It is both an attractive piece of furniture and unique opportunity observe the world in which the underwater inhabitants live. In people's homes, freshwater aquariums are more common, in which bright tropical fish live.

Less commonly seen marine aquariums With amazing inhabitants warm seas.

Of course, it is interesting to watch the fish, but they do nothing special. And the aquarium becomes commonplace, no longer surprising. Everything can be changed if you have an unusual inhabitant, which will be interesting to watch.

Instead of fish, you can put a pipu toad in the aquarium, which is rarely kept by Russian aquarists.

The Suriname Pipa is a toad that lives in small water bodies in Ecuador, Bolivia, Suriname, Peru and Brazil. She lives in the water, on land she moves slowly and awkwardly.

Appearance

Looking at this amphibian in natural environment, you might think that this is a tree leaf with sharp tips that has fallen into the water. The body of a pipa resembles just such a leaf. The head is triangular, has no transition to the body. The body is quadrangular.

The toad's eyes are small and look up. Small patches of leather hang from the corners of the mouth. Pipa Suriname is a rather large amphibian, it can reach a length of almost 20 cm. Only the goliath frog is larger than it.

The front legs of the pipa are thinner than the hind legs, which are also much thicker. On the hind legs, the fingers are thin with sharp ends, connected by a fold of skin - a membrane.

In adult females, the skin on the back becomes folded, in some cases cells are visible. The color of the toad is from gray to dark brown. The abdomen is almost white, sometimes with a dark stripe.

life in nature

The toad settles in small ponds, canals for irrigation. Pipa does not leave the aquatic environment throughout life. In order to get food, the pipa digs the bottom soil with its front paws and grabs pieces of food from the raised dregs. It may also feed on immobile edible objects.

Keeping a pipa toad in an aquarium

For a comfortable life of a pair of toads in captivity, a large aquarium is needed. From 100 to 300 liters. The bottom of the aquarium is covered with small pebbles, although they do just fine without it. As decorations, you can use plants and living and artificial decorations.

The aquarium must have a powerful filter. Pips need warm water, the temperature of which is not lower than +27º C. You can feed these strange animals with live food for big fish and small fish.

How does the pipa surinamese toad breed?

The oddity of the pipa toad is how it breeds. Little frogs emerge directly from the back of the mother frog. And these are not tadpoles, but fully formed frogs. And their number is not one or two or three, but about a hundred.

Naturally, the appearance of frogs cannot be called childbearing in the full sense. Eggs develop in the same way as all other amphibians. The difference is only in the place where they develop.

In order for the frogs to appear, both parents take part in this process. As soon as the female lays the eggs, the male picks it up and places it on the back of the female in a special recess that appears on the pipa at the time of reproduction.

So the male does with all the eggs laid, and there are from 50 to 150 of them. To better fix the eggs on the back of the female, he presses them with his stomach.

The recesses in which the eggs are located quickly increase in size and become like honeycombs. From the top of the egg, due to its drying, an almost transparent cover is formed. It is in these honeycombs that the future frogs grow, passing through all the stages of development of amphibians.

First, an embryo appears, which over time becomes a tadpole. Further development takes place in the same recess. The tadpoles become little frogs.

The development and maturation of embryos in warm water will occur in 10-12 days. If the water is at room temperature, the development of embryos slows down to 15 days.

When it's time to go out into the adult world, the little peeps lift the lid of the dome, which is already swollen at that time, and swim out of the cozy cradle on the back of the mother frog.

Strong frogs quickly leave the mother's back, weaker frogs leave slowly, often with their hind legs forward.

Babies, leaving their nest, quickly swim to the surface to start breathing. After two days, they begin to feed on their own.

After all the frogs leave their back, the female begins to rub her back against the pebbles, removing the remains of the egg shells. By the way, after molting, the Surinamese pipa toad is ready for a new mating.

Have you tried to ride the little one on your own back? If not, then be sure to try it! In addition to giving the baby incredible pleasure, you can feel that it is not as easy as it seems. Can you imagine if there were ten of them? And forty or even one hundred and twenty?

