{"title":"The Japanese Common Toad, Bufo japonicus formosus, Contains Toxin in the Egg Stage","authors":"Hisanori Okamiya, Kotaro Takai, O. Kishida","doi":"10.5358/hsj.40.103","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Abstract: Bufonid toads generally possess cardiotoxic steroids called bufadienolides as defensive chemicals. Although knowledge of the life stages at which the toad species possess the poison is important for our understanding of diversity of toxicity among bufonid toads, this knowledge is limited. In the present study, we revealed that the Japanese common toad, Bufo japonicus formosus, possesses toxins at the unfertilized egg stage by conducting a bioassay experiment. Recent studies documented that hatchlings of B. j. formosus have lethal toxic effects on native frog tadpoles (Rana pirica) in the invasive area of the toad (Hokkaido). In our bioassay experiment using R. pirica tadpole as a predator, no tadpoles died when they did not consume any prey item during two-days experimental period. However, approximately 90% of R. pirica tadpoles immediately died when they consumed an unfertilized egg of B. j. formosus. These results suggest that the toxin at the early life stages of B. j. formosus is, at least partly, provided from female parent.","PeriodicalId":56053,"journal":{"name":"Current Herpetology","volume":"40 1","pages":"103 - 106"},"PeriodicalIF":0.6000,"publicationDate":"2021-03-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"6","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Current Herpetology","FirstCategoryId":"99","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.5358/hsj.40.103","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q4","JCRName":"ZOOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 6
Abstract
Abstract: Bufonid toads generally possess cardiotoxic steroids called bufadienolides as defensive chemicals. Although knowledge of the life stages at which the toad species possess the poison is important for our understanding of diversity of toxicity among bufonid toads, this knowledge is limited. In the present study, we revealed that the Japanese common toad, Bufo japonicus formosus, possesses toxins at the unfertilized egg stage by conducting a bioassay experiment. Recent studies documented that hatchlings of B. j. formosus have lethal toxic effects on native frog tadpoles (Rana pirica) in the invasive area of the toad (Hokkaido). In our bioassay experiment using R. pirica tadpole as a predator, no tadpoles died when they did not consume any prey item during two-days experimental period. However, approximately 90% of R. pirica tadpoles immediately died when they consumed an unfertilized egg of B. j. formosus. These results suggest that the toxin at the early life stages of B. j. formosus is, at least partly, provided from female parent.
Current HerpetologyAgricultural and Biological Sciences-Animal Science and Zoology
CiteScore
1.20
自引率
14.30%
发文量
20
期刊介绍:
Current Herpetology publishes original research articles on amphibians and reptiles. It is the official journal of the Herpetological Society of Japan and is a continuation of Acta Herpetologica Japonica (1964–1971) and Japanese Journal of Herpetology (1972-1999).