The Kokoe-Pa poison dart frog (also called the harlequin poison
dart frog) has become a rarity in captive collections. For the
past several years, we have maintained one female (wild caught
and arriving at the National Aquarium, Baltimore, in 2001 as a
USFWS confiscation) and a male that was born here in 2002. These
frogs are particularly difficult to successfully reproduce, as
the tadpoles are obligate egg feeders. After a clutch of eggs
are laid, the parents move each tadpole to its own small
reservoir of water, usually within a bromeliad plant. The female
frog will then return every other day or so to lay unfertilized
eggs into the water for the tadpole to feed upon. Research on
other obligate egg-feeding dart frogs suggests that mother frogs
may recognize their own tadpoles by specific “begging” behaviors
during the process. In 2005 and 2009, we had egg-laying episodes
that, unfortunately, did not result in thriving viable young.
Our herpetologists have paid particular attention to this
species, closely m