Surinamese pipa - toad, which can be found in the waters of the Amazon River basin in South America. This species belongs to the pipidae family, a class of amphibians. The unique one is capable of bearing offspring right on her back for almost three months.

Description and structural features of the Surinamese pipa

Distinctive feature An amphibian is the structure of its body. If you look at photo of Suriname pipa, you might think that the frog accidentally fell under the skating rink. The thin, flattened body looks more like an outdated tree leaf than a living inhabitant warm waters tropical river.

The head is triangular in shape, and is also flattened, like the body. Tiny eyes, devoid of eyelids, are located at the top of the muzzle. It is noteworthy that Pipa frogs tongue and teeth missing. Instead, at the corners of the mouth, the toad has skin flaps similar to tentacles.

The front legs end in four long toes without claws and without membranes, as is the case in ordinary frogs. But the hind limbs are equipped with powerful skin folds between the toes. This allows the unusual animal to feel confident underwater.

Having poor eyesight, sensitive fingers help peepa navigate underwater

The body of an average individual does not exceed 12 cm, but there are also giants whose length can reach 20 cm. The skin of the Surinamese pipa is rough, wrinkled, sometimes with black spots on the back.

The color is not distinguished by bright colors, it is usually gray-brown skin with a lighter belly, often with a longitudinal dark stripe that goes to the throat and encircles the neck. In addition to its very poor external appearance, pipa is “rewarded” by nature with a strong odor reminiscent of hydrogen sulfide.

Lifestyle and nutrition of the Surinamese pipa

Surinamese pipa lives in warm, muddy bodies of water, without strong currents. The American pipa is also found in the vicinity of people - in the irrigation canals of plantations. The favorite muddy bottom serves as a feeding ground for the toad.

With its long fingers, the frog loosens the viscous soil, dragging food into its mouth. She is helped in this by special skin growths on her front legs in the form of stars, which is why pipa is often called “star-fingered.”

Surinamese pipa feeding organic residues that are dug up in the ground. These can be pieces of fish, worms and other insects rich in protein.

Despite the fact that the frog has quite developed characteristic features land animals (rough skin and strong lungs), pipas practically do not appear on the surface.

Exceptions are periods heavy rains in areas of Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia and other areas of South America. Then the flat toads clumsily crawl out of the water and set off on a journey hundreds of meters from home, basking in warm, dirty tropical puddles.

Thanks to mother skin, all pipa's offspring always survive

Reproduction and lifespan

The onset of seasonal rains signals the onset of the breeding season. Surinamese pipas are of different sexes, although it is quite difficult to distinguish males from females externally. The male begins the courtship dance with a “song”.

By making a metallic clicking sound, the gentleman lets the female know that he is ready to mate. Approaching the chosen one, the female begins to throw unfertilized eggs directly into the water. The male immediately releases sperm, giving rise to a new life.

After that expectant mother sinks to the bottom and catches the eggs ready for development directly on its back. The male plays an important role in this action, evenly distributing the eggs over the female’s back.

With its abdomen and hind legs, it presses each egg into the skin, forming something like a cell. After a few hours, the frog's entire back becomes like a honeycomb. Having finished his work, the careless father leaves the female along with the future offspring. This is where his role as head of the family ends.

In the photo, pipa eggs are attached to her back.

For the next 80 days, the pipa will hatch eggs on its back, resembling a kind of mobile phone. kindergarten. For one litter Suriname toad produces up to 100 small frogs. All offspring located on the back expectant mother, weighs about 385 grams. Agree, this is not an easy burden for such a frail amphibian.

When each egg has settled in its place, its outer part is covered with a durable membrane that performs a protective function. The cell depth reaches 2 mm.

While in the mother's body, the embryos receive from her body everything necessary for development nutrients. The partitions of the “honeycomb” are abundantly supplied with blood vessels that deliver nutrition and oxygen.

