Bull. Inst. Zoo!., Academia Sinica 31(4): 312-316 (1992) SHORT NOTE THE DISCOVERY OF METAMORPHOSED JUVENILES OF FORMOSAN SALAMANDER (HYNOBIUS FORMOSANUS) IN YU-SHAN NATIONAL PARK KUANG-YANG LUB and KUO-SHOU CHUANG Department of Biology, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan 117, Republic of China (Accepted March 3, 1992) Kuang-Yang Lue and Kuo-Shou Chuang (1991) The discovery of metamorphosed juveniles of Formosan salamanders (Hynobius /ormosanus) in Yu-shan National Park. In March, 1991 the authors discovered two clutches of five and seven metamorphosed juve niles of Hynobius formosanus near the peak of Yu-Shan (Jade mountain), approximately 3, 630m above sea level. The mean snout-vent length of these juveniles were 19.0 mm in nest one and 15.9 mm in nest two; larval survival rates were 35% and 48%, respectively. We estimated that the breeding season occurred from November to January. . Key-words: Hynobius formosanus. Metamorphosed juvenile, Clutch. T Yu-Shan, elevation of almost 3, 600m above he Formosan salamander, Hynobius sea level. Morphological measurments were formosanus, is an amphibian species en taken and are presented in Tables 1 and 2. demic to Taiwan;it occurs .only in high The hatching rates of these two clutches mountain regions. In 1987, Chen and Lue were estimated based on clutch sizes re reviewed its taxonomy, morphology, and dis ported by Kakegawa et ai. (1989). In addi tribution. Lue et al. (1989) and Yeh (1991) tion, collections of Ambystoma californien conducted ecological and population studies sis, Onychodactyius fisheri, Hynobius reta of H. formosanus in the Alishal1 area. Yeh rdatus, H. peropus, and H. tsuensis from the et ai. (1988) investigated its antipredator California Academy of Science were behavior. Clutch size and larval character checked for comparison. ities of this species were first reported by Kakegawa et ai. (1989). However, no field record or data exists concerning the Formo RESULTS AND DISCUSSION san salamander. On March 28, 1991 the au thors found two clutches of metamorphosed Both broods were found under stones at H. formosanus juveniles in Yu-shan National sites where the ambient temperature was 8° Park and made observations for the follow c. The altitudes of the two sites were 3, ing report. 625m and 3, 630m above sea level. Vegeta tion type in the surrounding area is alpine grassland dominated by Yuahania MATERIALS AND METHODS niitakayamensis and Juniperus squamata. On the day of discovery, the snow on the ground Discovery sites were near the peak of was melting and seeping into the mountain 312