Tadpole Identification Table

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Species	Spring Peeper (Pseudacris crucifer)	Chorus Frog (Pseudacris triseriata)	Tree Frog (Hyla versicolor)	Wood Frog (Rana sylvatica)	Leopard Frog (Rana pipiens)	Green Frog (Rana clamitans)	Bull Frog (Rana catesbeiana)	American Toad (Bufo americanus)
Vent Location	Dextral	Dextral	Dextral	Dextral	Dextral	Dextral	Dextral	Medial
Eye Placement	Lateral	Lateral	Lateral	Dorsal	Dorsal	Dorsal	Dorsal	Dorsal
Size Range	small-small	small-small	small-medium	small-medium	small-medium	small-large	small-x-large	x-small
Tail Fin Patterns	blotched with a clear area around muscle	unicolored or clear with small black dots	patterned with red coloration	dark markings and terminates at the spinacle	clear with or without small dots	green with black dots and is partly opaque	green with black dots and is partly opaque	dark unicolored and very narrow
Body Coloration	light brown with gold speckles	dark with gold speckles	brownish	brown with gold specles		green with small balck markings	greenish with distinct black dots	dark and unicolored with no markings
Stomach and throat		not pigmented	throat not pigmented	gut not visable	gut visable and marked throat
Teeth rows	2-4	2-4	3-4	4	3	2-3	2-3	3
Tadpole Page

Most of the tadpole photos that you see in this table have been published as a PWRC/USGS project (website listed below).

Tadpoles of the United States and Canada: A Tutorial and Key Ronald Altig 1 , Roy W. McDiarmid 2 , Kimberly A. Nichols 3 and Paul C. Ustach 4 http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/tadpole/

This identification table has also used a published tutorial (web site listed below) on the morphology of the tadpoles to assist with the explanation of the key features listed in the table. http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/tadpole/tutorial.htm