After 11-12 weeks of maternal care, young peeps break through the film of their personal cell and break out into a huge water world. They are quite independent in order to lead a lifestyle as close as possible to the lifestyle of an adult.

Young peeps leave their cells

Although babies are born fully formed from the mother’s body, this phenomenon is not considered a “live birth” in its true meaning. The eggs develop in the same way as in other representatives of amphibians, unique distinction is only a place for the development of a new generation.

Freed from the young frogs, back of a Surinamese pipa requires updating. To do this, the toad rubs its skin against stones and algae, thereby discarding the worn-out “baby spot.”

Until the next rainy season, the peep frog can live happily. Young animals will be capable of independent reproduction only after reaching 6 years of age.

The back of a pipa after the birth of baby toads

Breeding Surinamese pipa at home

Neither appearance, nor the pungent smell stop exotic lovers from breeding this amazing animal at home. Watching the process of gestation of larvae and the birth of little frogs is fascinating not only for children, but also for adults.

In order for the pipa to feel comfortable, you need a large aquarium. One frog requires at least 100 liters of water. If you plan to purchase two or three individuals, add the same amount to each.

The water must be well aerated, so take care in advance of a similar system for saturating the aquarium with oxygen. Temperature needs to be monitored carefully. The mark should not be higher than 28 C and lower than 24 C.

Fine gravel and sand are usually poured onto the bottom. Artificial or live algae will help the Suriname toad feel at home. Pipas are not picky when it comes to food. Dry food for amphibians, as well as larvae, are suitable for them. earthworms and small pieces of live fish.

Bowing to the surprisingly strong maternal instinct for amphibians, children's writer (and part-time biologist) Boris Zakhoder dedicated one of his poems to the Surinamese pipa. So a distant and little-known frog became famous not only in the South, but also in Russia.

What happens if you run over a toad with a roller? December 28th, 2012

And it will turn out just like Pipa Suriname. Thank you sass_hummel for the topic, I saw it in the feed.

Pipa Suriname(Pipa pipa) is distinguished by an ugly, almost quadrangular and flat body, a triangular, pointed head towards the muzzle, which is not separated from the body, and thin front legs. The toes of the front legs have several processes at the end, which is why the pipu was called “star-fingered” (Asterodactylus); the hind legs are thicker and rather long, with long sharp toes connected by complete swimming membranes; in old animals the skin on the back is folded, and in old females it is even cellular; one or two pairs of tentacles are visible in front of the eyes, on the sides of the upper jaw, and another pair hangs near the corners of the mouth.

Distributed in South America. The range covers Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Brazil. Leads water image life, settling, as a rule, in small natural reservoirs or in irrigation canals on plantations. The genus pip has 7 species. Its representatives do not leave the water throughout their lives.

When obtaining food, the pipa uses a scavenger strategy. With its forelimbs it digs up the soil, stirring up the silt, and snatches food particles from the water. Can also use stationary objects for power.
Spacious aquariums are used to keep pips. The volume should be no less than 100 liters per steam, but 200 - 300 is better. Fine gravel can be poured onto the bottom, although peeps can do without soil. The aquarium can be decorated with live and artificial plants; good water filtration is necessary. The optimal temperature is 26 degrees. Food: large bloodworms, earthworms, small fish.

There are no membranes on the front legs, but there are long thin fingers- just like a musician! True, with their help, the pipa does not play the piano, but loosens the bottom silt, extracting something edible from there. At the tips of the toes there are leathery, star-shaped appendages, for which the Surinamese pip is often called star-footed.

Strong hind legs with normal frog membranes serve them for movement in water. The color of the flattened twenty-centimeter body of adult pipas varies from blackish-brown to gray. The belly is light, but sometimes there is a dark stripe along it.

If you want to have this miracle of nature in your apartment, you will have to purchase a spacious aquarium for 100, or better yet, 200 or 300 liters, decorate it with live or artificial plants and pour fine gravel on the bottom. The water in it should be warm (about 26 degrees) and well aerated. You can feed Surinamese peeps with bloodworms, earthworms and small fish.

