TurkJZool 31(2007)53-64 ©TÜB‹TAK SomeCommentsontheBreedingBiologyof Pelodytescaucasicus Boulenger,1896(Anura:Pelodytidae)fromUzungöl,NortheastAnatolia HüseyinARIKAN1,*,MuratTOSUNO⁄LU2,MehmetK.ATATÜR1,BayramGÖÇMEN1 1EgeUniversity,FacultyofScience,DepartmentofBiology,ZoologySection,35100Bornova,‹zmir-TURKEY 2ÇanakkaleOnsekizMartUniversity,FacultyofArtsandScience,BiologyDepartment,Çanakkale-TURKEY Received:05.12.2005 Abstract: Observationsduring2001and2002atUzungölLake(Trabzon),situatedwithinthedistributionareaof Pelodytes caucasicus intheEasternBlackSearegionofTurkey,establishedthattheusualbreedingseasonofthespeciesextendedfrommid JulytomidSeptember.Periodicdayandnightmeasurementsofsomeecologicalcharacteristicsofthelake(temperature,pH, dissolvedoxygen)wererecordedduringthebreedingseason.Thefirstspawningwasobservedduringthenightof22July2001. Clutches(eggmasses)werelaidinthedeeperpartsofthelake,onsubmergedvegetation.Theclutchescontainedbetween446and 492eggs.Thefirstlarvaehatched5daysafterthespawning.Theycompletedtheirmetamorphosisin31-35daysandthenemerged onland.Afterthefirst(2001)breedingseason,non-metamorphosedhibernatinglarvaewereseenduringthewinterandspring months. KeyWords: EasternBlackSeaRegion,CaucasianParsleyFrog, Pelodytescaucasicus,Anura,BreedingBiology Kuzeydo¤uAnadolu,Uzungöl’deYaflayanPelodytescaucasicus Boulenger, 1896(Anura:Pelodytidae)’unÜremeBiyolojisiÜzerineBaz›Yorumlar Özet: Pelodytescaucasicus’unDo¤uKaradenizBölgesi’ndekida¤›l›flsahas›içindeyeralanUzungöl(Trabzon)’de2001-2002y›llar› aras›nda(2y›l)yap›langözlemleregöre,türünüremedönemininTemmuzortalar›ndanEylülortalar›nakadarsürdü¤üsaptanm›flt›r Üremeperiyodundaperiyodikolaraksuyunekolojiközellikleri(temperatür,pHveoksijen)ileilgiligecevegündüzeaitölçüm de¤erlerial›nm›flt›r.‹lkyumurtab›rak›m›22Temmuz2001gecesigözlenmifltirYumurtakümelerigölcü¤ünenderink›sm›nda,su yüzeyineulaflmayanvejetasyonüzerineb›rak›lm›flt›r.B›rak›lanherbiryumurtakümesinin446-492yumurtaiçerdi¤itespitedilmifltir. ‹lkyumurtab›rak›m›ndan5günsonralarvalar›nç›kt›¤›,oldukçah›zl›geliflenlarvalar›n31-35günsonrametamorfozunu tamamlayaraksudankarayaç›kt›klar›gözlenmifltir.Birsonrakiürememevsimindek›flveilkbaharaylar›n›hibernasyonhalindegeçiren metamorfozunutamamlamam›flörneklergözlenmifltir. AnahtarSözcükler: Do¤uKaradenizBölgesi,Pelodytescaucasicus,Anura,ÜremeBiyolojisi Introduction describedanewspecies, P.ibericus,fromPortugaland EndemictotheCaucasusregion,theCaucasianparsley southernSpain. frog,Pelodytescaucasicus (Boulenger,1896),isknown Thereareseveralworksonthemorphology, inTurkeyonlyfromtheEasternBlackSearegion.The osteology,ecology,anddistributionof P.caucasicus otherwell-knownspeciesofthegenus(andofthefamily (Chanturishvili,1940;Nikolsky,1962;Steiner,1968; Pelodytidae), P.punctatus (Daudin,1803),iswidely Darevskyetal.,1971;LukinaandKoneva,1977; distributedinalargeareaofwesternEurope(Toxopeus Golubev,1985;Engelmannetal.,1986;Tuniev,1989; etal.,1993),butthetaxonomicstatusofits Chubinishvilietal.,1995;Tarkhnishvili,1996;Baranet westernmostpopulationsontheIberianPeninsulahas al.,1997;BaranandAtatür1998;Franzen,1999; recentlychanged.Sánchez-Herraizetal.