Reproductive success in Echinotriton chinhaiensis

Here is the abstract of an interesting paper on this subject:

Acta Zoologica Sinica, Aug. 2002, 48(4):554 - 557

Title: OVIPOSITION SITES AND THEIR EFFECTS ON THE REPRODUCTIVE SUCCESS IN THE CHINHAI SALAMANDER(ECHINOTRITON CHINHAIENSIS)

Authors: XIE Feng FEI Liang YE ChangYuan WANG ZuWang CAI ChunMo

Abstract: We studied oviposition sites and their effects on the reproductive success of the Chinhai salamander (Echinotriton chinhaiensis) .The results showed that: (1) the female had strong preferences for spawning sites and oviposition microhabitat; (2) the most suitable oviposition sites were 30 cm higher than water level and 45 cm from the water body; (3) oviposition sites usually overlapped;(4) embryos could develop and hatch normally in water as well as on land. The hatching rate on land was high (94.3%), but the number of hatchlings that successfully migrated to water was low (52%�}11%, n=3 in the laboratory, and approximately 20% in nature). Based on the situation in laboratory, the average hatchling survival rate at all oviposition sites was 36.7%. Owing to oviposition on land, the reproductive success of Chinhai salamander was very low;(5) protecting the spawning sites and increasing the hatchling survival rate are the keys to conserving this species.

source: Acta Zoologica Sinica http://www.actazool.org/

Good stuff Tim

gud work

There is also this paper:

Reproductive behaviour of the Chinhai Salamander (Echinotriton chinhaiensis) (Caudata: Salamandridae)
Max Sparreboom1,, Feng Xie, Liang Fei

...which can be downloaded in full at:

http://www.caudata.ru/pdf-caudata/3890.pdf