Welcome to the site, Ming-Jieh Lin! I don't recall that we've
ever had a contributor from Taiwan before, so it's a real treat
Great pics too! We've had practically no pics or info here about any of the three confirmed species of Taiwanese hynobiids.
That
H. sonani looks like a very gravid female! Found her in the water? Does the range overlap with that of
H. formosanus? I'm assuming they're sympatric as you have them pictured together there!...
It sure must have a thrill to also find those
H. sonani eggs! What was it like where you found them? I ask this because this species was first thought, based on its appearance, to be a "lentic" breeder (laying eggs on twigs and dead leaves or in deep holes in still water), but was later found to be a "lotic" breeder (laying eggs under stones in surface or underground streams). Did you indeed find the eggs in a stream under some rocks?
Have you ever seen
H. arisanensis in the wild? This is also said to be a lotic breeding type of hynobiid (like
H. kimurae,
H. naevius,
Onychodactylus japonicus, etc. among Japanese species).
Please don't hesitate to post more pics and info
(Message edited by TJ on May 28, 2005)
