Chinese Fire-bellied Newt (Oriental Fire-bellied Newt): Morphology, Habits and Breeding Methods

The Chinese fire-bellied newt is an excellent material for studying embryonic development and can also serve as an ornamental animal. It belongs to the class Amphibia, order Caudata, family Salamandridae, genus Cynops. In China, it is distributed across Fujian, Jiangxi, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Anhui, Hunan, Hubei, Henan and other provinces. So what are the morphology, habits and breeding methods of the Chinese fire-bellied newt?

I. Morphology and habits of the Chinese fire-bellied newt

1. The Chinese fire-bellied newt is divided into five parts: head, neck, trunk, limbs and tail. The adult has a total length of 6—8 cm. The skin is bare and covered with wart-like granules. The back is black or grayish-black, and the belly has irregular orange-red patches. The head is rather flat, with a broad mouth at the front. On the roof of the mouth cavity there are vomerine teeth arranged in a splayed shape, which is an important basis for classification. The neck is not obvious, the trunk is rather flat, and the limbs are relatively well developed. The forelimbs have four fingers, and the hindlimbs have five toes, with no webbing between the fingers (toes). The tail is laterally flattened and long. It crawls on the bottom of the water and on land with its four limbs, and in water it swims by continuously bending its trunk and tail

2. and swinging in curves. The male is slightly smaller, lively and agile; the female has a plump belly and moves slowly. The male's cloacal opening is raised, especially in the breeding season, when the opening is long and has obvious villous papillae, sometimes even protruding outward, whereas the female's cloacal opening is flat, the opening is shorter, and there are no obvious papillae. The Chinese fire-bellied newt likes to live in pools at the foot of mountains or in slow-flowing mountain streams. Here the water is relatively clear, often with aquatic plants growing in it, and the water is neutral in quality.

3. The Chinese fire-bellied newt does not have a strict hibernation dormancy phenomenon. From spring to autumn, because the temperature is suitable, it is very active in the water, often staying on the bottom and under aquatic plants, and every now and then it swims out of the water to take in air. After winter begins, it hides in moist stone caves or crevices at the bottom of the water, generally not darting out of the water surface. When the water dries up or there is thin ice on the surface, it often lies among aquatic plants, under stones, and even moves onto land, overwintering in tree holes or cracks in the ground. During its growth process, it sheds its skin.

II. Breeding of the Chinese fire-bellied newt

1. The egg-laying period of the Chinese fire-bellied newt is generally from March—July, with May being the peak egg-laying period. When kept indoors, egg-laying occurs earlier than in the wild, from February—June, with the peak egg-laying period in April. The optimum temperature for egg-laying is 16—25 degrees. Each female's egg-laying in a year lasts about one month, and there are also females that last as long as 4 months. A female generally lays 2 eggs a day, and at most can lay 27 eggs. Over the entire egg-laying season, it can lay 80—100 eggs, and at most can lay 283 eggs.

2. Amphibians generally undergo external fertilization, but newts fertilize internally. Before releasing sperm, the male newt displays especially active courtship behavior, constantly circling the female newt, swimming now in front and now behind her, sometimes touching the female's cloacal opening with the tip of its snout, and sometimes, in front of the female newt, bending its tail forward and shaking it rapidly. This courtship behavior is repeated many times and can last several hours. After successful courtship, the female newt follows the male newt.

Alright, the above is the breeding method of the Chinese fire-bellied newt brought to you by the Tuliu.com editor. I believe that after reading it, everyone will understand. Friends who like it are welcome to follow Tuliu.com. See you next time.