Tyloriton breeding info.....am i dreaming??

[paris]

so i went to the shop the other day to feed the herd, and i was feeding the tylotriton taliangensis -they seemed to be over excited by feeding on that day -no real signs of being in breeding condition but they did a few laps like over excited P waltls -the male under the female and swimming around with her on the back -this did look intentional-is this the mating method all tylos employ?? it affirms my idea that the orange patches on the males arms are nuptual pads-they are in the same position as the big pads on P waltls. so now i am looking for more clues of breeding interest -i believe i should expect interested males to spend more time in the water and to grow bigger caudal fins-is this a good guess? anyone know of any online descriptions of the actual mating ritual (pre deposition)??

 

[wouter]

I believe that Jürgen Fleck is the only one that ever wrote something about breeding T. taliangensis. He describes how the male creeps under the female, and then grabs the front feet of the female with his front feet (just like Pleurodeles waltl amplexus). I have heard from other people that this is usually seen in this species.
The orange patches could well be nuptial pads; I know nothing about a caudal fin though.

 

[paris]

i did see some tail fanning the other day-it was from one being approached by another (didnt see which was which gender)-this was a deliberate communication-do p waltls do this also?

 

[frank]

Hi Paris,

I don't know if the courtship behaviour of T. taliangensis has been described into detail. However, within the genus Tylototriton there is a wide variety of courtship behaviour: tail fanning (eg in verrucosus), the "circling" dance (eg in shanjing but also in verrucosus) and the ventral amplexus (eg in verrucosus). If not recorded elsewhere, it would be very valuable to describe a complete mating sequence (up to sperm deposition) of your taliangensis.

 

[mark]

I've not seen tail fanning in P.Waltl in the 15 years I've kept them. Arm amplexus from underneath is normally followed by circling, the male still holding on to one front arm of the female and sperm depositing as they spin. It would be great to see more breeding behaviour documented - it's nice to know what to look out for.