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Tadpoles of the Magnificent Tree Frog Litoria splendida produce host defence peptides early in their development and well before metamorphosis. Peptides were identified and characterized using high performance liquid chromatography and electrospray mass spectrometry. No host defence peptides were identified in the eggs. The neuropeptide caerulein was detected 10 d after egg deposition, and the antibiotic peptides caerin 1.1, caerin 1.6 and caerin 3.1 first appeared at 14 d. The concentration of peptides increases with the onset of metamorphosis at 84 d, when the host-defence peptide profile is the same as that of the adult. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]