Abstract
High abundance of invasive African clawed frog Xenopus laevis in Chile: challenges for their control and updated invasive distribution
Highlights
IntroductionThe discovery of the early human pregnancy diagnosis (or Hogben test) using X. laevis in the 1930s, its wide use as an animal model in biological research, and growing interest in this species as a pet has increased the range of X. laevis globally: initially from South Africa to the United Kingdom, but later to other regions across the globe via the scientific and pet trade networks (Van Sittert and Measey 2016)
Based on population monitoring and a management intervention, we studied an invasive population of X. laevis from central Chile with the aim of: 1) estimating abundance of X. laevis using a theoretical population model, and 2) assessing the effectiveness of a method of control to prevent the spread of X. laevis
At the study pond a total of 819 post-metamorphic X. laevis were captured during the 200 min search and our non-linear extrapolation model estimated a population size of N(1) = 1,182 frogs, giving an average density of 13.7 frogs/m2 (13.6–13.9) of surface water
Summary
The discovery of the early human pregnancy diagnosis (or Hogben test) using X. laevis in the 1930s, its wide use as an animal model in biological research, and growing interest in this species as a pet has increased the range of X. laevis globally: initially from South Africa to the United Kingdom, but later to other regions across the globe via the scientific and pet trade networks (Van Sittert and Measey 2016). Due to its high trade, X. laevis has been implicated in the spread of two amphibian diseases of conservation concern. Tolerant to infection but resistant to developing clinical disease, X. laevis can act as reservoir maintaining chytridiomycosis and Ranavirus in invaded habitats (Weldon et al 2004; Robert et al 2007; Solís et al 2010; Soto-Azat et al 2010, 2016)
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