Part 2

We are grateful to the officers, enlisted men and civilians associated in 1954 with the Field Unit of the Commission on Hemorrhagic Fever, Armed Forces Epidemiological Board, who aided our efforts in Korea; we are especially mindful of the contributions of Dr. Albert A. Barber, Dr. Marshall Hertig, Mr. Louis J. Lipovsky and Dr. Warren D. Thomas. We are grateful also to Mr. Yoshinori Imaizumi, National Science Museum of Japan, for his translations of several papers in Japanese, and to Dr. Edward H. Taylor for making certain pertinent references available to us.

=Hynobius leechii= Boulenger

Hynobius Leechii Boulenger, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., ser. 5, 19:67, January, 1887 (type locality, Gensan [=Wonsan], Korea).

Hynobius leechii quelpaertensis Mori, Jour. Chosen Nat. Hist. Soc., 6:47 (Japanese) and 53 (English), March 25, 1928 (type locality, Quelpart Island [=Cheju Do], Korea).

Specimens examined (3).--1 mi. SW Inje, 1 (KU); 4 mi. NNE Sogwi-ri, Cheju Do, 2 (KU).

Description (KU 38774 from 1 mi. SW Inje).--Total length, 86 (head 13, body 40, tail 33); costal grooves (including axillary and inguinal), 13; two costal grooves between adpressed toes; length of inner branch of series of vomerine teeth less than distance between outer border of naris and peak of opposite series (tooth-rows V-shaped, approximately as long as broad); dorsal surface yellowish brown or buff (yellowish in life), having numerous blackish marks; venter yellowish cream, having an indistinct grayish mottling.

Remarks.--The salamander described above was found in a foxhole with another desiccated individual (not saved) on a military compound on April 24. The only other occurrence of H. leechii on the mainland to come to our attention was the report of several larvae that were seen in a small pool on a hillside near Chip´o-ri in the summer of 1953.

Each of the two specimens from Cheju Do (KU 38775-76) differs from KU 38774 in having (1) the length of inner branch of the vomerine series slightly greater than the distance between outer border of naris and peak of opposite series (tooth-rows V-shaped, longer than broad), (2) a dorsal and ventral keel on the tail, (3) one costal groove (rather than two costal grooves) between adpressed toes, and (4) in being darker both dorsally and ventrally. The area of buff on the dorsal surface of each specimen is reduced by a fine, blackish mottling and stippling, and the venter of each is grayish. Respective total lengths of KU 38775 and 38776 are 84 (head 12, body 36, tail 36) and 89 (12, 35, 42), and the number of costal grooves 13 and 14. Although the two specimens are of approximately the same size, the tail of KU 38776 is noticeably the longer; the tail of KU 38775 is thicker and deeper than that of KU 38776.

The two specimens from 4 mi. NNE Sogwi-ri were taken on September 9 in damp substrate under volcanic rocks along a little-used road; although many rocks were overturned, only these two individuals were found. A South Korean soldier informed us that salamanders were fairly common on Cheju Do.

Mori (1928a:16) first mentioned in Japanese text the alleged distinctiveness of the salamander occurring on Cheju Do. Later, Mori (1928b:47 in Japanese, and 1928c:53 in English) provided valid descriptions of the subspecies, Hynobius leechii quelpaertensis. Okada (1934:17) questioned the validity of H. l. quelpaertensis and Sato (1943) regarded the salamanders of Cheju Do as inseparable from the Korean H. leechii. The English description of quelpaertensis is briefer than the preceding one in Japanese and lacks comparisons with related forms. KU 38775-76 seemingly differ appreciably from the description of quelpaertensis only in having the series of vomerine teeth narrowly V-shaped and longer than broad. We tentatively follow Sato in regarding quelpaertensis as a synonym of leechii.

=Bombina orientalis= (Boulenger)

Bombinator orientalis Boulenger, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., ser. 6, 5:143, pl. IX, fig. 2, February, 1890 (type locality restricted to Chefoo, China, by Pope, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., 61:435, August 29, 1931).

Bombina orientalis, Stejneger, Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus., 58:51, figs. 30-43, pl. VII (reproduction from Boulenger, supra), July 22, 1907.

Specimens examined (87).--2 mi. N Chip´o-ri, 8 (KU), 5 (UMMZ); 1 mi. SW Inje, 1 (KU); 15 mi. NE Mosulp´o, Cheju Do, 6 (KU); Sangdaehwa, 2 (KU); Taehoesan-ni, 1 (KU); 1 mi. W Tangjonggok, 32 (KU), 17 (UMMZ); Tangnim-ni, 2 (KU); 3 mi. SW Yanggu, 1 (KU); 2 mi. N Yongdae-ri, 8 (KU), 4 (UMMZ).

