The food of rana catesbeiana shaw in Puerto Rico

Abstract

The common bullfrog, Rana catesbeiana Shaw, of the Southeastern United States was introduced to Puerto Rico in 1935 by the Insular Department of Agriculture and Commerce. Mr. Adger C. Smyth, head of the Ornithology and Pisciculture Service, notes in its 1935 Annual Report that a total of 40 frogs from Florida were placed in a specially constructed pond at Río Piedras. In the 1936 Annual Report he stated that the introduction and breeding of the bullfrog in Puerto Rico had been very successful. The present range of the bullfrog in the Island is not known exactly, but may be expanding rapidly in the more humid coastal areas. The frog is at present definitely known to be in the environs of Río Piedras and neighboring towns, and at Mayagüez and Humacao. Most recently it was reported from Barceloneta, where it caused a great deal of nervousness among the inhabitants who had never before heard the noise made by the male frog. So many stories and superstitions were current about these noises in the night that the Station had to explain the cause in the newspapers to bring peace to those people. The same thing happened some 10 years ago in the vicinity of Río Piedras, but this time a continental lady, Miss Asea Watson, who probably had heard the bullfrog's croak many times in the States, cleared up the mystery. She called a group of neighbors one night and with the aid of a flashlight and a home-made net caught the amphibian ghost and showed it to the astonished people.