Hotspot of Adult Cuban Treefrog and Cane Toad Multi-organ Abnormality in Suburban South-west Florida

GOLDBERG, J.; ANZALDUA, S.

Asian Herpetological Research

Science Press

Año: 2020

2095-0357

This study represents a continuation of theFlorida hotspot of tadpole abnormality found in the SouthwestFlorida suburban roadside drainage ditches in 2012to determine if the adult frogs and toads frequentingthe study sites were anatomically abnormal. The grossexamination of all organs included 397 adult anuransand 40 metamorphs representing five anuran species:Osteopilus septentrionalis (N=364), Rhinella marina(N=60), Lithobates sphenocephala (N=7), Anaxyrusterrestris (N=5) and Anaxyrus americanus (N=1). Thegonads, liver, kidney and intestines were abnormal at afrequency of 87.4%. The few normal anurans (12.6%) werefemales and young male adults. We found a significantdifference in organ abnormality type and f requencybetween sexes. Almost all f rog and toad males hadtesticular abnormality (92%) with only 6% with normaltestes, whereas the female gonad abnormality was lower,at 41.6%. Hermaphroditism was found in both sexesat a frequency of 26.2%. The toads had a significantlyhigher frequency of hermaphroditism than the frogs. Thetoad hermaphroditism frequency was found to be 40%,whereas the frog hermaphroditism 23.3%. A hermaphroditeCane toad male with a female phenotype coexisted withthe normal male phenotype hermaphrodite. The fertility of27 in situ pairs was assessed. The fertile testicular abnormalmale and hermaphrodite pairs produced offspring withabnormal larval morphology. This information adds newevidence of the effect of chemicals on wild populationsand the effect on non-target species which has always beenunderestimated.