Overwintering Larvae (Hasumi)

Overwintering Larvae

Two of seven overwintering larvae of the salamander Hynobius kimurae, captured from a flat place of a breeding torrent (water temperature = 7.8 C, water pH-data = 6.1-7.2) in Hokujo, Hakuba-mura, Nagano Prefecture, Japan (photographed on 4 May 2006). These larvae were released to the place where they were captured, after photographing.

Larvae of this species inhabiting Hakuba-mura were characterized by some brownish spots on the skin and four toes of both hindlimbs. Overwintering larvae usually occurred in this lotic-breeding species, as well as some species of lentic-breeding hynobiids (e.g., H. hidamontanus).

Accompanied Research Collaborators (alphabetical order): Iwao Hasegawa (Takefu, Fukui Prefecture), Masaichi Kakegawa (Tokyo Metropolitan Komatsugawa Senior High School), Fujio Kishi and Yuko Saikawa (Shirouma Association of Naturalists), and Koji Takada (Nagano Chausuyama Zoo).