It is this number of their own future children that the Surinamese pipa wears (lat. Pipa pipa). And not a few minutes, but two and a half months. She even has special holes on her back for this. Hexagonal. Each egg has its own suite with food, heating and security guarantee. And they get there with the help of a caring dad.

During mating, which in Surinamese peeps lasts a whole day, the male squeezes rather large (6-7 mm in diameter) eggs from the female's ovipositor one by one and puts them into the cells on her back, pressing each breast. After such a long and painstaking work, he considers his mission accomplished and leaves home.

The female swims with all this company for 80-85 days, during which small pips develop inside the eggs, turning from embryos into tadpole larvae, and then into tiny toads. Fully formed animals independently break the shell and get out into the external world. At the same time, the mother does not suffer at all, but simply erases the remnants of this kindergarten and after molting begins preparation for the next babies.

Such amazing creatures live in Brazil, Peru, Bolivia and Suriname. There they lead an aquatic lifestyle: Surinamese pips can be found not only in ponds and rivers, but also in irrigation canals on plantations. Even a prolonged drought cannot force them to get out on solid ground - pips prefer to sit out in half-dried puddles. But in the rainy season, they take the soul away, traveling through the forests flooded by showers.

Such strong love to water is amazing, because the Surinamese pips have well-developed lungs and rough keratinized skin, which is typical for land animals. Their body is like a small flat square leaf with sharp corners on both sides. The head of a triangular shape smoothly passes into a frail torso. The eyes are turned upwards, tentacle-like patches of skin are located near the corners of the mouth.

There are no webs on the front paws, but there are long thin fingers - just like a musician! True, with their help, the pipa does not play the piano, but loosens the bottom silt, extracting something edible from there. At the tips of the fingers are leathery star-shaped appendages, for which the Surinamese pips are often called star-paws.

Strong hind legs with normal frog-like membranes serve them for movement in the water. The color of the flattened 20 cm body of adult peeps varies from blackish-brown to gray. The belly is light, but sometimes a dark stripe runs along it.

If you want to start this miracle of nature in your apartment, you will have to purchase a spacious aquarium for 100, and preferably 200 or 300 liters, decorate it with live or artificial plants and pour fine gravel on the bottom. The water in it should be warm (about 26 degrees) and well aerated. You can feed Surinamese pips with bloodworms, earthworms and small fish.

For the topic, I saw in the tape.

Pipa surinamese(Pipa pipa) is distinguished by an ugly, almost quadrangular and flat body, a triangular, pointed head towards the muzzle, which is not separated from the body, and thin front legs. The toes of the front legs have several processes at the end, which is why the pipu was called the "star-claw" (Asterodactylus); hind legs are thicker and rather long, with long, sharp toes joined by full swimming membranes; in old animals, the skin on the back is folded, and in old females it is even cellular; one or two pairs of tentacles are visible in front of the eyes, on the sides of the upper jaw, and another pair hangs near the corners of the mouth.

Distributed in South America. The range covers Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Brazil. It leads an aquatic lifestyle, settling, as a rule, in small natural reservoirs or in irrigation canals on plantations. The pip genus includes 7 species. Its representatives do not leave the water throughout their lives.

The pipa uses a scavenger strategy when getting food. With its forelimbs, it digs up the soil, stirring up the silt, and snatches food particles from it. Can be used to power and stationary objects.
Spacious aquariums are used to keep peeps. The volume should be no less than 100 liters per steam, but 200 - 300 is better. Fine gravel can be poured onto the bottom, although pips can do without soil. The aquarium can be decorated with live and artificial plants, good water filtration is required. Optimum temperature 26 degrees. Food - large bloodworm, earthworms, small fish.

There are no webs on the front paws, but there are long thin fingers - just like a musician! True, with their help, the pipa does not play the piano, but loosens the bottom silt, extracting something edible from there. At the tips of the fingers are leathery star-shaped appendages, for which the Surinamese pips are often called star-paws.