Previous travelers say that the pipa lives in dark forest swamps, crawls slowly and clumsily along the ground and spreads a piercing smell similar to the smell of burning sulfur. Observers for the most part describe the strange method of reproduction of the pipa, confirming the information reported by Sibylla Merian, and refuting only her erroneous assumption that young pipas are born on the back of the mother.

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.

There are several 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 don't have claws and they basically lead night look life.

When people first saw what was happening to Surinamese pipa, - they didn’t believe their own eyes: the pipa’s children appeared right from the back.

And not just any, but fully formed ones. And not one or two, but several dozen. An excellent connoisseur of nature and animals, the English naturalist D. Darrell, who once observed the birth of pipa cubs, wrote: Even before that, I had to witness a great variety of very different births. But only on rare occasions did what I saw absorb and amaze me, as it did that night...

Of course, the birth of children from the back of a pipa is not childbirth in the true sense of the word. Pipa eggs and larvae develop like the eggs and larvae of all other amphibians. It only happens in unusual place.

As soon as the female lays an egg, the male picks it up and carefully places it on the female’s back, in a special cell. He does the same with the second, and third, and fourth, and with all the other eggs. To help them hold on better, he also presses them with his chest. The cells in which the eggs are laid become deeper every day and acquire a six-sided, honeycomb-like shape, and the eggs seem to grow into the back of the female. Simultaneously upper part each egg dries, forming a translucent dome. It is there, in these honeycombs, under the translucent dome-lids, that everything that is supposed to happen happens.

First, the embryos develop, then tadpole larvae appear, they also develop and turn into tiny toads. There is enough moisture in such honeycomb cells; the embryos and larvae receive nutrition through the walls of the cells from the mother’s body. Having formed, the tiny creatures lift their dome-lids, survey the unfamiliar world and, plucking up courage, crawl out of their cradles. They are not together with their mother, but soon they leave her and begin an independent life.

Suriname Pipa

Suriname Pipa!
You are no doubt familiar with her?
Stranger?
How so?
That's it!
Ay-ay-ay!
I'm blushing for you!
You may not know Panda
Tuatara
Or Griffon Vulture -
But it’s impossible not to know
What kind of beast
Suriname Pipa!

At least she lives
In a distant country - in Suriname
And therefore rarely, poor thing,
Meets with us;
Even though she's ugly
(Only modesty adorns her!),
Even though she is from the frog family -
Get to know her
It really doesn’t bother me at all!

There,
In the shade of algarroba, quebracho
And other exotic flora,
Frogs and toads in the evening
They are led by incessant choirs.
Among the croaking
Ukanya,
Squeaking, rumbling and wheezing
Your clear voice is heard
Suriname Pipa!
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

In frogs
Family feelings
As a rule, they are weak.
About offspring
Usually
Don't be too sad
Toads.
And she -
This modest daughter of Suriname, -
Even though it's a toad,
But
Exceptionally tender mother!

Yes,
She doesn't dream
Anyhow
Eggs:
All eggs
Lying on her back
Like on a soft feather bed.
To the mother's body
(And the heart!)
They grow;
AND,
Without knowing any worries,
Tadpoles grow in them

Slowly growing up...
Until the deadlines are fulfilled -
kids
Pull and pull and pull
Juices from mother...
And then they run away
Jump
And they completely forget about mom.
(It happens
According to rumors
Not only in Suriname...)

This is how he lives
Suriname Pipa.
Now -
I dare to hope -
You
At least partly
I met her!
If they ask you:
"What kind of animal is the Suriname Pipa?" -
Answer:
"This is a toad
But it’s a special type of toad!”

Frogs, pipa Suriname, pipa photo, hymenochirus, clawed frog, maintenance, care - 4.3 out of 5 based on 16 votes

Frogs: pipa, clawed frog, Hymenochirus

Peep frogs (lat. Pipidae) are a family of tailless amphibians. Representatives are often kept at home three kinds: African genera of clawed frogs Xenopus, dwarf clawed frogs Hymenochirus and South American genus Pipa.