(2000) TarkhnishviliandGokhelashvili,1999),whichalso *Correspondingauthor:[email protected] 53 SomeCommentsontheBreedingBiologyof Pelodytescaucasicus Boulenger,1896(Anura:Pelodytidae)fromUzungöl,NortheastAnatolia mentionthattheyspawninpoolsformedbymountain avellana,Buxussempervirens ,Rhododendronponticum, streams,andhavebothalongbreedingperiodand andCornussanguinalis.Abovethiswoodyterrain,alpine hibernatinglarvae.ApopulationfromtheNedzuraRiver andsubalpinegrasslandsarepresent(Seçmenand Canyon,Georgia,hasbeenreportedtohaveabreeding Leblebici,1997).Thelake’sshoreisrichin Tetekia periodfrommidMaytotheendofSeptember speciosa andRhododendronponticum. (Chubinishvilietal.,1995).AsBaflo¤luetal.(1994) Duringthestudy,dataonthebreedingbiologywere wrote,thereislittleinformationonthebreedingbiology collectedfromnaturalshoalsnotexceedingadepthof1 ofP.caucasicus,andtheaimofthepresentstudywasto mandwhichcontainedrichvegetationof Equisetum clarifythebreedingbiologyoftheUzungöl(Trabzon) fluviatile (Figure2),andalsofromasmallnaturalpool population,situatedwithinthedistributionareaofthe southeastofUzungöl(Figure3). speciesintheEasternBlackSearegionofTurkey. Duringthebreedingperiod,dayandnight temperatures,pH,anddissolvedoxygenvaluesofthe MaterialsandMethods lakewaterweremeasuredwithaMultiP3pH/oxiset;the 00 00 ThisstudywascarriedoutatUzungölLake,atan airandwatertemperaturesweremeasuredat12 -13 00 00 altitudeof1100mintheEasternBlackSearegionof and01 -02 hours. Turkey,duringthebreedingperiods(June-September)of Morphometricalmeasurementsoftheeggsandlarvae 2001and2002(Figure1). wereobtainedwithadialcaliperof0.01mmsensitivity. Uzungölisalakeofapproximately1000 × 500m, withadepthof15m.Itstypicalfloraconsistsof Results Equisetumfluviatile andCatabrosaaquatica.E.fluviatile coversmostofthelake(Figure2).HaldizenBrook,a GeneralCharacteristicsoftheSpecies branchoftheSolakl›River,feedsthelake.Dueto Pelodytescaucasicus isaslenderfrog.Groundcolorof structuraldifferencesstemmingfromclimateand thedorsumisolivegreentogray-brownwithoverlying geomorphology,variedvegetationencirclesthelake. blackishbranchingorslightlyvermiculatemaculation.The Above1000m,thelakeissurroundedbyPiceaorientalis, skinhasvariouslysizedporouswarts.Theventeris Fagusorientalis,Pinussylvestris,Alnusglutinosa,Abies smoothandwhitish;onlythepelvicareaisslightly nordmanniana,andvariousbushes,suchas Coryllus granulated.Swimmingwebsarereduced.Ithassmall Figure1. GeneralviewofUzungöl(Trabzon). 54 H.ARIKAN,M. TOSUNO⁄LU,M.K.ATATÜR,B. GÖÇMEN Figure2. Pelodytescaucasicus biotope,coveredwithEquisetumfluviatile. Figure3. AspawningpoolsoutheastofUzungöl,wherelarvaldevelopmentwasobserved. innermetatarsaltuberclesonthehindlegsatthebaseof anocturnalspeciesthatusuallyhidesunderleavesand thefirsttoe.Thepresenceofaninnervoicesac,longer stonesinshadeanddarkplaceswithinthewoody andstrongerforelegs,theappearanceofblacktubercles, vegetationsouthandsouthwestofUzungölduringthe especiallyontheventerduringthebreedingseason, daytime.Dissectedurogenitalsystemsofmaturemale differentiatesthemalesfromthefemales.Thesnout-vent andfemalespecimensareshowninFigures4and5, length(SVL)ofsexuallymaturemalesis45.06-52.08 respectively. mm;thatoffemalesis46.70-49.62mm.P.caucasicusis 55 SomeCommentsontheBreedingBiologyof Pelodytescaucasicus Boulenger,1896(Anura:Pelodytidae)fromUzungöl,NortheastAnatolia (a) (b) 4mm Figure4. Urogenitalsysteminaventrallydissectedmaturemalespecimen. 