Strong hind legs with normal frog-like membranes serve them for movement in the water. The color of the flattened 20 cm body of adult peeps varies from blackish-brown to gray. The belly is light, but sometimes a dark stripe runs along it.

If you want to start this miracle of nature in your apartment, you will have to purchase a spacious aquarium for 100, and preferably 200 or 300 liters, decorate it with live or artificial plants and pour fine gravel on the bottom. The water in it should be warm (about 26 degrees) and well aerated. You can feed Surinamese pips with bloodworms, earthworms and small fish.


Former travelers say that the pipa lives in dark forest swamps, slowly and clumsily crawling along the ground and spreading a piercing smell, similar to the smell of burning sulfur. For the most part, observers describe the strange way the pipa reproduces, confirming the information reported by Sibyl Merian, and refuting only her erroneous assumption that young pips are born on the mother's back.

pip frogs and toads live almost entirely in the aquatic environment. To do this, they have flattened organs and relatively large membranes on their paws compared to the rest of the body.

Many reptiles developed along a completely unique evolutionary path in a relatively small geographical area.

There are a few different types Surinam toads. The common pipa species is better known as the Suriname common toad.

Unlike other tongueless toads, Surinam toads have sensitive areas on the tips of their front paws. They do not have claws and are mostly nocturnal.

When people first saw what was happening with the Surinamese pipa, they did not believe to my own eyes: pipa's kids appeared right from the back.

And not some, but quite formed. And not just one or two, but dozens. Great connoisseur of nature and animals English naturalist D. Durrell, who once observed the birth of pipa cubs, wrote: Even before that, I had to witness the greatest number of the most diverse births. But only in rare cases did what I saw absorb and astonish me, as on that night ..


Of course, the appearance of children from the back of a pipa is not at all childbearing in the true sense of the word. The eggs and larvae of the pipa develop like the eggs and larvae of all other amphibians. It just happens in an unusual place.

As soon as the female lays an egg, the male picks it up and carefully places it on the female's back, in a special cell. He does the same with the second, and the third, and the fourth, and with all the other eggs. To keep them better, he also presses them with his chest. The cells in which the eggs are laid become deeper every day and acquire a six-sided, honeycomb-like shape, and the eggs seem to grow into the back of the female. At the same time, the upper part of each egg dries up, forming a translucent dome. It is there, in these honeycombs, under translucent domes-lids, that everything that is supposed to happen happens.


First, embryos develop, then tadpole larvae appear, they also develop and turn into tiny toads. There is enough moisture in such cells-cells, the embryos and larvae receive food through the walls of the cells from the mother's body. Having formed, the tiny creatures raise their domes-lids, survey the unfamiliar world and, having gathered courage, crawl out of their cradles. Together with their mother, but soon they leave her and begin an independent life.





Suriname Pipa

Suriname Pipa!
Are you sure you know her?
Do not know?
How so?
That's it!
Ah ah ah!
I blush for you!
You may not know Panda
Tuataru
Or Griffon Vulture -
But it's impossible not to know
What kind of animal
Suriname Pipa!

Although she lives
In a distant country - in Suriname
And so rarely, poor thing,
Meets with us;
Even though she's not pretty
(Only modesty adorns her!)
Although she is from the family of frogs -
Get to know her
It doesn't interfere at all!

There,
In the shadow of the algarroba, quebracho
And other exotic flora,
Frogs and toads in the evenings
Leading unceasing choirs.
Among the croaks
Ucanya,
Squeak, rumbling and wheezing
I hear your pure voice
Suriname Pipa!
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

At the frogs
family feelings,
Usually weak.
About offspring
Usually
Don't be too sad
Toads.
And she -
This modest daughter of Suriname, -
Even though the toad
But
An exceptionally gentle mother!

Yes,
She doesn't dream
Anyhow
Eggs:
All eggs
Lying on her back
Like a soft feather bed.
To the mother's body
(And heart!)
They grow;
AND,
Knowing no worries
Tadpoles grow in them

Grow up slowly...
Until the deadlines are fulfilled -
kids
Pull and pull and pull
From mother juice...
And then they run away
skipping
And they completely forget about their mother.
(It happens,
According to rumors
Not only in Suriname alone...)

