Juvenile & Snail (Hasumi)

Juvenile & Snail

A juvenile (body mass = 3.3 g, total length = 81.8 mm, snout-anterior vent length = 49.4 mm, snout-posterior vent length = 53.4 mm, broadest head width = 9.3 mm, maximum tail height = 6.1 mm) of the salamander Hynobius kimurae, hidden under a decaying log (20 x 50 cm) on the right bank, 2.5 m from the edge of a torrent (water temperature = 6.2 C, water pH-data = 7.1-7.3) in Hokujo, Hakuba-mura, Nagano Prefecture, Japan (photographed on 11 November 2006). The juvenile was focusing on a small snail.

At the time of survey, there were a total of 24 individuals of H. kimurae: 7 males and 2 females were in the water, 1 male and 1 female were on watersheds, 7 males, 5 females, and 1 juvenile (see above) were on land. In the water, 5 juveniles (1 juvenile's throat and ventral regions and 1 juvenile's whole body were colored "orange") of the toad Bufo japonicus formosus and 1 male and 1 female of the brown frog Rana tagoi were found. On the left bank, 2.0 m from the edge of the torrent, there was 1 juvenile of the brown frog Rana ornativentris.

Accompanied Research Collaborators (alphabetical order): Masaichi Kakegawa (Tokyo Metropolitan Komatsugawa Senior High School), and Fujio Kishi and Yuko Saikawa (Shirouma Association of Naturalists).