Lemos-Espinal, Julio A.

Smith, Geoffrey R.

English

The University of Kansas: Journals@KU

46	 IRCF	ReptIles	&	AmphIbIAns		•		Vol	17,	no	1		•		mAR	2010 smIth	AnD	lemos-espInAlobservations of amplexus and oviposition  in Ollotis [Bufo] occidentalis in the río salado, puebla, mexicoGeoffrey	R.	smith1	and	Julio	A.	lemos-espinal21Department	of	biology,	Denison	University,	Granville,	oh	43023,	UsA	(smithg@denison.edu)2laboratorio	de	ecología,	Unidad	de	biología,	tecnología	y	prototipos	(Fes-Iztacala,	UnAm),	Av.	de	los	barrios	s/n,	los	Reyes	Iztacala,	tlalnepantla,	estado	de	méxico,	méxico	54090the	Río	salado	runs	through	el	Valle	de	Zapotitlán	salinas	in	south-eastern	puebla,	mexico.	pools	along	the	Río	salado	are	seasonal,	form-ing	during	the	dry	season	as	the	water	level	in	the	Río	salado	falls.	During	a	monthly	survey	of	a	section	of	the	Río	salado	for	tadpoles	(Woolrich-peña	et	al.,	unpubl.	data),	we	observed	an	amplectant	pair	of	Ollotis [Bufo] occi-dentalis	and	their	egg	mass.	the	only	previously	published	reports	on	repro-duction	in	O. occidentalis	are	an	observation	by	Duellman	(1961)	of	tad-poles	collected	on	“may	3	in	a	quiet	section	of	a	fast	stream	near	barranca	seca”	in	michoacán,	mexico,	and	an	observation	of	an	amplectant	pair	in	el	Valle	de	Zapotitlán	salinas	on	27	october	1998	that	produced	an	egg	mass	with	>10,000	eggs	(oliver-lopez	et	al.	2000).	 We	observed	the	amplectant	pair	on	24	november	2007	at	0745	h.	Indications	that	it	had	rained	the	previous	night	were	abundant.	the	egg	mass	was	deposited	in	a	shallow	pool	along	the	main	channel	of	the	river.	the	depth	of	the	water	was	2	cm.	the	conductivity	of	the	water	was	1,966	ms	cm-1,	the	salinity	was	1.2	ppt,	the	dissolved	oxygen	content	was	6.49	mg	l-1,	and	the	temperature	was	17.0	°C	(measured	using	a	YsI	model	85	handheld	Do/conductivity	meter).	A	survey	of	several	other	pools	along	a	Amplectant	pair	of	Ollotis [Bufo]	occidentalis	and	egg	mass	in	a	pool	along	the	Río	salado	in	puebla,	mexico	on	24	november	2007.	note	the	shallowness	of	the	water.JuLio a. LeMos-esPinaL	 IRCF	ReptIles	&	AmphIbIAns		•		Vol	17,	no	1		•		mAR	2010	 47GONIUROSAURUS GECKOS2-km	section	of	the	river	revealed	no	other	egg	masses,	amplectant	toads,	or	any	other	adult	toads,	although	we	encountered	several	tadpoles	of	varying	sizes	throughout	this	section	of	the	river.	 our	observation	suggests	 that,	 in	the	Río	salado,	 these	toads	 lay	their	eggs	in	relatively	shallow	pools.	During	the	period	when	tadpoles	are	present	in	the	Río	salado	(november–February),	pools	remain	rela-tively	shallow;	however,	tadpoles	are	more	frequently	found	in	deeper	and	larger	pools,	and	are	found	only	in	pools	along	the	main	channel	of	the	Río	salado	(Woolrich-piña	et	al.,	unpubl.	data).	Given	the	relatively	shallow	nature	of	the	pool	in	which	we	observed	the	amplectant	pair,	choices	of	oviposition	sites	by	the	adults	might	be	limited	beyond	laying	eggs	in	the	main	channel	of	the	river,	and	tadpoles	likely	move	among	pools	until	the	river	dries	thereby	isolating	many	of	the	pools.	however,	further	study	that	more	systematically	examines	the	oviposition	site	selection	of	these	toads	would	be	informative	and	might	provide	valuable	information	to	guide	any	assessment	of	conservation	or	management	plans	of	the	Río	salado,	which	is	potentially	affected	by	human-alterations,	including	the	use	of	water	from	the	river	for	the	production	of	salt	in	“salineras.”Acknowledgementsthis	research	was	supported	by	 funds	 from	the	Dirección	General	de	Asuntos	 de	personal	Académico	 through	project	pApIIt-In221707,	“Factores	que	determinan	la	distribución	de	los	anfibios	en	las	pozas	aso-ciadas	al	Río	salado,	puebla,	méxico”;	and	by	the	Facultad	de	estudios	superiores	Iztacala	through	the	programa	de	Apoyo	a	los	profesores	de	Carrera	(pApCA)	2007–2008	for	the	project	“Caracterización	de	las	pozas	asociadas	al	Río	salado	(puebla)	y	su	influencia	en	la	distribución	de	los	anfibios:	aspectos	ecológicos	y	geográficos.”	