What are these tadpole-like things in my garden pond?

[simon43]

What are these little black tadpoles with bright white eyes?

 

Lol, I've been trying to identify these for months. I built a little pond in my garden with a small fountain to oxygenate the water, added a few pond plants and water snails etc.

 

Then almost overnight, some tadpole-like organisms appeared in the water. Except they are not frog tadpoles. I saw no frog spawn and the newborn tadpoles appear as tiny specks in the water, perhaps 0.5mm long. As they grow, they take on the appearance of black frog tadpoles, but with very bright white eyes. They probably have internal gills (breathing underwater), but have no fins, such as a small fish might have. They do not grow legs and their 'tadpole' tail does not diminish in size, nor do they turn into frogs. The largest are about 1cm long.

 

I'm stumped! I teach science all day, but cannot classify these organisms. Any suggestions? (No photos because it is very difficult to get a clear photo with the water ripples)]

 

Update: I fished one of these 'tadpoles' out of the water to examine it more closely, It also has a large white spot on its underside, (not visible when you look from above of course). No sign of legs, no sign of feathery gills that frog tadpoles have..  This is basically what they look like topside and underside.  So they look exactly like frog or toad tadpoles, but they are not!!  

 

I'm wondering whether they are some kind of insect larva stage, because their eggs suddenly appear overnight as 'dust' floating on the pond surface, then after a few days, that 'dust' changes into perhaps 100 tiny little tadpoles.....   I'm stumped!!

 

[worgeordie]

Put some in a jam jar, easy to take photo , then someone

might be able to identify .

regards worgeordie

[simon43]

[Card]

Do a Google image search or use Google Lens. I did a quickie and all the results show it is a tadpole but the question is which type of frog?

[heybuz]

Sperm.

[Liverpool Lou]

Toad tadpoles.

[Cake Monster]

Err

Tadpoles would be my guess.

[kwonitoy]

Baby Aliens, you should move

[xtrnuno41]

covid virus type Z .

[tonray]

Toad tadpoles, likely Common Indian Toad.

 

[G Rex]

Definitely tadpoles - you can see developing hind legs at tailbase in your first pics. 

Most likely toads as some others have said.

[Sihuhata]

Sea Monkeys

[Grusa]

Tadpoles. Did you Photoshop the white "eyes", they look much too perfect!

[driver52]

2 hours ago, tonray said:

Toad tadpoles, likely Common Indian Toad.

 

they're toxic methinks? ????

[tonray]

14 minutes ago, driver52 said:

they're toxic methinks? ????

I don't know..but I've relocated several from my garden..they are strong suckers...gotta use a firm grip. The feral cats stay away from them so maybe

[driver52]

11 minutes ago, tonray said:

I don't know..but I've relocated several from my garden..they are strong suckers...gotta use a firm grip. The feral cats stay away from them so maybe

from t'internet 'These frogs have a poison gland on their head, which aids in protecting them from predators'

[Speedhump]

Your image scale shows them to be about 10cm long. Some 'tadpole' ????????????????

[Speedhump]

2 hours ago, Grusa said:

Tadpoles. Did you Photoshop the white "eyes", they look much too perfect!

My thought precisely! 

[SamuiAddict]

Those "Tadpole like things" are indeed.......drum roll...... TADPOLES haha

[Freddy42OZ]

18 hours ago, Grusa said:

Tadpoles. Did you Photoshop the white "eyes", they look much too perfect!

He didn't want to reveal their true identity online.