Life history of the Levant water frog, Pelophylax bedriagae (Amphibia: Anura: Ranidae) in western Iran

In the present study, we studied the development and morphology of different larval stages of Pelophylax bedriagae (Camerano) at two rearing temperatures (20 and 24 °C). Eggs were collected from a breeding site in western Iran. Diagnostic morphological characters are provided for Gosner (1960) larval stages 1-46. The larvae hatched about seven days after egg deposition in the laboratory. A principal diagnostic feature, the formation of the funnelshaped oral disc, became discernible about ten days after hatching at Gosner stage 21 and degenerated at Gosner stage 42. Based on our results, the longest metamorphosis time was observed at 20 °C whilst the shortest metamorphosis time occurred at 24 °C. The largest body length of larval P. bedriagae measured about 54 mm in 70 days after egg deposition. Compared with the majority of other Palearctic anurans, it appears that embryonic and larval development is usually slow in P. bedriagae.