The appearance of representatives of this family is quite diverse. The front legs are usually without a swimming membrane, the hind legs are larger with a membrane. The coloring of all representatives is rather inconspicuous.

The peculiarity of pipidae is the absence of a tongue. These amphibians almost never leave the water; only in the dry season can they migrate to bodies of water that have not yet dried up. Due to life under water, their eyes became small and lost their eyelids, and their tongue and eardrum atrophied. The anatomy of the limbs has also undergone changes: between the toes of the powerful hind legs, the swimming membrane has noticeably increased, and in some species, a membrane has even appeared on the front legs.

Good living conditions ensure the lifespan of clawed frogs up to 15 years, and dwarf pips up to 10 years. The age of Hymenochirus is somewhat shorter.

To prevent frogs from accidentally getting out of the aquarium and to prevent dust from getting into the aquarium, it is necessary to cover it with glass on top. The glass covering the aquarium, of course, must have a sufficient number of ventilation holes: after all, frogs breathe by rising to the surface of the water and swallowing atmospheric air. There should be no metal parts or devices, or sharp objects in the aquarium.

When cleaning the aquarium, use regular tap water for replacement, which has been left to sit for one to two days. Naturally, sudden changes in temperature should be avoided. Blowing water with a microcompressor, despite the pulmonary breathing of amphibians, is useful, but if it is not there, it is also not a problem. Pips are kept in aquariums with good water filtration. But you should not use powerful filters: pip filters do not like rapid flows with bubbles.

It is better to use fine river gravel or granite chips 4-6 millimeters in size as soil in the aquarium. Such soil is inconvenient to stir up, and it will not muddy the pond. Sand, on the contrary, contributes to the accumulation of silt, frogs in search of food stir it up, and the water in the aquarium becomes dirty. For clawed frogs, shelters are placed at the bottom; peeps can be kept even without soil. Aquatic plants are placed in aquariums with dwarf clawfoots. Plants suitable are large enough, with strong stems and leaves, and a powerful root system. Considering the habit of frogs to dig under unstable objects, the lower part of the plant bushes should be covered with stones.

Features of keeping clawed frogs

A very convenient amphibian for home keeping. It does not require frequent cleaning of the aquarium; the temperature range at which the frog can live is quite wide. It feels good both at a temperature of 25 °C and at 18 °C.

IN natural conditions lives in the swamps with minimum quantity oxygen dissolved in water, content with oxygen obtained from atmospheric air. Therefore, when keeping clawed frogs, there is no need to artificially aerate the water. Moreover, this type of tailless amphibian is adapted to live in stagnant water, and artificial aeration or filtration of water, which creates constant water movement, causes them discomfort.

The main disadvantages of clawed frogs are their large size and predatory habits. If they are placed together with fish, the frogs will definitely eat all the smaller and weaker neighbors. Peeps are only dangerous to small things the size of guppy and neons. And for the completely harmless Hymenochirus, on the contrary, the proximity of large, voracious and cocky fish is extremely undesirable.

Features of the content of hymenochirus

The most capricious of water frogs. It is advisable to maintain the water temperature for them at least 20, and preferably 24°C, since in cool water The body's resistance to infectious and fungal diseases is sharply reduced.

Spacious aquariums are used to keep pips. The volume should be no less than 100 liters per steam, but 200 - 300 is better. The optimal temperature is 26 degrees.

Even very small aquariums, from 20 liters per couple, which are filled with water to 1/2 - 2/3 of the volume, are suitable for keeping clawed frogs. A 4-6 centimeter layer of fine gravel is poured onto the bottom, in which plants can be planted, but if the aquarium is small, animals will quickly tear them out. At the bottom there are several shelters made of driftwood, stones and ceramic pots. Temperature 18 - 25 degrees.

