Content Stats & Analytics for @antonsrkn

Anton Sorokin
@antonsrkn

23,631 followers

Western toad tadpoles on their way to thermally aggregate in the shallows in a high elevation lake in California's Trinity Alps. Naturally fishless, these lakes were historically filled with amphibians, nowadays almost all the lakes have introduced trout in them. Most of the amphibians have declined as a result but interestingly, the toads seem to have fared pretty well. I looked at a few studies focused on this species and a few closely related toad congeners and the effects of trout. Surprisingly the toads seem pretty unaffected - the trout don't eat them as the tadpoles are unpalatable and there's no or little direct competition for food. Although I should also note that there is at least 1 study that did show increases in toad tadpole mortality when exposed to trout although few were eaten, injuries sustained from exploratory bites were an issue (the study I saw on this involved captive bred toads - perhaps the trout were just naive that toads were unpalatable as they hadn't had a chance to sample them prior). With little fish pressure and maybe with trout even eating some of the other competition, toads seem to do well despite the introduced fish. The other species of amphibian besides the toads arent as lucky and are eventually wiped out by trout. However these toad tads can brazenly swim to their shallow 'hot tub' where they can aggregate in huge numbers and warm up in the sun heated water. Check my recent video for footage of that. Sadly my still images of the tadpole swarm did not turn out well enough to share. Been a while since I so completely screwed up a shoot but hope to revisit them before too long. . . . #westerntoad #tadpoles #trinityalps #underwaterworld #underwaterphotographer #underwaterphotography #uwpics #uwmacro #freshwatersnorkeling #freshwaterlife #freshwater #naturalist #amphibian #amphibians #amphibianphotography #toadsofinstagram #nikonunderwater #nikonnofilter #nikoncreators