The Herpetological Journal

pp.111-118

Authors: Feng Xie, Liang Fe!i, Changyuan Ye , Chunmo Cai , Zu Wang Wang And Max Sparreboom

Abstract: Breeding migration, oviposition, egg development and larval migration to water were studied in the Chinhai salamander, Echinotriton chinhaiensis during three consecutive breeding seasons. During 1997, 1998 and 1999, mainly females were found around the three ponds where breeding was recorded. Females migrate to breeding sites in late March and April and deposit egg clutches on the banks of the breeding ponds. Characteristic features of these egg-laying areas are high humidity, thick cover of plant debris and location on slopes bordering the water's edge. The eggs develop on land and hatch in early May, when the hatchlings are washed into the ponds during heavy rains. Experiments show that the eggs also develop normally when placed in water. In the natural habitat neither adults nor eggs were ever found in water. Reproduction in this species is dependent on a combination of very specific requirements, which make the species particularly sensitive to the environmental changes that threaten the scarce habitat in which it has been able to survive thus far.

Keywords: Echinotriton chinhaiensis, Echinotriton andersoni, breeding, conservation