If necessary, heaters and thermostats can be used. It should be remembered that equipment, especially glass, must be securely strengthened, since frogs try to crawl into any crack.

It must be remembered that frogs are rather nervous and impressionable creatures. They do not like loud noises, such as knocking, near the aquarium. In a panic, the frogs begin to rush about sharply, hitting walls, stones, plants, lifting silt from the bottom. This timidity does not go away for the rest of their lives.

Feeding the frogs

Pip's tendency to overeating and obesity. But don't indulge their appetite. When feeding, give them only as much food as they can eat in fifteen minutes without leaving any leftovers.

Diet of pipidae: worms, mollusks, insects and their larvae, organic remains from decomposed animal corpses, regular food aquarium fish- bloodworms, daphnia, pieces of raw beef, poultry, fish. Live bloodworms quickly burrow into the ground and may contain infection, so it is better to freeze them for feeding. The tubifex causes food poisoning; it is best not to feed it. You can also include strips of fresh lean meat in your diet. Fatty foods are bad for your health! Hymenochirus and young frogs are fed once every two to three days, adults, pips and spur frogs - twice a week. Those who are suspiciously overweight can be kept on a fasting diet for one to one and a half weeks.

If frogs are regularly fed by hand, they soon cease to be afraid of humans and allow themselves to be touched. But there is no need to take them out of the water.

Representatives of the pipaceae family

Clawed frog (Xenopus levis).

Description. The head is small, flattened, the muzzle is short, round, the eyes are turned upward. There is a short tactile thread near the eye, folds with dark spots and streaks run along the sides of the body, the anus in females is hidden by folds. The hind limbs are muscular, highly developed, there are membranes between the toes, the toes end in sharp dark claws with which frogs tear apart prey. The front ones are short, with long, unwebbed toes, the paws are turned inward. The back and sides are brown with dark spots and streaks. There is also an albino form - pinkish-orange with red eyes. The body length of clawed frogs is up to 8 centimeters. Along the body of the clawed frog, on the sides, there are clearly visible depressions overgrown with dense small hairs.

Reproduction of clawed frogs

Before mating, the male develops black stripes on the sides of his toes and along his paws to their base. Males make a quiet "tick-tick" sound, reminiscent of the sound of a running clock. The male's mating call is quite melodious. During mating, the male grasps the female from behind. An hour later, egg laying begins. All eggs are placed singly on the stem of the plant. Soon the outer shell of the eggs hardens like armor. After two days (at a temperature of 22–25 °C), the larvae hatch.

First, the tadpoles hang on plants and the walls of the aquarium. Two hours after hatching, the larvae begin to breathe through their lungs, periodically swimming to the surface of the water and swallowing air. WITH fourth day Long thin “whiskers” appear in the corners of the mouth - tactile threads. They are usually directed forward and only when moving towards the surface they deviate backward. In green muddy water tactile “whiskers” are necessary, since it is difficult to see danger with the eyes.

Instead of internal gills, the tadpole has a filtering apparatus through which the water sucked into the mouth passes. Single-celled algae and small ciliates are filtered out of the water.

At home, tadpoles are fed with boiled spinach and lettuce. The mass is crushed (for example, rubbed through a colander) to the consistency of mush and dissolved little by little in water.

After 2–3 months, the tadpoles already have four limbs, and the body becomes opaque. The tailed frog already rests horizontally on plant leaves and on the ground. You need to feed live daphnia. WITH fourth month frogs can be given planed meat (should be cut along the grain), and later cut into small pieces. Frogs reach sexual maturity in the third year of life.

Hymenochirus boettgery.

Description. She is very tiny - body length 3.5–4 centimeters. Outwardly they resemble young spurs, but their body is longer, their limbs are thinner, their muzzle is pointed, with nostrils at the end. The coloring is the same as that of spurs - dark gray with numerous brown spots, the belly is lighter, with small spots. On the forelimbs there are small membranes between the toes. Females are plumper than males, and their sides are rounded before mating.

