We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day for our first Herpetology field trip. After what seemed like an eternity of rain Mother Nature provided us an awesome afternoon full of sun, clear skies, and mild temperatures. We left downtown Charleston around 2:00 PM and traveled north to the Francis Marion National Forest, arriving around 2:30PM. Our mission was to check several minnow traps our fearless leaders (Dr. Welch and TA extraordinare Keith Hanson) deployed the previous day.
The wetland we sampled was a typical pond cypress (Taxodium ascendens) pond embedded within a long leaf pine (Pinus palustris) forest. Typical shrub species were seen in the wetland, such as fetter bush (Lyonia lucida) and red bay (Persea borbonia), and with all the rain the water depth was on average 3'.
Our first few minnow traps yielded some usual suspects, several eastern mud minnows (Umbra pygmaea), and one or two crayfish, presumably in the genus Procambarus. A few amphibians were caught during our visit, and hopefully others will produce some great pictures of them! I was able to capture a picture of the last catch of the day, a southern cricket frog (Acris gryllus). This individual was pretty small, approximately 0.5" in length. Due to its small size I couldn't make out its sex, and despite the cold temperatures it was doing a pretty good job of trying to evade me! This was an easy ID, where the backward pointing triangle between the eyes and the X marking on its back stood out like a sore thumb.
Southern cricket frogs are common to the southeastern US, and are typically found in aquatic habitats, or surrounding them, such as Carolina Bays, swamps, and vegetated wetlands. This species has a typical anuran life history, where eggs are deposited into wetlands, then hatch into tadpoles. Tadpoles typically take 2-3 months to metamorphose into juveniles. Southern cricket frogs usually hang out around wetlands feeding on invertebrates, but may venture off into surrounding uplands.
Unfortunately, my picture isn't that great, but hopefully its clear enough to make out the X marking on the back of the southern cricket frog. I included a picture of the crayfish and of several eastern mud minnows for funsies. Hopefully as warmer temperatures approach I'll get to see a great diversity of amphibians and reptiles this semester! Good luck herping!
(Ryan M. Wenzel, Charleston SC)
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