# Xenopus in San Bernardino County



## SnakePaparazzi (Jul 20, 2008)

Please forgive me if this is not the proper forum for this... I think it is though...

Today at lunch on my usual lunchtime hike, I wandered across a stagnant pond (in San Timoteo Canyon Wash) in Loma Linda, CA. I saw hundreds of catfish like tadpoles... When I returned to work, I looked online and to my dismay found that they are African Clawed Frog tadpoles...

Tonight I am going to remove as many of them (and hopefully find the adults) as I can.

If anyone would like to have tadpoles let me know... These things are destroying ecosystems and have been labeled (from what I have researched on the internet over that past few hours) as possibly being the source of chytrid in the US (even though they are immune to it).

- Christian


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## zBrinks (Jul 16, 2006)

SnakePaparazzi said:


> If anyone would like to have tadpoles let me know... n


 I know it can be tough, but I think it would be best to destroy any tadpoles or frogs you capture, or keep them yourself. I would not risk potentially spreading chytrid around any more than it already is. I don't like destroying animals any more than the next guy, but . . .
Does your state have someone you could contact that would take care of the problem? Maybe a Department of Fish and Game or something?


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

You need a permit in California to possess clawed frogs and to transfer/transport them. This is to prevent them from expanding into other areas of the state. I would suggest contacting the state DEP to see if they will treat the pool. 

Ed


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## kingnicky101 (Feb 20, 2009)

The best thing to do is contact the DEP and try to remove the tads and adults and give them away to people who want them as pets.


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## jeffdart (May 21, 2008)

Like ed said you need a permit in california. I had one and did not have a permit. When I found this out I gave it to an expert which had a permit.


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## james67 (Jun 28, 2008)

kingnicky101 said:


> The best thing to do is contact the DEP and try to remove the tads and adults and give them away to people who want them as pets.


i personally think that giving them away as pets goes against the whole point of removing them... they are a species which is non native and which has been a confirmed transmitter of chytrid. therefore they should be destroyed. by giving them to others one would only be spreading the risk for infection. this is why as ed mentioned they are regulated in CA. call the proper authorities (as others have mentioned) and if you absolutely MUST do something and you are 100% sure they are the clawed frogs which you have identified them as, then the only solution is euthanasia. 

it might be a different story if they were a native animal, but there is not much room for compassion when talking about eradicating a nuisance species.

james


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## SnakePaparazzi (Jul 20, 2008)

Ok, Here are the photos I took when I found them...



















- Christian


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## jeffdart (May 21, 2008)

Hey was just wondering if you contacted the lady I told you about?


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## kingnicky101 (Feb 20, 2009)

OK, so dont let people have them as pets. Instead you can use the tads as food for hungry turtles or use them for fishing bait. A snapping turtle can also do the trick.


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## james67 (Jun 28, 2008)

using them as bait in the same pond only. you never know wht can happen and bringing a nuisance animal (which carries the most destructive amphibian fungus) to any other place would be irresponsible. a bucket full of 100% bleach should do the trick if and only if you are confident that they are african clawed frogs. but again the best course of action is the option of calling a professional from your county and alerting them of the infestation.

james


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## discipleak (Nov 30, 2008)

How common is it for Xenopus to carry Chytrid?


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## elscotto (Mar 1, 2005)

discipleak said:


> How common is it for Xenopus to carry Chytrid?


The link between Xenopus and chytrid is one of the more accepted explanations of how the chytrid disease has spread. Folks suggesting the Xenopus that are found in the pond (described by the OP) should be distributed or used for any purpose are making very unwise suggestions for a number of reasons, with the possibility of further spreading chytrid certainly among the potential outcomes. For background on the hypothesis that Xenopus were the agent of chytrid spread, I've attached an abstract of a paper below. The cite is:
Weldon C, du Preez LH, Hyatt AD, Muller R, Speare R. Origin of the amphibian chytrid fungus. Emerg Infect Dis [serial on the Internet]. 2004 Dec. Available from Origin of Amphibian Chytrid Fungus | CDC EID

The sudden appearance of chytridiomycosis, the cause of amphibian deaths and population declines in several continents, suggests that its etiologic agent, the amphibian chytrid Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, was introduced into the affected regions. However, the origin of this virulent pathogen is unknown. A survey was conducted of 697 archived specimens of 3 species of Xenopus collected from 1879 to 1999 in southern Africa in which the histologic features of the interdigital webbing were analyzed. The earliest case of chytridiomycosis found was in a Xenopus laevis frog in 1938, and overall prevalence was 2.7%. The prevalence showed no significant differences between species, regions, season, or time period. Chytridiomycosis was a stable endemic infection in southern Africa for 23 years before any positive specimen was found outside Africa. We propose that Africa is the origin of the amphibian chytrid and that the international trade in X. laevis that began in the mid-1930s was the means of dissemination.

-elscotto


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