Reproduction of Hymenochirus

When the water temperature rises (up to 26–28 °C) and the light intensity increases, hymenochiruses begin to prepare for reproduction. After replacing part of the water with fresh warm water, mating occurs. The eggs, dark on one side, float on the surface of the water. After a day or two, completely black tadpoles about 3 millimeters long emerge and attach to the plants. On the 4th–5th day they begin to swim and feed on ciliates. They are fed in the same way as aquarium fish fry. The development of the tadpole occurs very quickly - within one month.

Pipa

Description. The body of these frogs is more flattened (especially in males) than that of spur frogs; when viewed from above, the head has a triangular structure typical of pips. At the ends of the fingers of the forelimbs there are also star-shaped formations characteristic of pips. The back is brown-gray, the belly is dark spots. Young peeps are lighter in color, the belly is whitish, and the head is dark underneath.

Reproduction of pip

Pipas become sexually mature when they reach a length of 5–6 centimeters ( maximum length bodies without limbs - 8–9 centimeters). Males are smaller than females, more flattened when viewed from the side, and sometimes their color is darker. The capture of a female by a male occurs as in all tailless amphibians. First there is a series of short test captures. If the female is not ready, the male releases her. The finished female becomes numb, and a slight trembling runs through her body. Having received such a signal, the male firmly closes his forelimbs. In this position, frogs can swim for a day. Typically, capture occurs at night, and the act of copulation itself occurs at dawn. A copulating pair is swimming on open space and suddenly turns over with its belly up 5–10 centimeters from the surface. The male is on the bottom, his abdomen lags behind the female’s back. At this moment, 6–12 eggs emerge from the female’s cloaca. Under the influence of gravity, they slide down and slightly forward (the heads of the frogs at this moment are lower than the rear parts of the body), falling into the gap between the back of the female and the abdomen of the male, who fertilizes them. Then the frogs take a normal position, and the male, with his abdomen, presses the sticky eggs into the female’s back.

Oviposition events follow one after another with an interval of 5–15 minutes. The number of eggs can vary from 50 to 170. Naturally, subsequent clutches are delivered to the male more problems than the first ones: with its abdomen it forms the eggs so that they lie on the back in one row, although new clutches in a fertile couple slide along the eggs pressed to the back. With his hind legs, carrying them far forward, the male collects eggs from the sides of the body and from the head of the female and forms not only a vertical single row of eggs, but also a horizontal compactness of the clutch strictly on a certain area of ​​the back. Individual eggs may be lost; they fall to the bottom, stick to the plants, but will no longer be able to develop. Eggs taken from the female's back and placed in ideal conditions(aeration, water filtration) into a separate vessel also do not develop. Pressing the eggs into the back of the female by the male is one of the important points successful reproduction; it is possible that the eggs receive nutrition and oxygen from the female.

After laying eggs, the male loosens his grip and moves away from the female. Now the entire clutch on her back is clearly visible: large eggs (up to 1.4 millimeters in diameter), ivory-colored (the degree of yellowness varies) lie in a dense compact layer without breaks in the middle of the clutch. They are pressed 1/4 into the back of the female. So she swims and starts eating. Since they are sticky, litter, pieces of plants, etc. stick to the eggs.

Next begins interesting process. On the back of the frog, which is usually uneven and covered with rows of tubercles, after three hours a gray spongy mass appears. Within a day, it swells so much that the eggs are completely immersed in it, only their light tops are visible - something like an old cobblestone street, long clogged with dirt. And what’s interesting: rising from below, the mass pushes aside all the adhering debris and crumbs, and the eggs are immersed in it absolutely clean. But this is not enough - not only garbage is taken out, but also unfertilized, defective eggs.
Then the female begins to rub against stones and plants - molting occurs. Along with the old skin, unproductive eggs are also separated and pushed onto the surface of the back. Now the female’s back is flat, without bumps or folds, the thickening begins immediately behind the head.

