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Amplexus: Love dance - in Water :)


Amplexus: Love dance - in Water :)
Photo Information
Copyright: Bayram Gocmen (boreocypriensis) Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 3404 W: 148 N: 4173] (10984)
Genre: Animals
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2008-05-19
Categories: Amphibians
Camera: Olympus C-5060WZ
Details: (Fill) Flash: Yes
Photo Version: Original Version, Workshop
Theme(s): Turkish Herpetofauna, Endangered [view contributor(s)]
Date Submitted: 2008-06-04 0:25
Viewed: 627
Favorites: 1 [view]
Points: 56
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
Rana holtzi (=R. macrocnemis holtzi) (Taurus Frog) [in Turk. Toros Kurbağası] #3 (Amplexus: embracing)

Dear Friends, thanks for all kind critiques/comments on my previous posting related with a general appearance of a male Taurus frog and his defensive behaviours.

Today I am posting a breeding behaviour (amplexus, i.e. embracing) exhibited by Taurus frog male and females in the breeding site (orjinal version). This process is realised mainly (frequently) at night time between the 21.00-23.00, howerver it can be seen in day time with a relatively low rate. Females and males comes to a specialised area, “the breedeng site” during this time to continue their generations (see below for more details). You can see a single female waiting for a male in the breeding site'in WS'.

Hoping that you like these shots!

Cheers,

Bayram

PS. Full flash was certainly used in orijinal version since it was taken at about 10.00 O’clock.

Additional explanation: The "opaqueness" around the eyes is not air! This opaqueness or "bluish" view is stemning from a structural feature: almost all frogs have a third eyelid named as “nictitating membrane”: a transparent inner eyelid (third eyelid indeed, i.e. a thin fold of skin under the true eyelids that can be drawn across the eye) found also in birds, reptiles,and some mammals that protects and moistens the eye without blocking vision.

*****************************

Taurus frog is known from only Karagöl Lake (Bolkar Mt, Taurus Range, Ulukışla, Niğde province). See my previous landscape shots -L1 & L2- to see the habitat of the species. This species has been on the IUCN (The World Conservation Union) Red List of “Threatened Species” since 1996 and categorized as an Endangered (EN) species. Also it has been taken under strictly conservation by the Turkish Goverment since 1998. Now, Listed as “Critically Endangered” because of a drastic population decline, estimated to be more than 80% over the last ten years, based on observed declines resulting from the introduction of fish into its breeding lakes (The population of the Karagöl lake has significantly declined since the introduction of fish to the lakes in the 1990s); and because its extent of occurrence is less than 100 km², and its area of occupancy is less than 10 km², all individuals are in a single location, and there is continuing decline in the quality of its habitat and in the number of mature individuals in and around Karagöl. Karagöl is found within a popular tourist area. A road (see my previous post) has recently been completed at near the site potentially increasing the number of visitors. Also it can be report to be declining through over collection for scientific (althought the conservation rules exist, and without taking any permitance from the govermental judgements) and possibly other purposes, and the introduction of predatory carp fishes into the lakes, has led to a significant decline in the population. Some authors are accept this population as a “subspecies” of an another species “Rana macrocnemis” (Uludag Frog). However, this situation is not important. From a conservation point of view it is not absolutely important if scientists define it as a full species or a subspecies of R. macrocnemis, it is a true isolated population and an important evolutionary entity in my opinion and I think it would not be possible to replace if going extinct with other R. macrocnemis populations. I am happy that we are doing a lot of ecological and reproductive studies to extend the knowledge of this frog. A small population has been known from the Çiniligöl lakelet, which is situated approximately 150 m distance of Karagöl and about 60-70 m higher than it. However, during the past three years we could not see any frog in this lakelet.

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Taurus frog is a relatively small frog living in Turkey with a maximum snout-vent length 75 mm. Temporal stripes always present. In males skin is soft and smooth, however in females warted. Dorsolateral skin folds are obvious. There is an iner vocal sac in males. The back is yellowish dirty gren, yellowish pink or gray-green with blackish-grren, black or brownish maculations which usually have thin lighter coloured rims. The venter usually pinkish-redish, sometimes yellowish and rarely gray-white. The pinkish-redish ventral colouration is generally strongly in females than males. It feeds on insects (such as some tenebrionids, gerrids, etc.).

