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Couch’s Spadefoot
(Scaphiopus couchii)
Identification: Pupil vertically elongate (like a cat’s) in bright light; a single hard, black, sickle-shaped spade on each hind foot; indistinct gland behind each eye; adult head and body length often 6–7 cm (2.4-2.8 inches), rarely up to 9 cm (3.5 inches).
| Mature male: Greenish yellow with scattered dark
spots; dark patches on the inner three toes of front feet of mature
individuals during breeding season; expanded vocal sac large and evenly
rounded.
Female : Greenish yellow with
dark mottling. [The top photo is a female.]
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Breeding
call
: A croaking
“yeow.”
Larvae: Upper side usually bronze, dark brown, or dark
gray to black (black in preservative); body typically wider in rear than in
front; tail fin clear with fine scattered dark dots and lines that are most
numerous in upper fin; eyes close together on top of head; intestine visible
through skin; jaws serrated, never with a single cusp; lower jaw striated;
usually 4-5 rows of tiny teeth on upper lip and on lower lip; no dark horny area
on roof of mouth; usually not more than 3.5 cm (1.4 inches)
long.
Eggs:
Deposited in a cluster, cylindrical mass, or string of several to more than 100,
attached to submerged plants or other objects in shallow
water.
Colorado
Distribution: Southeastern Colorado. Highly localized, generally rare.
Habitat:
Breeds in
pools and stock ponds filled by heavy rains, in areas dominated by prairie
grassland.
Life History:
Spends most of its life buried in the soil.
Emerges to breed after heavy rains in spring or summer. Larvae develop quickly
and metamorphose into small toads within a few weeks.