# Pennsylvania Blue Frog!?!



## Geckoguy

While on foot patrol in the Delaware Water Gap this summer I came across this guy... I have been told that due to pestacide use that some tree frogs in the southern US have been having pigment mutation and and turning blue. We decided that this may be the cases with this guy but are not really sure. I thought I post the pic I took and let everyone make a guess at what mite cause a coloration in a standard green forg or if anyone know for sure. Any takers?


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## McBobs

Wow...Now thats one weird looking bullfrog!


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## Julio

that is a sweet looking bull frog!!


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## EXODUS1500

Julio said:


> that is a sweet looking bull frog!!


I agree, unless it is our doing, then it makes me sad.


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## Ontariofrogger1973

wow, that does not look good. it could be from the pesticides. thought the color looks very similair to the gravel he is on?


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## Geckoguy

Then gravel he is on is just standard fine crushed lime stone on the bike path. The thing about pestacide use is there are no pestacides used in the park boundaries. Now thats not saying some could have not traveled by some other method than just putting it on crops. There are farm fields that have been used since the first settlers arrived in the area; today they are leased to farmers to cultivate soy and corn. Not pestacides, fertalizers, or even plowing are allowed to protect the natural and cultural resources. I will say that the water near the edge of the trail did have an oily film on top but it seems to be just an area of mineral seepage from the soil. He allowed me to get pretty close and it did not appear that the blue coloration was just on the surface but the actual pigmentation of the skin. I may check the area again this summer to see if I can find any other frogs with this blue color.


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## Ontariofrogger1973

with colors like that, im surprised he lived to be that long. interesting


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## MonarchzMan

First off, it's a Green Frog  

As for the color, it's a rare mutation where the frog lacks the color pigment for yellow (xanthophores). There is no green color pigment, so the green color is a function of xanthophores (yellow) and iridophores (blue) acting on one another. It's a rather rare mutation, but it shows up on occasion. To my knowledge, it's just a random mutation and not the result of pesticides or anything like that.


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## moothefrog

I know someone who has a "blue phase" green frog. This has happened in whites tree frogs, and now the blue phase morph is common on the market.


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## skylsdale

MonarchzMan said:


> As for the color, it's a rare mutation where the frog lacks the color pigment for yellow (xanthophores). There is no green color pigment, so the green color is a function of xanthophores (yellow) and iridophores (blue) acting on one another. It's a rather rare mutation, but it shows up on occasion. To my knowledge, it's just a random mutation and not the result of pesticides or anything like that.


The same things happens out here in the west with Pacific treefrogs (Pseudacris regilla), producing a brilliant turquoise/blue color. Although I don't have my own personal photos of any, here is an example I found (from here). Notice the small patches of properly pigmented green (you can see the same thing on the Green frog posted above):


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## Jaeger

It's interesting that both frogs have patches of normal green pigment. It seems like the simplest mechanism would be a mutation in the yellow pigment, or in some key structure in xanthophore formation, but both of these frogs would, in theory, have no green whatsoever. A mosaic mutatant (like that found in calico cats, or some people who have Down's syndrome but function at a very high level) wouldn't be expected to have a pattern to the blue/green distribution. Perhaps the xanthophores on the head/back differ in some key way than those on legs, or the formation in the tadpole is triggered by a different factor. Any thoughts?


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## thedude

"First off, it's a Green Frog "

beat me to it! that is pretty cool looking. wish i could find one of those blue pacific chorus frogs!

also, just because fertilizers arent used near that area doesnt mean they arent there. fertilizer and pesticides are a huge problem and they are causing the worst water pollution crisis called eutrophication. which is why nobody should ever use them!!!


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## Geckoguy

True... The skin cells may differ on the legs perhaps it has something to do with different gland locations on the frog. Glad to here that it seems to be a "normal" genetic mutation and pesticides are not a likely cause.


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## Geckoguy

thedude said:


> "First off, it's a Green Frog "
> 
> beat me to it! that is pretty cool looking. wish i could find one of those blue pacific chorus frogs!
> 
> also, just because fertilizers arent used near that area doesnt mean they arent there. fertilizer and pesticides are a huge problem and they are causing the worst water pollution crisis called eutrophication. which is why nobody should ever use them!!!



