C
chris
Guest
1)
I don't know if anyone remembers the black Paramesotriton aff. chinensis that was refusing food and repeatedly leaping out of the water that I posted about a while ago, but something very interesting happened. This behaviour fluctuated in seriousness, but moved in a generally worse direction. In the end I put him in the same tank as a female of the same species (they had been separated due to aggression last Autumn - their breeding season). Immediately the animal calmed, and overnight his tailflash developed and his cloaca swelled hugely. His appetite was suddenly ravenous, and he immediately begun tailfanning the (possibly gravid - but not counting on anything) female. It would seem that, in this species at least, the male seeks a female's territory during the breeding season.
2.
Another thing that seems to have brought Paras, males especially, into breeding condition is increased water depth. A regular water change was done in several aquariums, but the water was replaced with a greater quantity of cooler water. This seems to have coincided with shorter photoperiod to start the males tail-fanning. It seems that females are a lot more difficult to bring into breeding condition than males - males get a swollen cloaca and tailstripe in Autumn with generally good conditions. I would think that a temperature drop would help to get females to produce ova.
These observations relate to two 'types' of 'fuzhongensis' -similar but different - and the P.aff. chinensis
What does everyone else think?
Chris
I don't know if anyone remembers the black Paramesotriton aff. chinensis that was refusing food and repeatedly leaping out of the water that I posted about a while ago, but something very interesting happened. This behaviour fluctuated in seriousness, but moved in a generally worse direction. In the end I put him in the same tank as a female of the same species (they had been separated due to aggression last Autumn - their breeding season). Immediately the animal calmed, and overnight his tailflash developed and his cloaca swelled hugely. His appetite was suddenly ravenous, and he immediately begun tailfanning the (possibly gravid - but not counting on anything) female. It would seem that, in this species at least, the male seeks a female's territory during the breeding season.
2.
Another thing that seems to have brought Paras, males especially, into breeding condition is increased water depth. A regular water change was done in several aquariums, but the water was replaced with a greater quantity of cooler water. This seems to have coincided with shorter photoperiod to start the males tail-fanning. It seems that females are a lot more difficult to bring into breeding condition than males - males get a swollen cloaca and tailstripe in Autumn with generally good conditions. I would think that a temperature drop would help to get females to produce ova.
These observations relate to two 'types' of 'fuzhongensis' -similar but different - and the P.aff. chinensis
What does everyone else think?
Chris