Lilaciåce

Lilaciåce (salbufo purpura, purple salt-toad) are a species of toad descended from the common toad. Lilaciåce (pronounced lee-la-cho-che) are found throughout the saltree forests on the coast of Southern Europe. Their name comes from Istro-Romanian, it roughly translates to "purple beast". 

Biology

Lilaciåce measure in at 10 inches in length. Their skin is either purple, red-violet, or blue. Their skin has a spotted pattern. The unique skin coloration comes from their diet of sea snails. These sea snails have hypobranchial glands that contain a colorful ink, the ink is either purple, scarlet, or blue depending on the species of snail and how much the Lilaciåce eats. The dye turns their skin and flesh from grey-brown to purple, blue, or scarlet in order to prevent fungal or microbial growths on the skin. The brightly colored frogs oftentimes fool predators in thinking their poisonous. The ink from the snails is stored within the reproductive tract of female toads during mating season, leading to females having a paler look, which helps males identify them.

Lilaciåce live in salt and brackish water and spend the majority of their time swimming, at night they rest in the trees. The only reason that Lilaciåce are able to survive in salty water is due to the frog holding onto urea as well as substances that neutralize urea so that the frog isn't killed by osmotic shock or uric poisoning. Lilaciåce also have a slightly less permeable skin membrane in order to decrease the flow of salt. Lilaciåce evolved this ability during the holocene extinction where toads had to adapt to water pollution and salinity increases in freshwater areas.

Lilaciåce have larger feet and long, splayed toes for better swimming. They comb the seabed for snails and invertebrates, however they can't chew on their shells when they have no teeth. When Lilaciåce catch their prey they swallow it whole and crush it with their throat muscles. The limestone they expel in their waste is imporant for burying saltree seeds and enriching substrate.

Tadpoles are born a brownish color, they feast on dead fish, algae and fallen saltree leaves. As pollywogs, they start to breath air and feast on snails, which is where they start to develop their coloration. However 1 out of every 100k tadpoles will not transition to adulthood and instead mature while locked in a neotenous tadpole form. There is an even smaller chance of this happening due to most tadpoles not making it to adulthood.

Behavior

Lilaciåce are solitary animals except for when they mate in the warm calidocene winters. As the females watch, the males will try and knock each other off of the saltree roots as a show of strength. Alternatively, the males can prove themselves by showing their brightly colored skin or throat sac to show that their healthy and well fed. When a female selects her mate, she will lay her eggs in the saltree roots. After the male fertilizes them, the female will secrete a substance derived from the dye onto the eggs, the dye helps them stay hidden and protects them from microbes and parasites.