Low salinity increases survival, body weight and development in tadpoles of the Chinese edible frog Hoplobatrachus rugulosus

Water salinity affects survival, growth and metamorphosis of anuran tadpoles. Hoplobatrachus rugulosus is considered not only as a freshwater amphibian but is also found in brackish wetlands. However, whether salinity change interferes with hatching, survival, body mass and development of H. rugulosus tadpoles is unknown. We found that salinity levels of <4‰ did not affect of survival or hatching of H. rugulosus eggs. At an early larval stage, tadpoles could tolerate up to 9‰ salinity for 96 h; however, body water content decreased when salinity was >5‰. After a 3-week experiment, body weights of tadpoles exposed to 2‰ and 4‰ salinities were higher but that of the 6‰ group was lower compared with the 0‰ group. More than 90% of tadpoles exposed to 2‰ and 4‰ salinity showed complete metamorphosis. Salinity levels <4‰ promoted survival of tadpoles better than 0‰, whereas none of tadpoles in the 6‰ group became juvenile frogs in 50 days. Time taken to reach metamorphosis was shorter for 2‰ and 4‰ (47.22 ± 0.28 and 47.26 ± 0.33 days, respectively) than for 0‰ (49.31 ± 0.35 days). Juvenile frogs in the 2‰ group had greater body weight than the control. It could be concluded that salinity of <4‰ increased survival and body weight of H. rugulosus tadpoles, and shortened the time taken to reach metamorphosis.