<i>Hynobius kimurae</i> (adults)

[TJ]

 

[mark]

Hi Tim, once again great pics. (wish i was there)
Quit alot of Hynobius habitat pics you have shown us have had running water or a small waterfall, do you know if they prefer moving water to still water?

 

[TJ]

Mark, hynobiids can be divided into "lotic-breeding" hynobiids like Hynobius kimurae, H.naevius, H.stejnegeri and Onychodactylus japonicus that use streams, and "lentic-breeding" hynobiids like H.tokyoensis, H.neblosus, H.nigrescens, H.lichenatus, H. dunni, H. retardatus and H.takedai that use still water.

As for elevations, in the area around where I live, H.tokyoensis inhabit the lowlands, while H.kimurae can be found during the breeding season in small, rocky streams at elevations over 400 meters, and O.japonicus in streams at even higher elevations (with some overlap with H.kimurae).



(Message edited by TJ on April 11, 2004)

 

[mark]

Thanks for clearing that up for me Tim

 

[TJ]

Compare that beautiful eastern variety of H. kimurae with this <u>spectacularly</u> beautiful western variety:

 

[henk]

Ooouuuch ...that hurts really .....
I never seen them like this Tim. Mine are close to the above showed animals

 

[TJ]

Here's some salt on your wounds then

 

[henk]

Didn't know you have such an embedded sadistic tendancy Tim

. It hurts...

Anyway this is a georgeous animal, but I suspect it is a possible handpicked specimen or do most of them have this color ??

 

[TJ]

You'll recover

I don't think they normally get this colorful, though there's some pretty significant regional variation as you can see by the above pics. Those in certain regions may get quite colorful.

So, now you know why some people consider this to be the most beautiful of all the Japanese hynobiids, even more so than H. stejnegeri, which has always been my pick -- until now!

You can view some more pics here:

http://www.rieo.net/amph/saramand/sansyouo/hidasan.htm

http://images.google.com/images?q=%E3%83%92%E3%83%80%E3%82%B5%E3%83%B3%E3%82%B7%E3%83%A7%E3%82%A6%E3%82%A6%E3%82%AA&hl=en&lr=&start=40&sa=N