Cuidado parental y comportamiento de cardumen de larvas en Leptodactylus insularum (Anura, Leptodactylidae)

Parental care of a similar nature has been noted in three species of Leptodactylus from two groups (ocellatus group: L. ocellatus and L. insularum; melanonotus group: L. validus). In these species, the female remains with the foam nest throughout development and then accompanies a school of tadpoles until metamorphosis. In addition, in L. insularum, tadpoles form densely packed schools of hundreds or thousands of individuals reminiscent of many Bufo species. In a two month study in Gamboa, Panama, I examined whether parental care in L. insularum involved aggressive behavior and whether schooling behavior of tadpoles was stimulated by high densities and predators. Adult behavior was monitored daily nocturnally and diurnally, throughout the study. I performed two experiments with tadpoles. First, I tested whether tadpoles at different densities had different likelihood to form schools. Second, tadpoles were tested at two densities, with and without predators to see their schooling response. I found evidence of parental care, noting several schools of tadpoles with attendant adults. Furthermore, aggressive behavior by adults, including vocalizations, in the presence of tadpoles was noted on three occasions. In tadpoles the formation of schools was dependent on density. In addition insect predators acted as a stimulus to school formation in experiments at two tadpole densities.