the	research	was	approved	by	the	Denison	University	Institutional	Animal	Care	and	Use	Committee	(protocol	07-004).Literature CitedDuellman,	W.e.	 1961.	the	 amphibians	 and	 reptiles	 of	michoacán,	méxico.	University of Kansas Publications, Museum of Natural History	15:1–148.oliver-lopez,	l.,	A.	Ramirez-bautista,	and	J.A.	lemos-espinal.	2000.	Bufo occiden-talis.	Fecundity.	Herpetological Review	31:39–40.In	China,	the	first	leopard	Gecko	was	reported	from	hainan	Island	in	1908	as G. “lichtenfelderi”	(Zhao	and	Adler	1993).	this	insular	form	was	previously	thought	to	be	a	Vietnamese	species	but	is	now	separated	as	G. hainanensis	(Grismer	et	al.	2002,	blair	et	al.	2009).	Goniurosaurus	lich-tenfelderi	is	confined	to	granitic	substrates	in	northwestern	Vietnam	and	leopard	Geckos	of	the	genus	Goniurosaurus	(squamata:	eublepharidae)	typically	 inhabit	caves	and	cliffs	 in	 forested	areas	 in	 the	Ryu-Kyu	Archipelago	of	Japan	and	southeastern	Asia	(blair	et	al.	2009).	ten	to	twelve	species	have	been	described,	most	recently	G.	catbaensis	(Ziegler	et	al.	2008)	and	G.	huuliensis	(orlov	et	al.	2008),	both	from	northern	Vietnam.	Discovery of Goniurosaurus Geckos (squamata: eublepharidae)  in northwestern Guangdong, chinaZu-sheng	Yi1,	Zhen-Chang	li2,	Wei-liang	Wen3,	mian	hou4,	Wen-hua	lu5,	and	James	lazell51College	of	life	sciences,	Guangzhou	University,	panyu,	Guangdong	510006,	China2College	of	life	sciences,	south	China	normal	University,	Guangzhou,	Guangdong	510063,	China3Forestry	bureau	of	Qingyuan	prefecture,	Guangdong	511500,	China4Center	for	Chinese	endemic	herp-breeding	and	Conservation	Research,	shenyang	normal	University,	liaoning	110034,	China5the	Conservation	Agency,	Jamestown,	Rhode	Island	02835,	UsAphotographs	by	mian	hou,	except	where	indicated	otherwise.table 1.	Comparison	of	Goniurosaurus	indet.	with	species	of	the	G.	luii	group	(G.	araneus,	G.	bawanglingensis,	G.	catbaensis,	G. huuliensis,	and	G.	luii)	on	scale	counts	and	morphometric	characters	in	mm	(from	our	data,	Grismer	et	al.	1999,	orlov	et	al.	2008).	sl	=	supralabials;	Il	=	infralabials;	pm	=	post-mentals;	po	=	preorbitals;	eF	=	eyelid	fringe	scales;	pVt	=	paravertebral	tubercles	between	limb	insertions;	bs	=	scales	around	midbody;	Gst	=	granular	scales	surrounding	dorsal	tubercles;	lt4	=	basal	and	distal	subdigital	lamellae	under	fourth	toe	(hind	limb);	pp	=	precloacal	pores,	sVl	=	snout	vent	length;	hl	=	head	length	from	snout	to	posterior	of	external	ear;	hW	=	head	width	at	the	widest	area	of	head. SL IL PM PO EF PVT BS GST LT4 PP SVL HL HWG.	indet.	(male)	 8	 7	 2	 16	 50–51	 34	 106	 9–10	 17–21	 12	 80	 23	 14G.	indet.	(female) 8	 7–8	 4	 14–16	 51–55	 33	 107	 10-11	 17–21	 —	 86	 23	 15G. araneus 8–11	 8–10	 4–6	 13–18	 61–69	 32–38	 129–149	 10–14	 23–24	 18–23	 111–130	 30–33	 19–25G.	bawanglingensis 8–10	 7–11	 2–3	 12–18	 56–67	 32–36	 104–133	 9–13	 18–22	 37–46	 104	 —	 —G.	catbaensis 8–9	 6–8	 2–3	 —	 52–56	 33–34	 112–127	 8–11	 22–24	 16–21	 84–113	 23–32	 16–23G. huuliensis 10–11	 9–11	 2–3	 —	 41–44	 34–36	 118–129	 12–13	 18–20	 25–28	 108–117	 29–33	 18–23G.	luii 9–12	 8–11	 2–6	 14–17	 52–63	 33–35	 119–148	 9–14	 20–24	 21–29	 106–120	 30–33	 19–23

Observations of Amplexus and Oviposition in Ollotis [Bufo] occidentalis in the Río Salado, Puebla, Mexico

https://journals.ku.edu/reptilesandamphibians/article/download/16066/14393

Observations of Amplexus and Oviposition in Ollotis [Bufo] occidentalis in the Río Salado, Puebla, Mexico

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