At room temperature embryos mature in 15 days, at 26–28 °C – in 10–12. 3-4 days before the tadpoles emerge, a small hole is formed above each egg, through which water flows for the intensively breathing embryo. The entire back of the female becomes like a strainer. A day or two before the tadpole emerges, the egg shell swells and a tubercle with a hole at the top forms above it. Since the maturation of the eggs occurs unevenly, the back becomes covered with bumps here and there.

A strong tadpole flies out like a rocket from an underground mine. Some emerge from the egg shell slowly, head or tail first. These days the frog's back is covered with heads and tails. Strong tadpoles just as quickly head to the surface of the water to grab an air bubble, weak ones fall to the bottom and reach the surface in two or three attempts. After this, the tadpoles begin to swim horizontally. Their almost spherical body has a diameter of 2.5–3 millimeters, a transparent tail – 7–9. Floating tadpoles group in a school, quickly flee from predators, and can burrow into the mud. After the tadpoles emerge, the frog begins to rub against the stones, removing the remains of the egg membranes from its back. Then molting occurs, and the female is again ready to mate.

On the second day, the tadpoles begin to feed. Like the clawed frog, the pipa's tadpoles are filter feeders. But they need different food - a thick mass of bacteria and ciliates; At the same time, it is necessary that the water remains fresh. Feeding pipa tadpoles is much more difficult. Nettle powder will do.
Reproduction and development of these most interesting frogs proceed normally at water temperatures from 20 to 30 ° C and hardness up to 5 units. Using harder water comes with many challenges and setbacks.
Aeration, especially strong aeration, is harmful to tadpoles. You cannot leave them in a pond with adult frogs - the tadpoles die from their secretions. Thus, the most difficult thing in breeding pips is feeding the offspring and creating suitable conditions for them.

Tadpole development and metamorphosis last 6–8 weeks. Before turning into frogs, tadpoles reach a length of 35–40 millimeters. The hind limbs appear first, then the forelimbs. Then the tail decreases, the tadpole lives off the protein accumulated in it and does not feed at this time. It is slow and floats in the water column. This is where you need to catch it in order to put it in an aquarium for the young frogs: later it will be difficult to catch it - the young frogs are swift and know how to hide well.

Rating 4.34 (16 Votes)

What kind of living creatures can you find in wildlife. Each has its own difference, a special uniqueness. It would seem common toads what might 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 habitat Surinamese pips.

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 for water, she can lead a terrestrial lifestyle with absolutely no 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 he acute angle 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 larger 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, by nature, there are 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 pips, 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 a little more different from their girls dark 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 debris 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 to the bottom several times, still reach their goal in the next attempt to swim out. 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 a favorable environment for 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 only be 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 (Pipa pipa) is distinguished by an ugly, almost quadrangular and flat body, a triangular, pointed head towards the muzzle, which is not separated from the body, and thin front legs. The toes of the front legs have several processes at the end, which is why the pipu was called “star-fingered” (Asterodactylus); the hind legs are thicker and rather long, with long sharp toes connected by complete swimming membranes; in old animals the skin on the back is folded, and in old females it is even cellular; one or two pairs of tentacles are visible in front of the eyes, on the sides of the upper jaw, and another pair hangs near the corners of the mouth.

Distributed in South America. The range covers Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Brazil. It leads an aquatic lifestyle, settling, as a rule, in small natural reservoirs or in irrigation canals on plantations. The genus pip has 7 species. Its representatives do not leave the water throughout their lives.

When obtaining food, the pipa uses a scavenger strategy. With its forelimbs it digs up the soil, stirring up the silt, and snatches food particles from the water. Can also use stationary objects for power.

Spacious aquariums are used to keep pips. The volume should be no less than 100 liters per steam, but 200 - 300 is better. Fine gravel can be poured onto the bottom, although peeps can do without soil. The aquarium can be decorated with live and artificial plants; good water filtration is necessary. The optimal temperature is 26 degrees. Food: large bloodworms, earthworms, small fish.

