Triturus vittatus vittatus

Just to show you that for some the breeding season starts in the middle of the winter.

Nice animal Sergé...

Males goes to the water before than males, as I observed here in winter with marmoratus/pygmaeus?

Don't know, I have seen them only once in the wild and that was in April when all animals had already left the water, but Ithink their life cycles are very identical with T. pygmaeus. It is even more logical that males go in the water first as they defend territories so the first males will get the best places...

<blockquote><hr size=0><!-quote-!><font size=1>Sergé Bogaerts wrote on Monday, 09 January, 2006 - 09:36 :</font>

"It is even more logical that males go in the water first as they defend territories so the first males will get the best places..."<!-/quote-!><hr size=0></blockquote>

Yes, if firstly chosen best territories can be kept by firstly arrived males. Adding that firstly entered males might also facing a bigger risk to get eaten by predators, those are just waiting a good meal to bring some change to their diet of more or less long-lasted winter period, I think. Moreover, territory can be lost anyway to a competitive male that arrived to the breeding habitat later as well.

However, your assumption make sense for the fact that males usually are arriving at first to the breeding site, is quite a common phenomenon among amphibians in general, especially those species ones behaving territorially by males during their breeding season. It is reasonable especially in geographical locations where growth season for breeding and offspring to develop is relatively short, and controvertible ownerships concerning of best territories are disputed among males of the breeding habitat.

PS. Forgive my poor english...

Dear Aki,

you are right, it is a typical balance in which a male that arrives first has advantages but also can have disadvantages. Especially in dynamic habitats like these winter ponds in which T. v. vittatus breeds where it is important to breed as quickly as possible after the ponds have filled with water, with all risks involved.

Sergé

Here is an up date. The male is still not in full nuptial dress, but it doesn't hold him back to perform his complete breeding behaviour including putting of spermatophores

wow, the male is truly stunning. are vittatus readily available captive bred in holland?

vittatus are readily available in England. but it's mainly ophryticus which is available but that in my opinion is more spectacular

Sergé

What are the most obvious differences, regarding morphology, between vittatus vittatus and vittatus cilicensis?

Rubén that's a good question. Main differences come down to the amount of openings in the black sidelines bordering the white. It has been described in Franzen and Schmidtler in Salamandra (2000). Also in the german Handbook is a chapter by Borkin et al, but I don't agree with all their differences observed. Individual animals can be very difficult to determine. So you have to know for sure where the animal comes from to know to which subspecies it belongs. There are some people working on the subject by the way. Last year I posted some pictures of T. v. cilicensis.

Just an addition to the motivation why I don't think the table in the german handbook does not work; most characteristics are described on males in breeding condition. And that is of course very un practical in the field. Schmidtler and Franzen proved that the amount of openings in the black stripes can also be used outside breeding season and also on juveniles and females.

hmmmmmmm...

very very interesting ( really )

And about the distribution area: I know are isolated subspecies but, the environment is similar? Or ( as I think ) according with the fact that T. vittatus vittatus reaches very southern latitudes in Israel, tries to compensate the higher dryness ascending in altitude above the Cedrus libani level?