Bombina bombina Spawn

Stravinskaitė, Kristė, Jautakienė, Rasa, Čitavičienė, Inga, Pikūnienė, Alma & Rakauskas, Gintarė Stankevičė Vytautas, 2024, The methodology for rearing the Fire-bellied Toad (Bombina bombina) from protected, small, isolated (but degraded) habitats in its northern distribution range, Amphibian & Reptile Conservation (e 332) 18 (1), pp. 47-57 : 48

Collection of Bombina bombina Spawn

Spawn of B. bombina was collected from naturally degraded ponds in four Natura 2000 sites in Lithuania: Juodabalė Zoological Reserve (LTLAZ0010); Drapalai village surroundings (LTDRU0004); Kučiuliskė village surroundings (LTLAZ0001); and Margiai village surroundings (LTLAZ0035) ( Table 1). Natura 2000 is an ecological network of rare and threatened species protection sites, which stretches across all 27 European Union countries. Spawn was collected during the end of spring and beginning of summer (May–June), when water temperatures reached 13–14 °C, in 2017, 2018, 2020, and 2021. The year 2019 was not included in the study, because that spring was very hot and dry which caused the total drying out of the B. bombina spawn. The spawn of eggs was carefully collected from flooded plants at the earliest stage of their development and placed in a 10 L bucket half-filled with pond water. Water from the ponds was taken along with the resident microfauna so that the tadpoles could feed in the early stages. The buckets with eggs were kept outdoors to protect them from strong temperature fluctuations, and at 1–2 days after collection, they were delivered to the Lithuanian Zoological Gardens (Kaunas, Lithuania).