On Saturday, 7 March 1998 08:00:00 UTC, Ian Taylor wrote:
My friend has a largish (approx. 800 gallon pond). In it there are
goldfish and koi. Lately he has found a couple of the bigger koi dead for
no apparent reason. Today he was in the garden when he saw a fish rolling
around in the pond. He netted it (a koi about 8 inches long) and on its
back was a large frog. The frog had to be prised off the fish, I assume it
was attempting to mate with the frog! This is not a joke, it is quite true.
Has anyone else seen this phenomenon and has it killed their fish?

Also the dead fish were at the bottom of the pond. What makes dead ones
float or sink? Is it gas like in most corpses, in this case in the swim
bladder?

Thanks

Ian

i to have just had to seperate a frog grasping hold of one of my koi it was on its back and holding on very tight had a problem getting it off my koi died iv had frogs in my pond with koi for 6 years no problem that i know of till today

I have just witnessed this myself , I have just netted my koi at bottom of pond with a frog on top of it-the frog had wedged its front feet into the fish gills killing the fish. It is mating season at the moment - so this is possible. I was a bit quick removing the frog from the koi to see if the fish was alive ... had I thought I could have taken a pic as I was pretty shocked as not witnessed anything like this before !

Yes this has happened in my pond last winter noticed a fish at the bottom I thought was dead when I put it in the net and brought it to the surface notice a frog wrapped tightly around it I removed the frog and threw it over the garden fence the fish swam off but within 2 days it died.😬

I have this happening to me right now, I don't have koi fish I have shubunkins. My poor little fish! It's gripped so tight around him that I can't take him off!

I’ve just had this happen too! But the frog wasn’t gripping the gills it had actually lodged its legs into the koi’s eyes!! Yes it’s eye sockets! How in gods name it had done it I don’t know but I literally had to prise this frog off my koi and pull its front legs out of the koi’s eye sockets! It’s dark right now so I can’t check my fish over easily but fingers crossed it’s alright? It swam away but there must be damage? I fk hope it survives. I’ve never seen or heard of the before! I’m guessing the only reason the fish isn’t dead, it that the frog didn’t attach to the gills and suffocate the koi. Maybe that means she can survive albeit properly blinded

Had the same issue here in suny Kent. Toad attached to the koi’s head, both front arms in the koi’s eyes but the toad was facing towards the tail - so the koi was able to breath but it looked like something from the film aliens. Doubtful it will have any sight left now but the toad - once removed - learnt how to fly into the neighbours garden.... apparently it only happens if there is no female toad in the pond...

Then an hour later noticed my black sturgeon was belly up on the bottom of the pond - scooped it out to find it too had a toad on its head. With Orange eyes and it had a claw or toe nail on each front hand (probably to grip the female) now the sturgeon is in a holding pool along with all my other fish. Had scrape marks all down it’s head where the toad had been trying to latch on. This was a big fish some 20� long yet it may not live the day thanks to a fk toad.

Anyone know of an “Anne summers� or “love honey� site for toads/frogs so I can get something else to distract the Randy so-and-so’s........

Hello ian i have two koi carp abd a frog was ob one the carps head yesterday gotvthecfrg of and today the frogcwas on thecsam koi carp again will my fish bebokay paula abd iain

We have had the exact same experience. The frogs killed all our fish by clinging on to them. I tried to prise them apart with no joy. We now keep our pond purely as a wildlife pond with no fish, which is better for wildlife anyway.

I have the opposite problem, not that I like frogs. But one of my larger koi grabs the frogs by the leg and carries them around the pond until they die. Then just toys with the dead frog like a child with a teddy bear.
I've had koi for a good few years and never seen this before.
Anyone seen this behaviour?

Myself and at least 3 others witnessed frogs clamping round the gills of koi carp in a pond in Bournemouth. We watched for a good half hour trying to work out what was actually happening. I genuinely believe they were trying to smother the fish. Definitely happened though no matter what the reason

This definitely happens. I have lost 4 koi and several large orfe to this phenomenon this Spring. They clamp the gills shut so suffocate the fish or just exhaust the fish by the additional weight the fish have to carry around or damage their eyes from they clamp on there. They only seem to clamp onto large fish from what I have seen. I remove them where I can but often this happens overnight and death has occurred by the time I check the pond in the morning.
I used to love frogs and toads but I have definitely gone off them now..........
On Sunday, July 5, 2020 at 12:45:05 AM UTC+1, wrote:
Myself and at least 3 others witnessed frogs clamping round the gills of koi carp in a pond in Bournemouth. We watched for a good half hour trying to work out what was actually happening. I genuinely believe they were trying to smother the fish. Definitely happened though no matter what the reason