Study of the Lewant water Frog (Pelophylax bedriagae) Camerano, 1882 populations in the northern habitats of Khuzestan Province with an emphasis on morphological, morphometric, reproductive and histological characteristics

Document Type : Animal systematic

Authors

Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Ahvaz, Iran

Abstract

          Amphibians were the most primordial vertebrates and the first vertebrates which came to live in land. Pelophylax bedriagae, clades that include north western and southwestern populations forms a monophyletic group along with samples from Turkey. The present study was conducted in northern parts of Khuzestan Province with the aim of evaluating the characteristics of morphology, morphometry, reproductive characteristics and skin texture study. For this purpose, 50 frog samples were collected from northern parts of Khuzestan province during the spring and autumn, and were transported to the laboratory. After specification, morphological traits and morphometric characteristics were investigated. According to the results of morphology, 3 types of pouring were identified among the samples and according to the gender independentness test, polymorphic traits and gender traits were independent. Moreover, 10 traits were evaluated for each morphometric sample. The results of T-test between male and female showed that there was a significant difference in all traits, except for hip length and arm length. As for the results of the T2 Hotelling test suggests sexual dimorphism between males and females. However, the results of multivariate analysis of variance showed the segregation of the population in male gender and the non-separation of the population in the female sex. In reproductive reproductive performance, the highest breeding power for both sexes was observed in spring. Examinations on the structure of the skin in the two regions of the back and abdomen indicated although there were epidermis and dermal surfaces in both areas, collagen fibers were thinner on the abdominal surface than the back surface.

Keywords

References

  1. Al-Barazengy, A.N.; Salman, A.O. and Hameed, F.T.A., 2015. Updated list of amphibians and reptiles in Iraq 2014. Bull. Iraq nat. Hist. Mus. Vol. 13, No. 4, pp: 29-40.
  2. Azevedo, R.A.; de Jesus Santana, A.S. and de BritoGitirana, L., 2006. Dermal collagen organization in Bufo ictericus and in Rana catesbeiana integument (Anuran, Amphibian) under the evaluation of laser confocal microscopy. Micron. Vol. 37, No. 3, pp: 223-228.  
  3. Cayuela, H.; Cheylan, M. and Joly, P., 2011. The best of a harsh lot in a specialized species: breeding habitat use by the yellow-bellied toad (Bombina variegata) on rocky river banks. Amphibia-Reptilia. Vol. 32, No. 4, pp: 533-539.  
  4. Dubey, S. and Roulin, A., 2014. Evolutionary and biomedical consequences of internal melanins. Pigment cell & melanoma research. Vol. 27, No. 3, pp: 327-338. 
  5. Duellman, W.E., 1999. Global distribution of amphibians: patterns, conservation, and future challenges: Johns Hopkins University Press. Baltimore. MD. USA. Vol. 2, No. 3, pp: 124.
  6. Flores‐Nava, A. and Vera‐Muñoz, P., 1999. Growth, metamorphosis and feeding behaviour of Rana catesbeiana Shaw 1802 tadpoles at different rearing densities. Aquaculture Research. Vol. 30, No. 5, pp: 341-347.
  7. Harley, C.D.G.; Pankey, M.S.; Wares, J.P.; Grosberg, R.K. and Wonham, M.J., 2006. Color polymorphism and genetic structure in the sea star Pisaster ochraceus. The Biological Bulletin. Vol. 211, No. 3, pp: 248-262.  
  8. Hoffman, E.A. and Blouin, M.S., 2000. A review of colour and pattern polymorphisms in anurans. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. Vol. 70, No. 4, pp: 633-665.
  9. Ishchenko, V.G., 2014. Ecological mechanisms determining stability of color polymorphism in the population of moor frog, Rana arvalis Nilss. Russian Journal of Herpetology. Vol. 1, No. 2, pp: 117-120.
  10. Kazemi, S.M.; Rastegar-Pouyani, E.; Shafiei Darabi, S.A.; Ebrahim Tehrani, M.; Hosseinzadeh, MS.; Mashayekhi, M. and et al., 2015. Annotated checklist of amphibians and reptiles of Qom Province. central Iran. Iranian Journal of Animal Biosystematics. Vol. 11, No. 1,
    pp: 23-31.
  11. Kime, N.M.; Whitney, T.K.; Ryan, M.J. Rand Marler, C.A., 2010. Treatment with arginine vasotocin alters mating calls and decreases call attractiveness in male túngara frogs. General and comparative endocrinology. Vol. 165, No. 2, pp: 221-228.
  12. Lind, M. and Johansson, F., 2007. The degree of adaptive phenotypic plasticity is correlated with the spatial environmental heterogeneity experienced by island populations of Rana temporaria. Journal of evolutionary biology. Vol. 20, No. 4, pp: 1288-97.
  13. Measey, G.J.; Vimercati, G.; De Villiers, F.A.; Mokhatla, M.M.; Davies, S.J. and Edwards, S., 2015. Frog eat frog: exploring variables influencing anurophagy. Journal of Peer. Vol. 3, No. 12, pp: 1-14.
  14. Mirzajani, A.; Kiabi, B. and bagheri, S., 2006. study of larvae Growth of Rana ridibunda species in Anzali wetland. Journal of Iranian Biology. Vol. 19, No. 2, pp: 191-202.
  15. Pesarakloo, A.; Rastegar-Pouyani, E.; Rastegar-Pouyani, N.; Kami, H.Gh.; Najibzadeh, M. and Khosravani, A., 2017. The first taxonomic revaluation of the Iranian water frogs of the genus Pelophylax (Anura: Ranidae) using sequences of the mitochondrial genome. Mitochondrial DNA Part A. Vol. 28, No. 3, pp: 392-398.
  16. Trocchia, S., 2014. The Sarno river and the bio-preservation of species of the genus Pelophylax. Journal of Zoology. Vol. 119. No. 1, pp: 8-25.
  17. Tsuji, H., 2004. Reproductive ecology and mating success of male Limnonectes kuhlii, a fanged frog from Taiwan. Herpetologica. Vol. 60, No. 2, pp: 155-167.
  18. Watters, J.L.; Cummings, S.T.; Flanagan, R.L. and Siler, C.D., 2016. Review of morphometric measurements used in anuran species descriptions and recommendations for a standardized approach. Zoo taxa. Vol. 4027, No. 4, pp: 477-495. 
  19. Zhelev, Z.M.; Arnaudov, A. and Boyadzhiev, P., 2015. Ecological status of the sazliyka river and its tributaries (blatnitsa and sokolitsa) as indicated by the color polymorphism and sexual composition of the populations Pelophylax ridibundus (amphibia: Ranidae). Bulgarian Journal of Agricultural Science. Vol. 21, No. 6, pp: 1148-1156. 
Journal of Animal Environment
Volume 12, Issue 2
April 2020
Pages 101-110

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics