I noticed something kind of odd about A. gracile eggs

[sde]

Hey all,

So there's this one pond near me that regularly has A. gracile eggs in it during the breeding season. Last year the egg masses and embryos were normal sized, but this year the egg masses and the embryos are unusually small. I mean like the embryos are half the size of eggs from a different pond. Usually the A. gracile egg masses that i find elsewhere and last year in that same pond were about the size of a large orange, or maybe a small grapefruit. But this year the egg masses in that one pond are only about the size of a tennis ball. The egg masses in all the other ponds are normal size ( about the size of a large orange, as previously said ) but in that one pond they are smaller.
They aren't a different species, A. macrodactylum have similar egg masses but are smaller and the eggs are spaced farther apart.

What could be causing this? I have heard that bad nutrition can cause small eggs, and they are in a area that is slightly developed, but still, there is plenty of native bugs and such. I have also heard that females laying for there first time ( in their lives ) tend to lay smaller eggs. But all the egg masses are small, so that would mean that all the breeding A. gracile females are young, which doesn't really make sense.

Any ideas of what could be going on here? I have done some research and couldn't find anything.

Thanks! -Seth

 

[Jennewt]

Have you observed the smaller eggs masses over a period of time, or just saw them once? The egg mass is laid quite small and expands gradually. I'm not sure how long it takes, nor whether it continues to swell as it sits there longer. But just as a random thought: maybe those egg masses were laid more recently.

 

[sde]

I actually have an egg mass from both places. The smaller egg mass is a little younger than the larger one. I actually am doing a photo development on the small one ( I should have picked the big one though, pictures would have been better ). But I do have a picture of them side by side, granted, its not a very good photo, but you can still tell that the one on the bottom/left is smaller. The egg and the embryo. Even though they are close to the same stages of development.

The smaller egg mass is a little bigger than when I found it, but not a lot. It is still around the size of a tennis ball, and the other around the size of a large orange. -Seth