- Kommagene Biyoloji Dergisi
- Vol: 7 Issue: 1
- Breeding Ecology and Larval Development of Marsh Frogs (Pelophylax ridibundus s.l.) from East Medite...
Breeding Ecology and Larval Development of Marsh Frogs (Pelophylax ridibundus s.l.) from East Mediterranean, Türkiye
Authors : Yusuf Bayrakci, Kerim Çiçek
Pages : 65-72
Doi:10.31594/commagene.1252448
View : 36 | Download : 40
Publication Date : 2023-06-30
Article Type : Research Article
Abstract :Reproductive biology of Marsh frogs (Pelophylax ridibundus s.l.) was investigated in the Eastern Mediterranean Region of Türkiye in terms of reproductive phenology, fecundity, clutch size, reproductive effort, and mate choice. Frogs are active for approximately ten months throughout the year and hibernate between November and January. Breeding occurs from mid-January until early June and metamorphosis took 45-65 days, with juveniles observed from the end of March. The tadpole reaches its largest size at stage 38, with a mean total length of 60.61 mm and juveniles have an average snout-vent length of 20 mm at the end of metamorphosis. Secondary sexual characters can be observed on individuals reaching 45 mm snout-vent length and we could not detect any amplexed pairs below this length. The clutch size of spawned egg masses ranged between 144 – 645 and the mean egg size was calculated as 1.73 mm. The mean fecundity was 3853 (ranging between 940 and 6000) eggs and the reproductive effort was 0.094 in females. Females were approximately 16% larger than males and the snout–vent length of males and females of amplexed pairs is significantly different but not correlated. These findings signify random mating instead of size-assortative mating. However, the preference of 6.8% larger females than single ones to mate indicates a size-dependent mating for Western Mediterranean population.Keywords : üreme fenolojisi, üreme çabası, fekundite, yumurta kümesi, eş seçimi, türlerarası ampleksus