Egg mass ID help.

[miykael81]

Hey folks, the other day I was out on a little herping trip with my son and could NOT figure out what this belongs to. Any ideas? A little background on the location:

This was in a mountain area, Western MD, heavily forested, in a flooded area where there are many vernal pools. There were plenty of Ambystoma Maculatum masses, along with what appeared to be some frog species. This however was a small pool seperated from the others that was quickly drying out (I don't know if that had any effect on the way the eggs were positioned or not). I found some Eastern Spotted Newts in these pools along with hearing the occasional frog. I did not see any toads around that I recall.

This picture was taken around April 10th or 11th(I cannot recall) Sorry for the blurry-cam picture quality, I did not have my DSLR with me so my cell phone camera had to do.

 

[Kaysie]

It's probably A. maculatum. Their egg masses can be pretty variable, but it's too early for most frog species, other than wood frogs and peepers.

It does look fairly uncoordinated though, doesn't it?

 

[miykael81]

Yeah I just dont get while the eggs are so loose, scattered and not enclosed in the protective jelly mass. One though I had though was that the water level going down could have caused this but I dunno.

 

[Otterwoman]

Could they be A. laterale, Kaysie?

 

[Kaysie]

I've found that as Ambystoma egg masses dry up, they just kind of turn prune-y. They don't really fall apart.

I've changed my opinion. I think they might be Wood Frog, Rana sylvatica, eggs. They kind of form clumps, but not really a cohesive mass like A. maculatum. The drying of them could be causing the whitish tint. Peeper eggs are small floating mats.