Asian fire salamander

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Asian fire salamander
An Asian fire salamander, photographed in the Carmel Mountains in northern Israel

An Asian fire salamander, photographed in the Carmel Mountains in northern Israel

Systematics
Order : Tail amphibian (caudata)
Superfamily : Salamander relatives (Salamandroidea)
Family : Real salamanders (Salamandridae)
Subfamily : Salamandrinae
Genre : True salamander ( Salamandra )
Type : Asian fire salamander
Scientific name
Salamandra infraimmaculata
( Martens , 1885)

The Asian Minor Fire Salamander or Arouss Al Ayn ( Salamandra infraimmaculata ) is a species of amphibian from the family of real salamanders . The in the Middle East occurring salamander was first in 1885 by the German naturalist Eduard von Martens described (1831-1904). The salamander lives on the coast of southern, central Turkey, the coast of Syria, Lebanon, northern Israel (northern and western Galilee , Carmel Mountains , Tel Dan ), as well as in isolated populations in southwest and eastern Turkey, in northern Iraq and in a small area in northwestern Iran.

features

The Asian fire salamander is the largest species of Salamandra and can reach a length of 32 cm, with females usually becoming larger than males. Usually the animals are smaller. In a study in Turkey, an average of 18 to 19 centimeters and a maximum of just under 24 centimeters were measured, animals in Israel were on average between 10 and 14 centimeters long. Since the animals continue to grow throughout their lives, their body size is highly dependent on age. Like the common fire salamander , Salamandra infraimmaculata is black and patterned with large yellow spots. The ventral side is completely black. On the head, which is approximately round when viewed from above, there are usually four spots, one on each parotid (ear gland) and one above each eye. The spots on the parotid are typically slightly smaller than on the European fire salamander and do not completely cover them. The spots on the back of the nominate subspecies are often round and arranged in only one row, alongside smaller, irregular spots. The semenovi subspecies , on the other hand, shows a dense pattern of small yellow spots and rings. The animals cannot be clearly distinguished from the other Salamandra species solely by their coloration pattern. A relatively reliable feature to distinguish it from Salamandra salamandra is the color of the exit pores of the poison glands on the yellow ear gland patches: They have a black point in Salamandra salamandra , which is absent in all southern species.

Subspecies

There are three subspecies:

  • S. i. infraimmaculata , the nominate form , occurs in Lebanon, Syria, Israel, and southeastern Turkey.
  • S. i. orientalis has smaller yellow spots and is found in central southern Turkey. The type locality of the subspecies is located near Adana . The subspecies is not widely recognized.
  • S. i. semenovi is large and has rosette-like, round spots all over the body. S. i. semenovi occurs in Iran: Kordestān and Zāgros Mountains , in eastern Turkey and in northern Iraq. More recent finds have been made in the mountains near Marivan and Sarvabad and near Siya Güvez in Iraq

Way of life

Little is known about the way of life of the Asian fire salamander. Since S. i. infraimmaculata lives in warmer regions than the fire salamander , it could only be active in winter, similar to the North African fire salamander ( Salamandra algira ). S. i. orientalis and S. i. semenovi , on the other hand, occur in higher, mountainous regions and are more likely to be active during the summer months.

Larvae of Salamandra infraimmaculata , Israel

In Israel, the salamander larvae develop mainly in permanently water-bearing or in summer dry-falling rock stumps with a maximum depth of about two meters. The pools are partially fed by spring water. Occurrences in rivers are also known. B. also from Turkey. Larvae are deposited in autumn (from September); they develop into terrestrial young animals by the following spring. The females are adapted to the unpredictable beginning of the rainy season by having mature oocytes in the ovaries almost constantly. The larvae need about six to eight weeks to metamorphose; in permanent waters, however, a smaller proportion remains in the water until the following autumn. They are aggressive towards one another and prone to cannibalism. The animals living on land are only active on rainy nights, which occur in the region in autumn and winter (until January). The animals generally show loyalty to their own developing waters; Marked and recaptured animals were seldom found at a distance of more than one kilometer from their own developing waters. The females lay the first young animals after three to four years. Adults can get very old; those kept in terrariums reached an age of 14 years.