Yes it even said green frog above the picture 

Eutrophication is a serious problem in this area also. It is one of the many reasons a Dam was never built on the Delaware river. Years of farming along the river have given the soil and the waters a very high phosphate level; almost of the verge of massive algae bloom. If the Dam on the river was constructed it most likely would have become a devoid of fish due to the massive algae blooms brought on by the lack of flowing water. Even though the National Park Service does not permit fertalizer or pesticides we have the issue of notrhern unprotected river sections above the upper Delaware where farms continue to use alot of fertalizer and pesticides. It sort of a butterfly effect of farming polution. And the Delaware is suposed to be one of the cleanest rivers East of the Mississippi. With that said... anyone who wants can join in the River Clean Up Day at Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. Hosted every summer by the NPS and Friends of the Del Wtr Gap several hundred people take to the river in boats, canoes, and kyacks to collect thousands of pounds of trash each year. We might not be able to remove fertalizer and pesticides but we can get a TON (literally) of trash out of the river and have fun doing it too. I little later in the year information for the 2009 clean up will be found on the Delaware Water Gap page Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area (U.S. National Park Service) Come help clean up the river!


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## moothefrog

RichardTexasherp said:


> with colors like that, im surprised he lived to be that long. interesting


Why? There is nothing wrong with him. He will live a long life. (if nothing happens like he gets run over)


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## JJuchems

I owned a WC blue bull frog a few years ago for CIHS. There are
genetics to support a natural blue bull frog. We have a population in Cental Illinois and I ended returning the frog to the wild.


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## Ben E

i have also caught blue bullfrogs, and also in PA


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## boogsawaste

MonarchzMan said:


> First off, it's a Green Frog


That ridge down the side is a dead giveaway. Male too


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## Michael Shrom

That's a nice looking frog. I've seen them before. My guess it's just genetics.


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## thedude

Geckoguy said:


> Eutrophication is a serious problem in this area also. It is one of the many reasons a Dam was never built on the Delaware river. Years of farming along the river have given the soil and the waters a very high phosphate level; almost of the verge of massive algae bloom. If the Dam on the river was constructed it most likely would have become a devoid of fish due to the massive algae blooms brought on by the lack of flowing water. Even though the National Park Service does not permit fertalizer or pesticides we have the issue of notrhern unprotected river sections above the upper Delaware where farms continue to use alot of fertalizer and pesticides. It sort of a butterfly effect of farming polution.


ya this is a perfect example of why everyone should buy organic produce. i would assume people on here already do that since they like frogs so much. but im sure thats not the case


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## Ed

The most probable cause is genetic. If there is a genetic aberration in the formation of the chromatophore or formation/storage of pterins and/or uptake/storage of carotenoids in the chromatophore then you can get blue color where the frog would normally be green (green is due to blue light reflected by the iridiophore combining with the yellow light from the chromatophore. This is why there is blue where there would normally be green pigment. This sort of color aberration is actually a fairly common mutation in green anurans. 

On a quick search of google scholar I could not locate pesticide/fertilizer effect that would disrupt the pigmentation in this manner. 


Ed


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## Ontariofrogger1973

moothefrog said:


> Why? There is nothing wrong with him. He will live a long life. (if nothing happens like he gets run over)


because i would think that the bright/metalic/blue color would give him away to predators. a bird/predator could see that frog from a mile away. unless he always stays on that blueish limestone bike trail. then you might find do some research and find out that theres alot of blueish/pigmented frogs living on the bike trails in Delaware Water Gap. lol.


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## MonarchzMan

Nah, he's pretty cryptically colored, especially when you mix in water, mud, and weeds. It doesn't offer the contrast like an albino would on the natural habitat.


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## Geckoguy

Maybe the predators see the color and think hes a PDF so they stay away


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## bobberly1

Yeah, if it's a pickeral frog, it's noxious anyway, so there's room for color mutation. I found an absolutely beautiful pickeral frog this summer, but nothing like that.


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## Julio

Any green frog has blue and yellow in its genes, as is the story with Auratus.


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## Boodoggy

I realize this is a very old thread, but I just got these pictures from my daughter in NY. The blue frog is a resident of their pond. All the other frogs are normally colored. I hope you will be able to see the picture (I'm new at this sort of posting.)


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## Dendro Dave

I didn't check to see if it was already posted but here is a pic of a blue leopard frog...


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## Rain_Frog

slightly off topic, but has anyone had access to blue phase of firebellied toads?

FBTœ first pics after hibernation - talk to the frog


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## Dendro Dave

Rain_Frog said:


> slightly off topic, but has anyone had access to blue phase of firebellied toads?
> 
> FBTœ first pics after hibernation - talk to the frog


Wow pretty cool...I never thought I'd buy another firebellied toad but I would definately reconsider for one of those if the price wasn't to high.

P.S. That blushing offer scared me, I thought I'd missed out on even more of them ;( .....but then I figured it out


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## poison beauties

I have seen Blue Phased Bullfrogs. They are not very common but they occur in red, Blue, Albino, Snow and you can find them in melonistic but that is by far the rarest I have seen.

Michael


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## Rain_Frog

Anyone ever heard of the moor frog? Males in breeding mode often turn blue:

CalPhotos: Rana arvalis; Moor Frog

CalPhotos: Rana arvalis; Moor Frog


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