David Anderson
Saint Martin’s University
Olivia Cervantez
Saint Martin’s University
Dr. Max Lambert
Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife
Dr. Megan Friesen
Saint Martin’s University
Many amphibians use chemical cues for various important aspects of their lives, such as foraging and predator avoidance.
Here, we have investigated the potential chemical deterrent of the rough-skinned newt (Taricha granulosa) on an invasive amphibian predator, the African clawed frog (Xenopus laevis).
We also aimed to investigate if native tadpoles would respond to chemical cues of an invasive predator (X. laevis) differently than a native predator (T. granulosa).
There has been extensive research conducted on T. granulosa‘s use of tetrodotoxin, a powerful neurotoxin used for self-defense, but not on whether it is an effective deterrent of the invasive amphibian species X. laevis, or whether native tadpoles may have evolved different responses to native vs. invasive predator cues.
The purpose of this study was to examine whether chemical cues between the native and invasive amphibian species produced consistent behavioral changes that could lead to improved biological control methods for X. laevis.
We performed behavioral choice tests on X. laevis exposed to adult T. granulosa to identify if they exhibited avoidant behaviors.
We also recorded anti-predator behavior from tadpoles exposed to chemical cues of X. laevis, T. granulosa, and a control.
Our results showed that when no T. granulosa was present, X. laevis avoided the center of the aquarium and selected the right and left sides almost equally (right side 53.9%, the center 0.5%, and the left side 45.6%), but when T. granulosa was present, the frog avoided the center and typically selected the side with the newt (side with the newt 62.7%, the center 1.5%, and the side without the newt 35.8%).
Our research suggests that native T. granulosa are not an effective biological control of X. laevis.