So lives
Suriname Pipa.
Now -
I dare to hope
You
At least in part
Met her!
If they ask you:
"What kind of animal is the Surinam Pipa?" -
Answer:
"It's a toad
But a special type of toad!"

Surinamese pipa can be classified as one of the most caring mothers natural world. The fact is that tadpoles live in it for up to 2.5 months. IN literally. They live for the reason that pipa has a hole in his back. Special. And here's the thing.

Pipa carries all the egg-laying on his "hump". For each future tadpole, a deluxe room with all amenities is reserved. Nutrition - " all inclusive”, moderate climate control and security. All this they get, being in a six-sided cell located at the pipa on the back.



Dad helps to place his kids in their places. This process is a little strange, but still I will try to describe it. Let's start with the fact that mating lasts a day. It is assumed that the pipa has internal fertilization. The cloaca of the female in the form of a large bag is a kind of ovipositor, which the mating female advances under the male to her back. Some sort of transformer. Then the male clings to the female and presses on the ovipositor, slowly squeezing the large eggs. In diameter, they can reach 6-7 mm. Thus, he almost evenly, one might say with a jeweler's precision, distributes the eggs on the back of the female. And rolls over. This ended his mission.



Pipa can lay up to 114 eggs and carry this burden for 80-85 days. If one egg initial stage weighs 2.97 grams, and at the end - 3.37 grams, we multiply this by 114. And in the end we get, she carries 384.16 grams on herself. Not a little.



In the cell, the frogs are almost completely formed and crawl out of there already ready for life. When the kids have finally left this "mobile kindergarten”, the pipa rubs against stones or plants and erases the remains of the skin. After molting, it is covered with new skin.

These wonderful frogs live in Brazil, Bolivia, Peru and Suriname. Despite its completely underwater lifestyle, it has highly developed lungs and keratinized skin, traits usually well expressed in terrestrial forms. Oh, and one more thing, I almost forgot! The Surinamese pipa can reach a length of up to 20 cm. Probably only the goliath frog is larger, but we will talk about it next time.

Niramin - Mar 17th, 2016

The pipa toad lives in the savannas South America, preferring any water bodies for their stay in the dry season: rivers, ponds, irrigation canals and even half-dried puddles. With the onset of the wet season, these amphibians get out of their homes and embark on a journey through the flooded tropical forests to continue their lineage.

Pipa toad looks like a flat leaf of a quadrangular shape. On the triangular head are the eyes turned upwards, and the skin patches at the corners of the mouth resemble tentacles. The body length of an adult is about 20 cm. The pipa's body is colored in brown and gray tones, corresponding to the muddy bottom, where it usually spends most of its time. Unlike ordinary frogs, the pipa does not have membranes on its forelimbs. Instead of membranes, this toad has thin, long fingers, with which it digs in the bottom silt in search of food. The hind limbs are strong and powerful, equipped with membranes, with the help of which the pipa swims. Interestingly, these representatives of amphibians lack teeth and tongue. In addition to these features, this toad emits a rather sharp and unpleasant smell, reminiscent of the smell of sulfur.

The pipa feeds on small living creatures that it finds in the silt: worms, small fish and various food particles.

Despite the ugly appearance and unpleasant smell, the pipa toad is considered an example of caring for its offspring. The fact is that the female bears her eggs right on her back. At first, she lays eggs like an ordinary frog, but the male picks them up and puts them in special cells formed on the back of the female. Developing, the eggs increase and are more and more pressed into the deepening cells. For 80-85 days, the embryos turn into tadpoles, from which tiny cubs develop. The fully formed babies break the upper shell and get out to start their independent life.















Photo: Pipa with eggs on her back.

Photo: A frog embryo on the back of a female pipa.

Video: Toad Pipa Surinam

Video: Zoology: Surinam pipa - care for offspring

Video: Amazing Pipa Pipa Toad Birth!