, males, while underwater, attract females with clicks, using the hyoid bone, which usually helps keep their tongue from other animals. Receptive toad- the female will be grabbed from behind by the male by the forelimbs. Female Suriname toad pushes off with its paws, and the couple slowly swims through the water, tumbling gracefully. At this time, the female will lay several eggs, and the male’s sperm will fertilize them, after which the male will collect the eggs with webbed feet and lay them on the female’s back. Tumbling or making long arcs, the female will perform these movements until more than 100 eggs around her stick to her back. The skin of the female's back absorbs them until, after about 30 hours, they completely disappear from sight, thereby protecting the fertilized eggs from predators. The common and Brazilian pipa, both a variety of the Suriname toad, hatch small but fully formed young. While the offspring of other Suriname toad species, such as Corvalho's pipa, short term formation of tadpoles. In captivity, aquariums often have bars over top part so that young toads can avoid attack by adult predators, usually male toads.
Suriname toads as pets
Suriname toads can be kept as pets. They feed mainly on water fleas, tubifex worms and earthworms, but they can also eat small fish. They are best fed for about 10 minutes, after which any waste should be removed to prevent infection. But you should not overfeed toads, as they gain weight quickly and, as a result, there is a high risk of disease in the aquatic environment.
Toads are best kept in deep aquariums for free mating. The top of the aquarium must be closed. Since toads are nocturnal, they must have plenty of places to hide. It is recommended to provide dim lighting in the aquarium itself.
Pipa Corvalho, also known as the Brazilian dwarf pipa, is a frog that has poor vision, but its sensitive legs help it perceive the world.
This species of amphibian lives in northern South America. Can be found in mountains at altitudes of up to 1000 meters. In countries where the Corvalho pipa is found, the most serious insult for a woman is “senora pipita.”
Description of Pipa Corvalho
The body length is 8-9 centimeters. The body is flattened, the head is triangular. At the tips of the front fingers there are star-shaped formations - very sensitive nerve endings, thanks to which frogs dig in the ground and look for food. Peeps need sensitive fingers because they have poor vision and are blind.
There are no swimming membranes. Males are smaller than females, their bodies are flatter, the color is darker, and their eyes are small.
Body color adult grey-brown. The coloring of young individuals is lighter, and the belly is almost white.
Lifestyle of the Dwarf Brazilian Pipa
Corvalho pipas live exclusively in water. They are common in standing reservoirs located in lowlands and at altitudes of up to 1000 meters. They are found among snags, plants, and in muddy bottoms. If the habitat is optimal for the pipa, it does not try to leave its pond, but if the living conditions are not suitable, then frogs of any age get out of the water.
Corvallo peeps eat a lot, but always greedily. When rivers flood, peeps scour the flooded areas. During droughts and drying up of water bodies, pipas sit motionless in small puddles, waiting best time. If the pipa is frightened, it dives to the bottom and buries itself in the mud.
Reproduction of Pipa Corvalho
The male flirts with the female, but if the female does not reciprocate his feelings, he quickly lags behind her. When the female is ready to mate, the male grabs her, and she becomes numb, and a spasm passes through her body.
Feeling the trembling, the male tightly grasps the female’s body. Peeps can swim holding onto each other for 24 hours. Most often, the male looks for the female at night, and they mate at dawn.
The pair swims and suddenly turns over with their belly up at a distance of 5-10 centimeters from the surface of the water. The male is at the bottom and he becomes unstuck from the female. At this time, the female lays 6-12 eggs. The eggs slide down and fall between the male's abdomen and the female's back. The eggs are fertilized, after which the frogs turn over and the male presses the eggs into the back of the female.
The acts of laying eggs are repeated every 5-15 minutes. In total, frogs turn over about 50 times.
Each female lays about 170 eggs. The eggs are ivory in color and their diameter is 1.4 millimeters. The eggs lie in a strong layer, they are pressed into the mother’s body by about one-fourth, and over time they are immersed almost completely in the growing skin. If the eggs are not secured, they fall to the bottom and their development does not occur.
Tadpoles have spherical bodies, the diameter of which reaches 2.5-3 millimeters. The tail is transparent, its length reaches 7-9 millimeters. The tadpoles of the Brazilian dwarf pipa gather in groups, quickly hiding from predators. They can also burrow into mud. On the second day they begin to feed; they are filter feeders. First, the tadpoles develop their hind legs, and then their front legs. After 6-8 weeks, the tadpoles undergo metamorphosis. The body length of young pipas reaches 35-40 millimeters. Puberty in them it occurs at a body length of 6 centimeters.
Contents of the dwarf Brazilian pipa
Peeps climb glass with ease, sticking to it with their bellies. They can fit into even the tiniest cracks between the lid and the walls of the aquarium.
Pip Corvalho kept in aquariums with large area bottom. For these frogs, the depth of the water is not important, and they do not need the shore. There should be silted soil at the bottom of the aquarium. If there is no soil, then several shards are placed on the bottom of the aquarium.
The water should not contain chlorine or chloramines. It is advisable to decorate the aquarium with plants, but you can do without them. Peeps do not spoil plants. Adults (from the third month of life) are fed dry and combined food, as well as pieces of meat and fish.
Peeps get along well with large and small fish. Large cichlids and ancitrus can beat frogs.
Breeding Pip Corvalho
For reproduction and development, peeps need water with a temperature of 20-30 degrees and a hardness of 5 degrees. Aeration is harmful to tadpoles. The ratio of males to females should be 1:1. A pregnant female must be given rest. The development of embryos at a temperature of 26-28 degrees occurs in 15 days. Eggs mature unevenly. A day before the tadpoles hatch, the shells of the eggs swell and holes appear on their tops.
Loading...
