Return rates of male hylid frogs Litoria genimaculata, L. nannotis, L. rheocola and Nyctimystes dayi after toe-tipping

Toe-tipping is a commonly used procedure for mark-recapture studies of frogs, although it has been criticised for its potential influence on frog behaviour, site fidelity and mortality. We compared 24 h return rates of newly toe-tipped frogs to those previously toe-tipped and found no evidence of a stress response reflected by avoidance behaviour for 3 species: Litoria genimaculata, L. rheocola and Nyctimystes dayi. L. nannotis was the only studied species to demonstrate a greater reaction to toe-tipping than handling alone; however, return rates (65%) in the 1 to 3 mo after marking were the highest of any species, showing that the reaction did not endure. The comparatively milder short-term response to toe-tipping in N. dayi (24% return rate) may have been caused by the species’ reduced opportunity for breeding. Intermediate-term return rates were relatively high for 2 species, L. nannotis and L. genimaculata, given their natural history, suggesting there were no major adverse effects of toe-tipping. Longer-term adverse effects could not be ruled out for L. rheocola and N. dayi, which had relatively moderate intermediate-term return rates (33 and 36%, respectively). We recommend that future studies directly observe the health effects of toe-tipping, are longer term and consider alternative marking methods.