On its breeding biology there is “no sufficient data” and now we are studying this using subcutaneus (into lenfoidal spaces under the skin) minute tags readible with UV lamb. Each frog is monitoring via this tag. Breeding occurs once a year and takes place in early spring, immediately after the melting of ice and snow. They often assemble in large numbers to breed in a specialised sites (generally shallow areas riched by algs). Male develope prominent dark nuptial pads on the thumps. They grasp the female around the body behind the arms. They active by night and day at this time. Females lay small clumps of spawn usually containing 300-400 eggs, although 10-500 have been recorded by us. The clumps are generally placed shallow areas . Larval development takes place about three month. Newly metamorphosed frogs are about 1.5 cm long. This species appears relatively long lived, most frogs dying in approx. 7-10 years in normal conditions. The info on the breeding biology of the Taurus Frog mentioned above is based on our preliminary studies.

Ps. These shots was taken during a project on the population dynamics and breeding biology of R. holtzi (Taurus Frog) supported by TUBITAK (The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey).

References:

1. Göçmen, B. (Unpub. results). The results of herpetological trips.
2. Budak, A. & Göçmen, B. (2005). Herpetology. Ege Üniversitesi Fen Fakültesi Kitaplar Serisi, No. 194, Ege Üniversitesi Basimevi, Bornova-Izmir, 226 pp. [2nd Edition, 2008].
3. Baran, I. & Atatür, M. K. (1998). Turkish Herpetofauna (Amphibians & Reptiles). Ministry of Environment, Ankara. 214 pp.
yasemin, xTauruSx, maurydv, bahadir, zulfu, Silvio2006, kmr13777, kaytan, eng55, nkasot, montivipera, anel, mariki, matatur, jaycee, Gert-Paassen, lousat, Jamesp, rousettus, Luis52, uleko, IulianGherghel, jpdenk, cypturk has marked this note useful
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Discussions
ThreadThread Starter Messages Updated
To anel: Hi Anneboreocypriensis 2 06-05 00:30
To rousettus: Teşekkürboreocypriensis 1 06-04 23:36
To MartinL: Hi Martin & Thanksboreocypriensis 1 06-04 22:09
To Jamesp: Hi my dear friend Jamesboreocypriensis 1 06-04 13:51
To jaycee: Hi Sister Janeboreocypriensis 2 06-04 12:20
To Gert-Paassen: Hi Gertboreocypriensis 1 06-04 11:54
To pvs: Hi Paulboreocypriensis 1 06-04 11:48
To eng55: :Dboreocypriensis 1 06-04 02:12
To eng55: Selam Ömer Beyboreocypriensis 1 06-04 02:09
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Critiques [Translate]

Bayram resmen sirayla gidiyorsun.sanirim sen bu sunumu onceden planladin. yakinda tadpole ve yumurta gorursek sasirmam:).cok guzel cekmissin eline saglik.Leyla

Splendido momento di cattura, bellissima composizione con il movimento sincronizzato delle zampe in diagonale, ottima nitidezza, molto belli e naturali i colori, bellissimo anche il fondo dello stagno con i nuovi germogli. Grazie e complimenti. Ciao Maurizio

Hocam Leyla ablaya katılıyorum:) gidişat pek hayırlı değil:) her iki kare de nefis ve bilgi vericiler. Elinize sağlık.
Deniz

Bayram hocam resimler harika. Teknik açıdanda bilimsel açıdan da önemli dökümanlar. Elinize sağlık. Bahadır

  • Great 
  • zulfu Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 473 W: 0 N: 70] (491)
  • [2008-06-04 0:45]
  • [+]

Fazla lafa gerek yok hocam. herşey ortada: olağanüstü. elinize sağlık.
Mehmet

Hi Bayram, my today neighbour fascinating composition with fantastic action, great colors, I like a lot blue eyes of frogs, splendid details and excellent sharpness, very well done, ciao Silvio

Hello Bayram,
Great shot with the clear water giving you a interruption free view of the frogs. great use of light and nice colors captured even in the minimal light. Great composition.

TFS
Kirti

  • Great 
  • eng55 Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 351 W: 3 N: 375] (1121)
  • [2008-06-04 1:42]
  • [+]

Merhaba Bayram Bey,
Fotograf neslin tükenmesine karşı yapılan çalışmaların olumlu sonuçlar verdiğini gösteriyor:)Umarım flas patlaması faaliyeti durdurmamıştır:)Yakaladığınız an,fotograf kalitesi kadraj ve açıklayıcı notlarınız her zamankş gibi mükemmel.Tebrikler,ellerinize sağlık!

