Hexafrog (SciiFii)

The hexafrog (Anuroichthyastegus macropoda) is a species of frog-like amphibious vertebrate, despite its name (and not a tetrapod despite its appearance), and is the only living species of the class, Hexapoda, that originally did not exist, but has since been created by SciiFii and introduced throughout the subtropical and temperate forests of the Azores archipelago to help boost biodiversity, although it has been accidentally introduced to parts of Southern California, likely due to pet trade. Although the hexafrog greatly resembles a green frog with somewhat-purplish red spots on its sides, it has six functional limbs for crawling, climbing, and jumping, unlike tetrapods (which generally have four limbs), and the closest living relatives of the hexafrogs are coelacanths, which also have six limbs. The hexafrog grows up to 2 inches from snout to urostyle. The males are usually smaller than the females and have a bright yellow patch on their throats. The bright yellow patch is the vocal sac, which stretches out when the male is calling. The hexafrog adults are insectivorous and primarily feed on insects, spiders, snails, slugs, and worms. The hexafrog begins mating in early winter to early spring. When it is time, the males migrate to the water. They then make a call at the same time, calling "ooh-yeeh" or ribbiting loudly. This lures the females to the water and they mate. The females lay their eggs in clumps of 10-180, and usually put them on and under vegetation and leaf litter in the pond. Females usually lay their eggs in shallow, calm water that has little action around it. If they survive, embryos will hatch into tadpoles within one to three weeks. The tadpoles feed on periphyton, filamentous algae, diatoms, and pollen in or on the surface of the water. They feed using suction, and a beak-like structure that helps scrape vegetation off surfaces. The conservation status of the hexafrog is Least Concern due to successful conservation efforts, the hexafrog's wide range and its tolerance to many of the human activities.
Category:Animals
Category:Species
Category:SciiFii