Ranitomeya sirensis tadpoles

Every now and then, I replace some bromeliads in my Ranitomeya sirensis vivarium. Almost every time, I find tadpoles in them.

Normally, I leave all the tadpoles in my vivarium for the parents to care for throughout the entire development cycle. These ones I have to raise outside my vivarium. It’s a good opportunity to take some photos of the various stages of tadpole development.

The morphology of these tadpoles differs from that of Ranitomeya variabilis tadpoles (see post The Art of Tadpole Collection). Ranitomeya sirensis tadpoles have much broader cheeks and start colouring more early in their development.

Ranitomeya sirensis tadpole

Ranitomeya sirensis tadpole with rear limbs

Two Ranitomeya sirensis tadpoles in different stages

A scientific article on tadpole development of six Ranitomeya species, (including Ranitomeya sirensis) can be found in a publication of the Larval development and morphology of six Neotropical poison-dart frogs of the genus Ranitomeya (Anura: Dendrobatidae) based on captive-raised specimens from August 2020 - Bonn Zoological Bulletin 69(2):191-223.