Sampling the invasive population of Xenopus on Awaji Island
Japan has several invasive populations of Xenopus laevis and among them is the one on Awaji Island, South of Kobe City. Prof Takeshi Igawa kindly accompanied me to the site, making the trip possible. We were joined there by the amazing Nobuyuki Higashiguchi who has been catching Xenopus from this population for over 6 years.
The island has a lot of rice paddys and small resevoirs that are needed to flood them. These present a myriad of habitats for Xenopus as they are all interconnected.
We spent several days trapping in various different ponds and amassed a large number of animals. We were also treated to the mastery of a throw net as Nobuyi showed us how to catch tadpoles from one of the reservoirs.
Many thanks to both Takeshi Igawa and Nobuyuki Higashiguchi for making this trip possible.
