What Do Tadpoles Eat?

Tadpoles, also known as polliwogs or pollywiggles, are the aquatic larval stage in a developing frog or toad. Yet, how much do you know about these creatures?

The diet of a tadpole depends upon what stage of development that the tadpoles are in. When a tadpole is in its early development stage, it eats its own yolk sacks for sustenance. The yolk sack helps the tadpole grow and develop.

The majority of tadpoles are herbivores. This means that most tadpoles eat plants found within the water, as well as algae. Algae are a diverse group of autotrophic organisms. Certain types of algae include seaweed, coral reefs, and sea sponges.

They will also eat microbes that are found within fresh water. In captivity, tadpoles will eat fish food, types of lettuce, egg yolk, and even baby cereal. When the tadpoles reach later stages of development, they become carnivores. They will eat insects that are found within the water, larvae, or other small animals. If they cannot find enough food in the water, they will even eat each other for food.

In Captivity

In captivity, in the later stages of development, they will often eat such food as mincemeat. One should also note that in the earlier stages of development, if there is not enough food, the tadpoles may become carnivores and eat each other.

Tadpole Life Cycle

Tadpoles are young amphibians and they live in the water. A tadpole is merely one stage in the amphibians’ life cycle. Most tadpoles are able to breathe using external or internal gills.

When an amphibian is in the early tadpole stage of its life, it usually doesn’t have any arms or legs. When a tadpole is first hatched, it only consists of poorly developed gills, a mouth, and a tail. It is extremely fragile at this point in its life.

Tadpoles frequently cling to weeds or grass found in the water. After about seven or ten days, the tadpole frees itself from the weeds or grass that it has attached to and begins to swim around. They are able to swim by moving their tail through the water.

Tadpole Maturity

When a tadpole begins to mature, it goes through metamorphosis and it grows limbs. It grows the legs first, and then it grows the arms.

If the amphibian is a frog, then it outwardly absorbs the tail through the process of apoptosis. Apoptosis is a programmed cell death that can occur in multicellular organisms. After about four weeks, the gills start to become overgrown by skin.

Eventually, the gills disappear completely. After this point, the tadpoles develop small teeth. These teeth help the tadpole grate food and transform it into a substance that is easier to swallow.

The tadpoles have extremely long and coiled intestines. The intestines are so long to ensure that the tadpole gets the nutrients that it needs from its diet. When the tadpoles are about four weeks old, they become more social creatures. You can often seen four week old tadpoles traveling in schools of fish or interacting with other tadpoles.

During the last part of a tadpole’s development, the tadpole will grow lungs. Thus, you can often tell what stage of development a tadpole is in by where you find them in a body of water. Once they are in the last stages of development, you will find tadpoles closer to the surface because they have the ability to breathe air.

After the lungs develop, the tadpole’s mouth changes in shape. It changes from a smaller and enclosed mouth into a much larger mouth. This newer mouth is about as wide as the tadpole’s head. At the end of the development process, the tadpole has transformed into an adult toad or an adult frog.