<i>Hynobius tokyoensis</i> in the wild (continued)

[TJ]

This is a continuation of the following thread:

http://www.caudata.org/forum/messages/13/33563.html?1112638862

 

[TJ]

A freshly laid egg sac (judging by its relatively soft consistency):

 

[TJ]

Sadly, several adults were found missing just their heads. Suspects include the Japanese marten (Martes melampus), the Japanese weasel (Mustela itatsi) and imported American raccoons (Procyon lotorthat) have been imported as pets, become wild and proliferated, decimating some H. tokyoensis in some places.

But why not eat the whole thing...?

(Message edited by TJ on April 11, 2005)

 

[andy]

Hey Tim, i often see dead newts(vulgaris) on the edge of my pond with missing heads and more often than not there is no damage to them at all. The perpetrators of this are magpies and i've had to put all manner of clutter around the pool to stop it. I wouldn't mind so much if they ate the whole thing as this is a part of nature, but it seems to me that they're almost playing with them.

 

[henk]

Tim if you shoot through the water like with teh eggsac you can bfuy a polarizer filter, it will eliminate the reflection of the water (but at the same time it will cost you some stops in lightstrength) . It also helps against other types of unwanterd reflection.

Happy that I don't see this in my tanks

BTW my eggsac of H. tokyoensis is 100% fertilised and today my H. nebulosus have set of eggs too. So far I have thus 7 species which set off eggs...but the okiensis are not fertilised, I fear I have 3 females (DAMNED .....)

 

[TJ]

Hi Andrew. That's interesting to know.

The thing about it in this case is that the people who do this survey every year expressed surprise and bewilderment, saying the same wasn't seen in previous years, or at least not on the same scale.

Still, I saw a mangled H. tokyoensis missing its head last year too.

Thanks Henk. I always appreciate your photo advice

In this case, I actually did have a lense filter with me but neglected to use it. I was participating in the survey, so was constantly on the move and busily counting egg sacs with wet hands. Taking the filter on and off seemed more hassle than it was worth. But you're right, it would made for better pictures at times.

Even without the filter though, I sometimes find that I can get a pretty decent shot of an underwater target by expending about 10 shots on it (more for a high priority target!), at slightly different angles. Being able to take multiple shots like that is one of the great advantages of digital photography (provided one has enough memory available!). These days, I carry along a portable hard disk into which I download my memory cards when they get full.

Yes, the loss of light when using filters is a real bummer, and it's why I rarely use them, favoring the "machine-gun approach" to photography (in other words, shower the target with photographs and you're bound to hit something!).

Do you mean to say you use something in your tanks that minimizes reflection?

Congrats on the fertilized H. tokyoensis sac and your other stunning breeding successes this year! I won't be raising larvae of this species this year. I also passed up on H. nebulosus as I have raised this species for two successive years and am busy caring for the two waves of morphs.

A reminder to those who may wonder: I only tend to egg sacs and raise larvae, morphs, juvies and one sexually mature adult (an H. retardatus), leaving the real work of breeding Hynobiids to others like Henk and Mother Nature herself

But once my sals reach adulthood, I also hope to be breeding them.

(Message edited by tj on April 13, 2005)

 

[henk]

Nice to see I am set aside Mother nature.. does this make me Father culture

?

I am busy compiling the next Urodela Newsletter now. And now my Hynobius dunni care sheet is online (with some of your shots too Tim.. thx for that).

By the way : I don't even have a polariser filter for my camera. Shooting with the camera where theblense is over the object (so pointing downwards) and with the flash gun falling back works nice too for me. Well working in the field and taking snapshots is not always easy...