Hi Bayram Hocam. This moment is realy great in the showing that an endangered frog species can breed after conservation studies. Great captures and notes too. TFS. Regards,

Nazım

Selam Hocam,
Amazing and unique captures again! I think there's nobody, except you, who photographed these animals in all positions. They are extremely valuable informations for possible conservation studies. Thank you for sharing!
Regards
Nasit

  • Great 
  • anel Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 1115 W: 0 N: 1829] (7816)
  • [2008-06-04 5:53]
  • [+]

Hello Bayram,
Amazing view on these two copulating Taurus frogs. Looks quite unreal. And the blue eyes, stunning. Excellent shot, must not have been esay to make it.
Félicitations!
Anne

Hello Bayram,

Very interesting and good shot of this couple of frogs. Excellent POV, DOF and focus. Very good light and colours.
Cheers,
Mariki

Hola Bayram!
Nicedir resimlerine bakamıyorum dostum, neler birikti kimbilir... Bu enteresan su içi ampleksusunda her iki cinsin de gözlerini koruyan "nictitaking membrane"ı çok iyi saptamışsın, sık görülecek bir özellik değil...
Mehmet

Hi Bayram,

I was fascinated by your notes - never knew there was such a thing as a breeding ground. Isn't nature wonderful!! I hope someone came along for the lady-in-waiting. Great shot of this couple. What fantastic timing to get this. I love the leg positions and the blue eyes.

Sister Jane

Hello Bayram,

Good evening.
Exellent shot from these frogs.
I like the blue eyes fromm these frogs.
Well done.

Gert

  • Great 
  • pvs Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1128 W: 254 N: 2428] (11041)
  • [2008-06-04 10:21]
  • [+]

Hi Bayram,

An original picture,under water photography,well seen and captured with good colors,although I guess through the water eyes look a bit strange anyway tfs this upload and interesting note

Paul

Hello Bayram,
Strange they go to a special site. However...:-)
Very educational.
TFS
Annick

  • Great 
  • joey Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1580 W: 242 N: 5278] (18595)
  • [2008-06-04 11:28]

Excellent shot of these lovebirds (or lovefrogs) :-)
Incredibly clarity considering they were under water.
Great POV and composition.
Superb DOF and focusing.

Well done, Geckoman!

Joe

  • Great 
  • Jamesp Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 1205 W: 0 N: 4610] (13714)
  • [2008-06-04 13:47]
  • [+]

Hi Bayram

Lovely capture - took me a while to work out it was through very clear water - so the opaqueness round the eyes is air? Very skillful - excellent work.

james

ikimiz birden not yazma rekoru kıracağız:) en sonunda buldum mesaj kutusunu:) eline sağlık, bizim meşhur kurbağanın özel anında çok güzel bir kare. iyice transa geçmişler:) biyolojik açıdan da güzel bir belge olmuş. sağlıcakla kal, selamlar.

Bayram,

Very well done! The fact that they are underwater did not take away from the quality of this shot at all. Great work. Thanks for sharing such wonderful photos with us. Also I'd like to mention that the previous shots posted in the WS (of frogs in defensive modes) are outstanding. My wife and I had a good laugh at the pictures. They are great. (I am sure it wasn't a laughing matter for the frog pretending to be dead but it did look rather funny - they are very good actors :) Once again, my compliments on your great work! TFS.

Best Regards,

Martin

hello Bayram

you did your papparazi job to get this interesting and excellent shot,
both image are excellent, with fine POVs and DOFs,
excellent sharpness and details of the underwater vegetations,

TFS

Asbed

  • Great 
  • Luis52 Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 1015 W: 5 N: 2758] (10010)
  • [2008-06-04 20:23]

Hola Bayram.
You should be proud of this baeutiful photo, and becouse Your note is also very interesting to read. Great image My friend
Saludos Bayram.
Luis52.

  • Great 
  • uleko Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2369 W: 164 N: 7114] (22494)
  • [2008-06-05 0:44]

Hello Bayram,
Very fine capture of these frogs in breeding pose and a very interesting note.
Many thanks and regards, Ulla

Hi Bayram,
Another great post and very educative subject.
Thank you because you promote the herp education everywhere you can.
TFS
Regards,
Iulian

PS. sorry because I copy/paste the message from the previously photo but i have the same opinion.

Hi Bayram,this is a wonderfull scoop!!!!The quality of pic is impressive and the moment to take very interesting,my best compliments for the great informations too,thanks for share,Luciano

Hi Bayram,

Another excellent shot of this very rare species, it's good that you're documenting them so well.

Thanks,
John

Bunlar kamuflaj yaptilar... Utandilar herhalde sen de yine buldun cektin...Gozleri bak nasil bakiyor ikisininde...Saka bir yana renk uyumu detay kompozisyon harika...Gozler on planda...Ellerine saglik, saygilar,Merih

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