Toxic frogs breeding in Portsmouth

June 2010: Aquarists at Portsmouth's Blue Reef Aquarium are celebrating after successfully breeding dozens of endangered phantasmal poison frogs - believed to be one of the most toxic amphibians on the planet.

Despite measuring less than a centimetre in length, the tiny amphibians have got a fearsome reputation. The frogs' poison is believed to be 200 times more powerful than the drug morphine.

Bright red with three usually greenish fluorescent stripes, the frogs are found in the wild only on the western slopes of the Andes in Ecuador.

Blue Reef Aquarium's Jenna MacFarlane said: ‘Virtually every species of poison frog is threatened in the wild. Among the biggest threats are loss of habitat and pollution.

Two hundred times more powerful than morphine

‘To be able to breed this particular species successfully in captivity is extremely rewarding.

‘We have done out utmost to replicate the conditions they would normally experience in the wild and the success of the breeding programme would seem to indicate we have managed to get things just about perfect.

‘The first batch has already metamorphosed from the tadpole stage into tiny froglets and we have high hopes they will continue to thrive.'

The World Conservation Union considers the phantasmal poison frog to be ‘Endangered', which means that it faces a very high risk of extinction in the wild. This species is now thought to survive in only seven sites on mountains in parts of Ecuador.

Despite their deadly status it is hoped that the phantasmal arrow frog could one day help save lives. Scientists have discovered that an extract from the skin of the phantasmal poison frog Epipedrobates tricolor can block pain 200 times more effectively than morphine, and without addiction and other serious side effects.