Abstract
The sexual cycle of Siberian salamander females (Salamandrella keyserlingii Dybowski 1870) has been studied in the tundra of the northern coast of the Sea of Okhotsk. Spawning starts soon after the end of wintering (in the second half of May) and ends up in the first half of June. At the end of June, the ovaries show obvious features of a new ovogenic cycle; i.e., pigment starts accumulating in large vitellogenic oocytes. By the end of July, the ovaries in most individuals are already filled with pigmented follicles and the oviduct epithelium is restored. The time from spawning to the appearance of a new generation of mature oocytes lasts a little more than two months (i.e., half of the whole activity season). In the second half of August, the state of the genital system is identical to that in spring before spawning, this proving their annual reproduction. The average fecundity in the studied water bodies varies from 102 to 123 eggs and is comparable to that in other parts of the distribution range. Oogenesis both in the vast majority of females that reach pubescence (subadultus) and in those that spawn in spring occurs simultaneously, but in some subadults it is completed almost a month or a month and a half earlier. By this phenological feature, the female subadults differ considerably from the male subadults, in which completion of spermatogenesis extends much more strongly into the season. A study of the ecology of the Siberian salamander in the conditions of a short season of activity with low temperatures allows for the coast of the Sea of Okhotsk to be considered not as extreme, but, in contrast, rather favorable for its habitation. Many population characteristics in this area are typical for the species in general. The main features of the male and female sexual cycles appear to be similar to those observed in species of the same family that live in the south of the region. The short period of germinal cell development, coupled with the outstanding winter cold hardiness of the species, partially accounts for its unique adaptive potential, which allows it to colonize vast territories of northern Eurasia and successfully thrive in the territories with short and cold summer period.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alfimov, A.V. and Berman, D.I., Reproduction of the Siberian salamander (Salamandrella keyserlingii, Amphibia, Caudata, Hynobiidae) in water bodies on permafrost in Northeastern Asia, Zool. Zh., 2010, vol. 89, no. 3, pp. 302–318.
Basarukin, A.M. and Borkin, L.Ya., Distribution, ecology, and morphological variation of the Siberian salamander, Hynobius keyserlingii, on Sakhalin Island, in Ekologiya i faunistika amfibii i reptilii SSSR i sopredel’nykh stran (The Ecology an Faunistics of Amphibians and Reptiles in the Soviet Union and Neighboring Countries), Leningrad: Zool. Inst. Akad. Nauk SSSR, 1984, pp. 12–54.
Berman, D.I., A perfect timeserver, or the adaptive strategy of the Siberian salamander, Priroda (Moscow), 2002, no. 10, pp. 59–68.
Berman, D.I. and Bulakhova, N.A, Ecological features of the Siberian salamander (Salamandrella keyserlingii, Caudata, Hynobiidae) on the Sea of Okhotsk coast, Zool. Zh., 2015, vol. 94, no. 6, pp. 670–680.
Berman, D.I. and Meshcheryakova, E.N., Is the western boundary of the Siberian salamander (Salamandrella keyserlingii, Amphibia, Caudata, Hynobiidae) range determined by the specific features of its wintering?, Dokl. Biol. Sci., 2012, vol. 443, pp. 97–100.
Berman, D.I., Boiko, E.A., and Mikhailova, E.I., Nuptial behavior of the Siberian salamander, in Prikladnaya etologiya (Applied Ethology), Moscow, 1983, vol. 3, pp. 167–171.
Berman, D.I., Leirikh, A.N., and Mikhailova, E.I., On the wintering of Siberian salamander (Hynobius keyserlingii) in the Upper Kolyma basin, Zh. Evol. Biokhim. Fiziol., 1984, vol. 20, no. 3, pp. 323–327.
Bulakhova, N.A. and Berman, D.I., The reproductive system of the Schrenck salamander (Salamandrella schrenckii, Amphibia, Caudata, Hynobiidae) in spring and autumn, Zool. Zh., 2012, vol. 91, no. 11, pp. 1315–1329.
Bulakhova, N.A. and Berman, D.I., Siberian salamander (Salamandrella keyserlingii, Amphibia, Caudata, Hynobiidae) population structure on the northern Sea of Okhotsk coast, in Problemy izucheniya i okhrany zhivotnogo mira na Severe: Mat-ly dokladov II Vserossiiskoi konferentsii s mezhdunarodnym uchastiem (Syktyvkar, 8–12 aprelya 2013 g.) (Problems in Fauna Study and Conservation in the North: Proc. II All-Russia Conf. with International Participation, Syktyvkar, April 8–12, 2013), Syktyvkar, 2013, pp. 38–40.