10mm 4mm (a) (b) Figure5. Urogenitalsysteminaventrallydissectedmaturefemalespecimen. BreedingandSpawning Ranaridibunda (Pallas,1771),andMertensiellacaucasica Duringthefirstfieldworkduring13-17June2001, (Waga,1876)wereestablished.Duringthattime,the nospecimenswereobservedonlandorinthewater; day/nightairtemperatureswere13-15/10-12°C;the whilethestartofthebreedingseasonsofsympatricBufo day/nightwatertemperatureswere9-10/7-8°C(Table bufo (Linnaeus,1758), Hylaarborea (Linnaeus,1758), 1). 56 H.ARIKAN,M. TOSUNO⁄LU,M.K.ATATÜR,B. GÖÇMEN Table1.DataonP.caucasicusspecimensandonsomeecologicalparticulars. NoSpecimensSeen FirstSpecimensinWater FirstAmplexus LarvalDevelopment 13-30June 1July 19-22July 1-30August 2001 200120012001 DayAirTemperature 13-15ºC 20-22ºC 22-24ºC 24-30ºC NightAirTemperature 10-12ºC 18-20ºC 18-20ºC 22-28ºC DayWaterTemperature 9-10ºC 16-18ºC 17-18ºC 24-26ºC NightWaterTemperature 7-8ºC 14-16ºC 14-16ºC 20-24ºC pH 6.5 6.5 7 6.5 ppmO2 (mg/l)9 899 Thefirst P.caucasicus specimenswereobservedon followingnight(20July),andthatbehaviorcontinued landnearthelakeon1July2001.Theday/nightair untilthenightof15August. P.caucasicusdemonstrates temperatureswere20-22/18-20°Candwater aninguinalamplexus,sometimesafemalemaybein temperatureswere16-18/14-16°C(Table1). amplexuswith8-10males.Dataontheseandrelated Duringtheinitialbreedingbehaviorsofthespecies topicsaregiveninTable1. (19July2001),themaleswereobservedtoleavetheir Thefirsteggreleasewasobservedduringthenightof dailyhidingplaces(Figure6)andmoveintothewaterat 22July.Theeggswerelaidinmasses(clutches)onthe around22 00 hours,turntowardstheshore,andemit submergedbranchesandleavesof Equisetumfluviatile interrupted,weakvocalizations.Thevocalizationsofthe (Figure7).Thefreshlylaideggsweregrayishblackatthe otheranurans(H.arborea,R.ridibunda)inthesamearea animalpolesanddirtywhiteatthevegetativepoles; weremuchlouder.Thefemaleslefttheirhidingplaces withinafewdaystheybegantouniformlydarken(Figure andmovedtowardsthewater1-1.5hlater(around23 00 8). hours).Noamplexusformationwasobservedduringthe Thenumberofeggsinaclutchvariedfrom446to nightof19July.Thefirstamplexuswasseenthe 492,dependingonthesizeofthefemale,and,insome Figure6. Aviewofthedailyhidingplacesofthespecies. 57 SomeCommentsontheBreedingBiologyof Pelodytescaucasicus Boulenger,1896(Anura:Pelodytidae)fromUzungöl,NortheastAnatolia Figure7. Afreshlyspawnedclutch. Figure8. Adarkenedclutchlaidafewdaysearlier. dissectedfemales,122to574eggswereobserved.The stayedtogetherinstillwater(Figure9).Fivedaysafter diameteroftheeggswithinthegelatinoussheathvaried theeggrelease(27July),thefirstlarvaebeganto from1.50to1.90mm(mean:1.71mm).Spawning emergeandthewater/airtemperatureswere continueduntil24August. approximately15/24°C.On28July,awholeclutchof eggswasseentocompletedevelopmentandproduce larvae.Similarobservationsin2002establishedthatthe LarvalDevelopment lasteggreleasewason23Augustandtheemergenceof Threedaysafterthefirsteggrelease(25July),the thelarvaeon30August,withapproximatewater/air gelatinoussheathsurroundingtheeggsbeganto