The animals hardly have any natural enemies in their waters. However, they are threatened by the western mosquito fish ( Gambusia affinis ) used to control mosquitoes . Land-living animals are prey to ground beetles of the genus Epomis .

swell

  • Steinfartz, S., Veith, M., and Tautz, D . (2000). Mitochondrial sequence analysis of Salamandra taxa suggests old splits of major lineages and postglacial recolonizations of Central Europe from distinct source populations of Salamandra salamandra. Molecular Ecology, (9), 397-410. PMID 10736043
  • AmphibiaWeb: Information on amphibian biology and conservation. Salamandra infraimmaculata . 2014. Berkeley, California. (Accessed February 3, 2014).
  • Amphibian Species of the World 6.0: Salamandra infraimmaculata American Museum of Natural History. (Accessed February 3, 2014).

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Ibrahim Baran & Mehmet Öz (1994): Salamandra salamandra of Anatolia. Mertensiella 4: 25-32.
  2. ↑ a b Grad Degani (1986): Plasma proteins and morphology of Salamandra salamandra in Israel. Amphibia-Reptilia 7: 105-114.
  3. ↑ a b c Wolfgang Böhme, Timo Hartmann, Jürgen Fleck, Thomas Schöttler (2013): Miscellaneous notes on Oriental Fiire Salamanders (Salamandra infraimmaculata Martens), 1885 (Lissamphibia: Urodela: Salamandridae). Russian Journal of Herpetology Vol. 20, No. 1: 66-72.
  4. ↑ N. Rastegar-Pouyani and H. Faizi (2006): On a collection of the Near East Fire Salamander, Salamandra infraimmaculata semenovi (Salamandridae), from Kurdistan province, Western Iran. Zoology in the Middle East Volume 37, Issue: 115-118.
  5. ↑ Ori Segev, Naomi Hill, Alan R. Templeton, Leon Blaustein (2010): Population size, structure and phenology of an endangered salamander at temporary and permanent breeding sites. Journal for Nature Conservation 18: 189-195. doi : 10.1016 / j.jnc.2009.08.006
  6. ↑ Michael R. Warburg (2007): The phenology of a rare salamander (Salamandra infraimmaculata) in a population breeding under unpredictable ambient conditions: a 25 year study. Acta Herpetologica 2 (2): 147-157.
  7. ^ Josef Eiselt (1966): Results of zoological collecting trips in Turkey: Amphibia caudata. Annals of the Natural History Museum in Vienna 69: 427 - 445.
  8. ↑ R.Sharon, D. Degani, MR Warburg (1997): Oogenesis and the Ovarian Cycle in Salamandra salamandra infraimmaculata Mertens (Amphibia; Urodela; Salamandridae) in fringe areas of the taxon's distribution. Journal of Morphology 231: 149-160.
  9. ^ O. Segev, M. Mangel, L. Blaustein (2009): Deleterious effects by mosquitofish (Gambusia affinis) on the endangered fire salamander (Salamandra infraimmaculata). Animal Conservation Volume 12, Issue 1: 29-37. doi : 10.1111 / j.1469-1795.2008.00217.x
  10. ↑ Gil Wizen and Avital Gasith (2011): Predation of amphibians by Carabid beetles of the genus epomis found in the central coastal plain of Israel. Zookeys. 2011; (100): 181-191. PMC 3131015 (free full text).

Web links

Commons : Salamandra infraimmaculata  - collection of images, videos and audio files
  • Salamandra infraimmaculata in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2009. Posted by: Theodore Papenfuss, Ahmad Disi, Nasrullah Rastegar-Pouyani, Gad Degani, Ismail Ece, Max Sparreboom, Sergius Kuzmin, Steven Anderson, Riyad Sadek, Souad Hraoui-Bloquet, Avital Gasith, Eldad Elron, Sarig Gafny, Tuba Kiliç, Engin Gem, Uğur Kaya, 2008. Retrieved February 3, 2014.