Pre‐loved home: Egg clutches of the striped marsh frog, Limnodynastes peronii, detected in water‐filled burrows created by the hunter hairy crayfish, Cherax setosus

Abstract

AbstractMany animals create their own microhabitats that are not naturally present in the environment, such as nests and burrows, which are extended phenotypes that perform tasks related to survival and reproduction. Animals may be able to avoid the costs of implementing their own extended phenotypes by exploiting those already created by other species, including structures that are not actively in use or abandoned. Herein, we report on the striped marsh frog, Limnodynastes peronii, from Australia utilizing crayfish burrows for depositing their egg clutches. Field observations revealed large numbers of recently hatched L. peronii tadpoles in two flooded burrows likely created by the hunter hairy crayfish, Cherax setosus, near an ephemeral wetland pond on Kooragang Island, Australia that had partially dried. Our observations indicate that L. peronii may opportunistically exploit crayfish burrows which, when flooded, become suitable aquatic sites for breeding. These small waterbodies may provide fitness benefits to offspring, reducing exposure to aquatic predators found in naturally occurring aquatic systems but at the expense of increasing competition and cannibalism among confined siblings. These burrows may provide suitable microhabitat refuge during droughts, and breeding habitat for amphibians when other typical breeding habitats may not exist due to wetland drying. This is an example of an amphibian using an extended phenotype of a crustacean for the purposes of reproduction, revealing a unique interaction between these species that has not been reported.