Breeding and Nesting Behaviour of <I>Rhacophorus maximus</I> (Anura:Rhacophoridae) in Meghalaya, North East India

Abstract

The present study deals with the breeding and nesting behaviour of Rhacophorus maximus at Cherrapunjee and Mawsynram, Meghalaya, North East India. Breeding activity of R. maximus occurred after the first few showers of rain and an increase in air temperature. The species breeds sporadically for a short period, which lasts for about 6-8 weeks during March and April. Amplexus took place on land as well as in water and lasted for several hours. Aggregations of male frogs making advertisement call at the breeding sites have been observed. Competition among the males to mate with the female frogs and at the same time trying to dislodge the amplecting pairs have also been observed. Multiple amplecting pairs are seen in the temporary rainfed pond at Mawsynram, which appeared to be a congenial breeding habitat during the peak of the breeding period. Both male and female frogs took active part in nest construction. The species constructs foam nests on diverse substrata such as aquatic vegetation about 2-3 cm above the water surface, on bare rocks near the water bodies and on earthen banks. The water temperature recorded during oviposition ranged from 20C to 22.5C, air temperature from 21.5C to 26C and relative humidity from 65% to 99%. The eggs are large, measuring 2 mm in diameter, unpigmented, white in colour and clutch size varies between 809 and 2059 with a mean of 1351.96  83.07.

Certainty Over Uncertainty: A Search for an Endemic Amphibia in Indo-Burma Hotspot Guided by a Predictive Distribution Modeling Approach

“…Furthermore, non-detection of the target species when surveyed beyond its 'explosive reproductive' time period could be due to our limited understanding of its microhabitat (see Khongwir et al, 2016) coupled with restricted access to private lands and sacred grooves in Meghalaya. This could be also attributed to the inherent characteristics of niche models, which do not account for biotic interactions, the presence of geographic barriers, and anthropogenic influences (Peterson, 2001;Anderson, Lew & Peterson, 2003).…”

“…However, this apparent generalization might vary with the geographical location of the study site as well as with the eco-physiology of the target species being modeled. For a study site having a subtropical climate like ours, high seasonality of rainfall pattern can potentially restrict the breeding phenology of Rhacophorid frogs to a narrow window of time (March-April) by affecting the hydroperiod of water sources in their environments (Walls, Barichivich & Brown, 2013;Khongwir et al, 2016).…”

“…There has been a global unison of amphibian distribution in an area to be influenced by temperature and precipitation (reviewed in Buckley & Jetz, 2007, Cunningham et al, 2016 with members representing the Rhacophorid group depending equally on topographic features and habitat matrix quality living close to water sources (Khongwir, Hooroo & Dutta, 2016;Zheng & Natuhara, 2020). With this rationale, we assembled a dataset of 27 environmental variables in our SDMs (Table 1) to model the potential distributional range of Z. suffry in NE India.…”

The breeding biology of Fejervarya limnocharis complex, F. multistriata (Hallowell, 1861) in Mizoram, northeast India

“…The recorded atmospheric temperature (24 to 28°C), water temperature (24 to 27°C), and pH (5.54-7.22) might be the optimal for their breeding success. Rainfall influences the reproductive phenology of many amphibian species, particularly in tropical forests with seasonal precipitation 25 .…”

The Role of Community Reserved Forests in the Conservation of Anuran Amphibians in Meghalaya, North-East India

“…Other amphibian species occurring in sympatry at this sacred groove include: X. oropedion, Sylvirana danieli, Hylarana leptoglossa, Philautus sp., Polypedates himalayensis, Rhacophorus bipunctatus, Euphlyctis cyanophlyctis, Duttaphrynus melanostictus (Figure 9), Amolops gerbillus, Amolops formosus, and Fejervarya sengupti [35,38,40,43]. Similarly, Khongwir et al, [56] studied the breeding and nesting behavior of Rhacophorus maximus (Figure 10) in a Mawsynram and Sohra, the regions which lie in the southern slopes of the State and receive exceptionally high levels of rainfall. Multiple amplecting pairs are seen in the temporary rainfed pond at under the forested cover which appeared to be a congenial breeding habitat during the peak of the breeding period.…”