Morphological, acoustic and genetic identification of a reproducing population of the invasive African clawed frog Xenopus laevis (Anura, Pipidae) recently discovered in Belgium

Abstract

Using external morphology of adults and tadpoles, osteology from high-resolution microcomputed tomography, vocalization analysis, and DNA sequence data, the identity of a reproducing Belgian population of invasive Xenopus at the current northernmost edge of the distribution of the genus in Europe was assessed. All data concur to an identification as Xenopus (Xenopus) laevis (Daudin, 1802). Genetically it is most closely related to populations of the Cape region in South Africa. No studies on the natural history of the Belgian Xenopus population and its impact on the local environment have been made to date.