There are no membranes on the front paws, but there are long, thin fingers - just like a musician's! True, with their help, the pipa does not play the piano, but loosens the bottom silt, extracting something edible from there. At the tips of the toes there are leathery, star-shaped appendages, for which the Surinamese pip is often called star-footed.

Strong hind legs with normal frog membranes serve them for movement in water. The color of the flattened twenty-centimeter body of adult pipas varies from blackish-brown to gray. The belly is light, but sometimes there is a dark stripe along it.

If you want to have this miracle of nature in your apartment, you will have to purchase a spacious aquarium for 100, or better yet, 200 or 300 liters, decorate it with live or artificial plants and pour fine gravel on the bottom. The water in it should be warm (about 26 degrees) and well aerated. You can feed Surinamese peeps with bloodworms, earthworms and small fish.

Previous travelers say that the pipa lives in dark forest swamps, crawls slowly and clumsily along the ground and spreads a piercing smell similar to the smell of burning sulfur. Observers for the most part describe the strange method of reproduction of the pipa, confirming the information reported by Sibylla Merian, and refuting only her erroneous assumption that young pipas are born on the back of the mother.

Peep frogs and toads live almost entirely in an 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 have developed along completely unique evolutionary paths in a relatively small geographic area.
There are several different species of 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.

When people first saw what was happening to the Surinamese pipa, they didn’t believe their own eyes: the pipa’s babies appeared right from the back.

And not just any, but fully formed ones. And not one or two, but several dozen. An excellent connoisseur of nature and animals, the English naturalist D. Darrell, who once observed the birth of pipa cubs, wrote: Even before that, I had to witness a great variety of very different births. But only on rare occasions did what I saw absorb and amaze me, as it did that night...

Of course, the birth of children from the back of a pipa is not childbirth in the true sense of the word. Pipa eggs and larvae develop like the eggs and larvae of all other amphibians. It just happens in an unusual place.

As soon as the female lays an egg, the male picks it up and carefully places it on the female’s back, in a special cell. He does the same with the second, and third, and fourth, and with all the other eggs. To help them hold on better, he also presses them with his chest. The cells in which the eggs are laid become deeper every day and acquire a six-sided, honeycomb-like shape, and the eggs seem to grow into the back of the female. At the same time, the upper part of each egg dries, forming a translucent dome. It is there, in these honeycombs, under the translucent dome-lids, that everything that is supposed to happen happens.

First, the embryos develop, then tadpole larvae appear, they also develop and turn into tiny toads. There is enough moisture in such honeycomb cells; the embryos and larvae receive nutrition through the walls of the cells from the mother’s body. Having formed, the tiny creatures lift their dome-lids, survey the unfamiliar world and, plucking up courage, crawl out of their cradles. They are not together with their mother, but soon they leave her and begin an independent life.

There,
In the shade of algarroba, quebracho
And other exotic flora,
Frogs and toads in the evening
They are led by incessant choirs.
Among the croaking
Ukanya,
Squeaking, rumbling and wheezing
Your clear voice is heard
Suriname Pipa!
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
In frogs
Family feelings
As a rule, they are weak.
About offspring
Usually
Don't be too sad
Toads.
And she -
This modest daughter of Suriname, -
Even though it's a toad,
But
Exceptionally tender mother!
Yes,
She doesn't dream
Anyhow
Eggs:
All eggs
Lying on her back
Like on a soft feather bed.
To the mother's body
(And the heart!)
They grow;
AND,
Without knowing any worries,
Tadpoles grow in them
Slowly growing up...
Until the deadlines are fulfilled -
kids
Pull and pull and pull
Juices from mother...
And then they run away
Jump
And they completely forget about mom.
(It happens
According to rumors
Not only in Suriname...)
This is how he lives
Suriname Pipa.
Now -
I dare to hope -
You
At least partly
I met her!
If they ask you:
"What kind of animal is the Suriname Pipa?" -
Answer:
"This is a toad
But it’s a special type of toad!”