Karsenia koreana

Hi! there.

Here is Korea and I'm the student study the herpetology, especially the pheromone of the salamander.

I have Karsenia koreana in my laboratory and this is known as the internal fertilization species like newts and the salamanders lived in korea has external fertilization. This species reported 2006 in korea and we have no information about it.

I hope to know about its reproductive pattern and I think it maybe similar with red-back salamander, just guess..

Do you have any ideas to solve this problems?

How do you check or record internal salamanders' courtship pattern?

I've never seen the courtship pattern of the newts except the Video file.

Thanks you.

June.

Re: Karsenia koreana (No information! )

Hi june,

"Anyong ha sayeo". Welcome to the site!

Im envious of your interesting job in studying courtship patterns and the role of pheromones.

Unfortunately, im not knowledgeable about the species of salamanders you are studying. However i have some ideas i would like to share.

Im not sure of its practicality, but how about mounting a video camera on the salamander's enclosure. Because its quiet and inanimate, it shouldn't startle the salamanders too much to interfere with its natural behaviour. The video can record the process which you can review later.

Another idea is using some modern imaging equipment such as MRI (Magnetic resonance imaging) and CT scan. In particular, MRI would be useful because it allows you to visualise soft tissue structures during internal fertilisation. Additionally, as it uses strong magnets rather than radiation, it is not harmful to the salamander. MRI equipment can however be hard to come by, expensive and require trained staff to use. Furthermore, it would prove to be quite a challenge to 'restrain' the salamanders to prevent motion blurring. If planned and administered carefully under trained hands, a mini endoscope via the cloaca can also allow visualisation. Would have to be careful about welfare and ethics though.

However, hope these ideas can be food for thought and allow you to think of other novel ways.

Cheers

* There may be a more appropriate section for this, so this may be moved again.

Hi June,

You’re likely to be the first person to attempt to study the courtship behaviour of this species and therefore may struggle to find information. Perhaps you could try contacting David Wake for direction.

Karsenia koreana has a protruding nasolabial area which would suggest that chemoreception is used. Do males have a larger nasolabial region (protuberances)? Does it enlarge during the breeding season? If the answer is yes then you can almost be certain that chemical reception plays some role in breeding – even if it’s just in the location of females.

I hope that you can make contact with some researcher(s) who have studied these behaviors in other plethodontids. I've always wondered how people make direct observations of these reproductive details. It must be possible, somehow!

Hi June,

You might consider collecting a male and female, possibly in April/May or September/October from what we know of North American species, and introducing them into a nearly bare glass terrarium with a few dead leaves and sticks. Spray the enclosure thoroughly with cool water and minimize their disturbance overnight. I don't know what resources you have available, but you could rig up a camera with infrared or night vision (Sony makes them) to film in your absence. If not, dimly light the terrarium, possibly with red light, and prepare yourself for a long night of waiting. If you are lucky you may witness courtship behavior. Remain as still as possible when watching the salamanders, as in my experience they are very observant of their surroundings.

I do know that some researchers induce courtship behavior through hormone injection, and this may be a route to try if you have no luck doing it naturally. You should consider contacting Dr. Steve Arnold at Oregon State University, as he has done extensive research in this field. http://oregonstate.edu/~arnoldst/

Good luck!
-Tim