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Each adult female amphibian can lay hundreds, often thousands,
of eggs. Much of this spawn will not make it to the hatching
stage and there are a number of reasons why this can happen.
Normal frogspawn consists of a central embryo surrounded by a
clear jelly-like capsule. When laid, the embryo is dark
brown-black, with a creamy white underside which turns dark
after a few days. Normally this underside is not visible to us
unless the spawn clump has been overturned, so don’t be
concerned if you see partially light-coloured spawn just after
it has been laid; live eggs with all-white centres very
occasionally develop into albino tadpoles and froglets. Toad
spawn is similar in appearance to frog spawn but it is laid in
strings rather than clumps. Newt eggs are laid individually on
plant leaves.
...dying
/ breaking down.
...disappearing.
...failing year after year.
Advice sheet:
Amphibian Health and Disease.
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