Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations what the heck is this little bugger?

my pond has only three known species of fish in it. Adult CNBG,Fatheads, and some small RES. Thousands of these little critters showed up about 3 weeks ago, and i don't know what they are. What do you'all think ?

I believe those are tadpoles.

It's an exotic from Mars. Been showing up since we sent those probes to Mars. Keep it under your hat. A lot of people don't know this.

i do and over 50% of my fish believe I'm hiding information about them.

does that mean thousands of frogs will soon invade I don't have any predators in the pond yet...

Dont worry. Within a year of stocking LMB all sign of them will be gone.

I wonder if my adult CNBG are munching down on these critters?

I had thousands of the Bullfrog tadpoles that were 50 cent piece size minimum and a 100-200 turned into frogs late last summer. I have only seen 2 BFs in the pond this spring. Most probably migrated to other more desirable habitats. and some became LMB desserts. I never did see the fish attack the tadpoles......heard they didn't taste like chicken.

Howard,
Those are leopard frog tadpoles. No big deal. Fish won't eat them. They filter their food from the water column and pond mud. They will turn into frogs later this summer, you will see hundreds of them for a few days, then the numbers will quickly dwindle.
They're really kinda fun.

Tadpoles are indeed strange creatures.

Why are people afraid of beeing "over run" by toads and frogs? Did I miss the movie or something?

Bass dont eat the tadpoles; they cultivate and protect them to make sure they become frogs...then they hammer 'em.

I use to catch tadpoles and bring them home. In my aquarium there were BG an RES about 3 to 4 in. When I put the tadpoles in they never made it to the bottom before being devoured. I don't know the species but we have all kinds of frogs including bullfrogs and leopard frogs and others.

Evidently...

Howard, They are frog tadpoles, possibly leopard frog as Bob says or if you have bullfrogs in your area they they could be bullfrog tadpoles since the body apprears about the size of a penny. Regardless of which species they will cause very little problems in the pond. Fish do eat them but not readily unless other food items are in short supply. They tend to have an off flavor but not to the point that no fish will eat them. Once you put bass in the pond you will see a lot fewer tadpoles. Frog & toad tadpoles have long coiled intestines, are herbivours, and consume a lot of attached and filamentous algae algae.

99% chance that they are leapord frogs like Lusk said. Bull frogs are pretty scarce in the Texoma area.

thanks men,
I figured they were just tadpoles, but i wasn't sure.

I had some kind of tapoles in a bluegill culture pond a couple of years ago. They were quite small and the bluegill hammered them. I'm thinking they were toad tadpoles as I have seen some breeding in my area.

Bill Cody,

How do you know they have an off taste? Maybe it's just your recipe?

Leopard frog do lay eggs early as soon as the water gets around 50F so that was a while back in TX and the tadpoles had time to grow to the size in the picture. Makes sense to me.

Off flavor experience is from putting tadpoles in an aquarium with some panfish. Panfish attempted to eat the tadpoles several times and then ignored them. I just assumed it was due to taste since it was obviously not texture. TNH you are welcome to try eating some of them raw after washing in salt water or lightly sauteed and we would welcome your official Pondmeister taste report.

I suggest chasin' the tastin' with lots of Tequilla.

I think the experience could only be heightened by using a finer Tequilla like Patron.

I would also use a garlic butter sauce.

How big are they? Looks to be about 3/4 of an inch or so? They look like toad tadpoles to me rather than frogs. Frog tadpoles are green - these look brown.

Howard, the picture is difficult to tell but think I detect a slight hint of red in the tail. If that is true I believe also that they are young Leapord frog tadpoles. The same year I stocked my pond there were thousands of these but I only see a few anymore. I don't know if I could differentiate the Cricket frog tadpole from the Leapord other than size but in comparison Bullfrog tadpole are 4 times the size of what I believe are the Leapord tadpoles. Likewise, since Leapord frog is 4 times the size, if not more, than Cricket frog the tadpoles would probably follow suit.

Hope this helps. If you have young children have them raise some. Maybe that's what I should have my kids do, might make a good archive subject.

FH

they are about 1/3-1/2 inch long. there is a hint of gold color in their body.