Success in breeding poison frogs at Portsmouth aquarium. portsmouth.co.uk. April 29, 2010.An aquarium has had success breeding dozens of deadly endangered frogs. Staff at the Blue Reef Aquarium in Southsea are celebrating after breeding phantasmal poison frogs – believed to be one of the most toxic amphibians on the planet. Measuring less than a centimetre in length, the tiny frogs’ poison is believed to be 200 times more powerful than morphine. Usually bright red with three green fluorescent stripes, they are found only on the western slopes of the Andes in Ecuador. Blue Reef Aquarium’s Jenna MacFarlane said: ‘These beautiful frogs are under increasing threat in the wild due to loss of habitat and pollution and we are delighted to have been able to breed them successfully here in Portsmouth, ‘It’s important we are able to mimic exactly their wild environment in order for the species to thrive in captivity and it’s a real achievement they are breeding so successfully. ‘They’ve passed the critical stage of development from tadpoles into froglets and they now look like perfect miniature replicas of their parents.’ The World Conservation Union considers the species to be under threat of extinction in the wild. And despite their deadly poison it is hoped that the phantasmal arrow frog could one day help save lives. Scientists discovered that an extract from the skin of a phantasmal poison frog can block pain 200 times more effectively than morphine.