Arroyo Toad ID Confirmation.

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RobertH
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Joined: June 7th, 2010, 9:38 pm
Location: Los Angeles

Arroyo Toad ID Confirmation.

Post by RobertH »

So basically a friend of mine at school took this picture of a toad while he was fishing. He has a pretty good knowledge of the native fauna that lives in our watersheds, but when he told me he saw an arroyo toad I was pretty doubtful. But then he showed me this picture he took of it and it actually does look like one. The location he found it at is also not at one that is on any report you can find on google.

ImageArroyo Toad by NicholasHess, on Flickr

What do you guys think?

Nicholas
daniel
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Re: Arroyo Toad ID Conformation.

Post by daniel »

Image isn't showing up for me.
RobertH
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Re: Arroyo Toad ID Conformation.

Post by RobertH »

Ok I edited it. Hopefully it works better now.
craigb
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Re: Arroyo Toad ID Conformation.

Post by craigb »

It looks like the picture on CA. Herps. for the Arroyo Toad.

http://www.californiaherps.com/frogs/frogspics.html

I would say that's a positive ID....
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Sam Sweet
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Re: Arroyo Toad ID Conformation.

Post by Sam Sweet »

Definitely an arroyo toad. New locality, just shows what's still out there for those willing to go look.
NACairns
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Re: Arroyo Toad ID Conformation.

Post by NACairns »

Yep looks like A. californicus to me, but once Dr. Sweet has given his opinion, mine seems a little pointless.
daniel
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Re: Arroyo Toad ID Conformation.

Post by daniel »

Very cool!
Jimi
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Re: Arroyo Toad ID Conformation.

Post by Jimi »

New locality, just shows what's still out there for those willing to go look.
Indeed, that's very cool. Just goes to show you, "please, just try". Was that friend fishing at night for catfish, or what? Sitting around quietly in the dark next to some water, letting the local anurans come out and show themselves, sounds pretty fun.

cheers
RobertH
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Re: Arroyo Toad ID Conformation.

Post by RobertH »

Thanks for everyone's replies.

In the meantime, I had mailed Sam Sweet and he had already confirmed to me that this is indeed an Arroyo Toad - and from a new locality! As to the specific locality, I can only say that it's a very remote place on the coastal side of the San Gabriel Mountains.

We'll enter the toad into the HERP database and also report the find to the CDFW and to the US F&W Service, as Sam has recommended.

Jimi, you had asked how the toad was found and when: The toad was found around 3 pm in the afternoon, so not at night or in the dark. It was apparently sitting by the side of a stream in bright daylight when Nicholas's friend, an avid fisherman, spotted it (and later several others).

Robert
Jimi
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Joined: December 3rd, 2010, 12:06 pm

Re: Arroyo Toad ID Confirmation.

Post by Jimi »

Thanks for the additional story, Robert. It's nice to hear that several were seen.

Incidentally, the pic just looked like it had been taken in the dark - that's what got me started down that path.

I wonder what this find will mean for CDFW trout stocking & eradication operations. Will be interesting to watch. From the outside, anyway...

cheers
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Sam Sweet
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Re: Arroyo Toad ID Confirmation.

Post by Sam Sweet »

Trout don't seem to affect arroyo toads much, although trout fishermen do. Long ago (pre-listing) I sat and flipped tadpoles to foraging trout, and the fish ignored them. Sunfish in the daytime and bullheads by night, and sculpins any time all enjoy toad tadpoles, but trout seem to be in the clear. What is NOT cool occurs when fishermen tromp up and down the stream and walk in the shallow water rather than on shore. Doing so they crush or displace many arroyo toad clutches.
CA WildlifeBiologist
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Re: Arroyo Toad ID Confirmation.

Post by CA WildlifeBiologist »

RobertH wrote: October 28th, 2016, 9:01 pm So basically a friend of mine at school took this picture of a toad while he was fishing. He has a pretty good knowledge of the native fauna that lives in our watersheds, but when he told me he saw an arroyo toad I was pretty doubtful. But then he showed me this picture he took of it and it actually does look like one. The location he found it at is also not at one that is on any report you can find on google.

What do you guys think?

Nicholas
This photo was not taken in Los Angeles County in 2016.
Whereas this is a photo of an Arroyo Toad, It appears this photo belongs to Mike Pingleton (memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=79) and was originally posted in one of his Hot Stove Herping posts in 2012 (just past halfway done the posting, viewtopic.php?t=14485). It was also posted on Flikr (https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepingl ... 347093450/) and HerpMapper (https://www.herpmapper.org/record/46336).
It is unclear how this misinformation came about or if Greg Kohn was on Mike's trip or if this was intentional misinformation or plagiarism, but this photo was not taken in Los Angeles County in 2016.
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