Iannella, M., L. Liberatore & M. Biondi

Marking tadpoles with Visible Implant Elastomer (VIE) tags: methods for improving readability and decreasing mortality. pp. 531-536 plus Supplementary material.

Abstract. Two hundred and ten tadpoles of the common toad (Bufo bufo) were marked on different body locations in order to understand the performance of the Visible Implant Elastomer (VIE) tags during larval stages, metamorphosis and first days of the toadlet phase. Considering the rate of survival, tag migration, tag retention and utilization difficulties, two different strategies of marking are suggested: a) for short-term experiments considering only the tadpole stage, the best solution is the marking on the upper tail; b) for long-term experiments, also including the development phase from tadpole to toadlet, the best solution is the marking on the right side or on the ventral area of the tadpole body.

Key words. Bufo bufo, survival rate, tadpole marking, VIE tags readability.