Bulakhova, N.A. and Berman, D.I., Age-related and seasonal morphological changes in the male reproductive system of the Siberian salamander (Salamandrella keyserlingii, Caudata, Hynobiidae) on the Sea of Okhotsk coast, Zool. Zh., 2015, vol. 94, no. 7, pp. 791–800.
Bulakhova, N.A. and Berman, D.I., Age-related and seasonal histological changes in the male reproductive system of the Siberian salamander (Salamandrella keyserlingii, Caudata, Hynobiidae) on the Sea of Okhotsk coast, Zool. Zh., 2015a, vol. 94, no. 9, pp. 1065–1076.
Grigor’ev, O.V., On the method of egg laying in the Siberian salamander, in Voprosy gerpetologii (Problems in Herpetology), Leningrad: Nauka, 1977, pp. 72–73.
Hasumi, M., Seasonal fluctuations of female reproductive organs in the salamander Hynobius nigrescens, Herpetologica, 1996, vol. 52, no. 4, pp. 598–605.
Hasumi, M. and Kanda, F., Phenological activity estimated by movement patterns of the Siberian salamander near a fen, Herpetologica, 2007, vol. 63, no. 2, pp. 163–175.
Hasumi, M., Iwasawa, H., and Nagahama, Y., Seasonal dynamics of reproductive organs in male salamanders of the species Hynobius nigrescens, Copeia, 1990, no. 2, pp. 367–377.
Ishchenko, V.G., Godina, L.B., Basarukin, A.M., Kuranova, V.N., and Tagirova, V.T., Reproduction, in Sibirskii uglozub: ekologiya, povedenie, okhrana (The Siberian Salamander: Ecology, Behavior, Protection), Moscow: Nauka, 1995, pp. 86–102.
Iwasawa, H., Kashiwakura, K., and Sato, T., Seasonal changes in the testes and Wolffian ducts in the salamander Hynobius retardatus, Jap. J. Herpetol., 1992, vol. 14, no. 3, pp. 116–123.
Kuranova, V.N. and Saveliev, S.V., Reproductive cycles of the Siberian newt Salamandrella keyserlingii Dybowsky, 1870, in Herpetologia Bonnensis II. Proc. of the 13th Congress of the Soc. Eur. Herpetol., Vences, M., Kohler, J., Ziegler, T., and Bohme, W., Eds., Bonn, Germany, 2006, pp. 73–76.
Norris, D.O., Reproduction in amphibians, in Vertebrate Endocrinology, New York: Academic Press, 2007.
Saveliev, S.V., Kuranova, V.N., and Besova, N.V., Reproduction of the Siberian salamander, Salamandrella keyserlingii, Zool. Zh., 1993, vol. 72, no. 8, pp. 59–69.
Sever, D.M., Rania, L.C., and Krenz, J.D., Reproduction of the salamander Siren intermedia Le Conte with especial reference to oviductal anatomy and mode of fertilization, J. Morphol., 1996, vol. 227, pp. 335–348.
Sytina, L.A., Medvedeva, I.M., and Godina, L.B., Sexual dimorphism and the state of reproductive system in the breeding period, in Sibirskii uglozub: zoogeografiya, sistematika, morfologiya (The Siberian Salamander: Zoogeohraphy, Systematics, Morphology), Moscow: Nauka, 1994, pp. 268–273.
Yartsev, V.V. and Kuranova, V.N., The state of reproductive system in the Siberian salamander, Salamandrella keyserlingii Dybowskii, 1870, at different stages of reproductive cycle, in Fundamental’nye i prikladnye aspekty sovremennoi biologii. Tezisy dokl. I Vseros. molodezh. nauch. konf., posvyashch. 125-letiyu biol. issled. v TGU (6–9 oktyabrya 2010 g.) (Fundamental and Applied Aspects of Modern Biology: Abstr. I All-Russia Young Sci. Conf. Dedicated to the 125th Anniversary of Biological Research in Tomsk State University, October 6–9, 2010), Tomsk: Tomsk. Gos. Univ., 2010, p. 54.
Yartsev, V.V., Reproductive biology of urodelan amphibians of the genus Salamandrella (Amphibia: Caudata, Hynobiidae), Extended Abstract of Cand. Sci. (Biol.) Dissertation, Tomsk: Tomsk. Gos. Univ., 2014.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Original Russian Text © N.A. Bulakhova, D.I. Berman, 2015, published in Zoologicheskii Zhurnal, 2015, Vol. 94, No. 11, pp. 1303–1315.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Bulakhova, N.A., Berman, D.I. Reproductive Cycle of Females and Reproduction of the Siberian Salamander (Salamandrella keyserlingii, Caudata, Hynobiidae) on the Coast of the Sea of Okhotsk. Biol Bull Russ Acad Sci 44, 688–699 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1062359017070068
Received:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S1062359017070068