Remarks.--Most of our specimens were taken from breeding congresses after heavy rains in rice fields and other shallow temporary waters. Thirteen individuals from Chip´o-ri were collected from foxholes around the edge of a military compound (two pairs in amplexus; no egg masses seen), and represent a small sample of frogs that were everywhere following a heavy rain on the night of May 13-14. On April 23, 32 Bombina orientalis and three Rana temporaria dybowskii were trapped in the water-filled bottom of an unused grease pit near Tangjonggok. Many tadpoles and two kinds of egg masses (small clusters and beadlike strings) were present; the small clusters of Bombina were commonest. On June 13 at the same locality, thousands of these toads were observed (hundreds in axillary amplexus) in foxholes, temporary rain pools, and backwashes along the Puk-ch´on [river]. On June 12 near Yongdae-ri many individuals were seen (several pairs in amplexus), along Route 24 paralleling the Puk-ch´on, in rain pools and in ditches and backwashes from the river; almost all available water contained small (approximately 10 × 10 mm.) egg masses. Numbers of eggs per mass, selected at random, were 5, 2, 2, 5, 2, 8, 8, 2 and 5. Some that were saved subsequently hatched on June 15-17.

The call is a quiet low trill or series of staccato whistles rising slightly at the beginning; a short peeplike note also was heard. The specimens from Cheju Do, which are generally smaller than those collected on the mainland in spring, were taken on September 6 in a small stream that had large volcanic rocks in many places and that was flanked by thick brush and small trees. The earliest and latest dates on which B. orientalis was collected were April 21 and September 6, respectively.

In the breeding season, males are distinguished from females by the large blackish (probably brownish earlier in season) areas on the anteroventral surface of the antebrachium, the metacarpal tubercle, and the inner surface of the first finger (sometimes also the second and third). Also, males have conspicuous black-tipped tubercles on the back (usually absent in females) that extend onto the limbs (usually smooth in females, at least laterally). Field observations by one of us (Byers) suggested that the dorsal pattern of males had greater contrast than that of females and that the venter was brighter reddish. Eight females from Tangjonggok averaged 47.9 (43-51) in snout-vent length, whereas 24 males from there averaged 50.0 (46-55), indicating little, if any, size difference between the sexes.

Okada (1931:29) recorded variation in color of live Korean individuals (green or brown dorsally and pale yellow or red ventrally) and variation in extent of black markings on the belly (op. cit.:fig. 12). The specimens from Cheju Do (28, 32, 32, 32, 37 and 46 in snout-vent length) have less black ventrally than specimens from the mainland.

=Bufo bufo gargarizans= Cantor

Bufo gargarizans Cantor, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., ser. 1, 9:483, August, 1842 (type locality, island of Chusan, China).

Bufo bufo gargarizans, Stejneger, Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus., 58:59, July 22, 1907.

Specimens examined (10).--Central National Forest, near Pup´yong-ni, 1 (KU); 5 mi. NW Choksong, near Imjin River, 1 (KU); 5 mi. E Seoul, 1 (KU); 6 mi. E Seoul, 4 (KU), 2 (UMMZ); 1 mi. S Yami-ri, 1 (KU).

Description (nine females).--Dorsal surface brownish, having indistinct pale areas, some of which tend to form longitudinal stripes that extend posteriorly from parotoid glands; blackish mark, usually on lateral part of parotoid, having short spurs directed posteriorly and ventrally; edge of upper jaw and warts on dorsal surface becoming blackish with increasing size; small, conspicuous group of warts near angle of jaw below parotoid; middorsal warts tending, at level of posterior edge of parotoids, to form a V that has its apex between the parotoids; ventral surface pale yellowish, sometimes having well-defined blackish marks; granular underparts of large specimens having small blackish tubercles.

Male (KU 40118 from 5 mi. E Seoul).--Snout-vent length, 65; no vocal sacs or slits; dorsal and inner surfaces of first and second fingers, and inner surface of third finger black; canthus rostralis indistinct (a well-defined ridge on right side); nostrils closer to tip of snout than to eye, their distance from each other slightly less than interorbital width; interorbital width (6.2) greater than width of eyelid (4.7); tympanum distinct, circular, its diameter (3.0) less than length of eye (6.5), and approximately twice distance (1.6) of tympanum from eye; no cranial crests; parotoid gland elongate, approximately twice as long as broad (12.5 × 5.0), narrowly separated from posterior edge of eyelid; head elongate (width at posterior edge of tympanum, 23.6); length from posterior edge of tympanum to tip of upper jaw, 18.9; first finger slightly longer than second, fourth finger about two-thirds as long as third; most subarticular tubercles divided; outer palmar tubercle larger than inner; heels not touching when folded legs placed at right angles to longitudinal axis of body; tibiotarsal articulation just reaching eye when leg laid forward; tarsometatarsal articulation not reaching beyond snout; foot large (tibiotarsal articulation to tip of fourth toe approximately 46.0); fourth toe approximately half webbed, other toes more than half webbed; edges of webs somewhat crenulate; some subarticular tubercles divided; length of inner metatarsal tubercle (4.5) more than half length of first toe (7.0); inner metatarsal tubercle larger than outer, both darkened; tarsal fold extending from inner metatarsal tubercle for approximately two-thirds length of tarsus; tips of toes (not fingers) darkened; dorsal surface of back and proximal part of hind legs coarsely granular, of rounded, pavement-type tubercles lacking sharp tips; small group of warts near angle of jaw below parotoids; dorsal pattern contrasting and irregular (especially on limbs), of dark brown and pale gray; conspicuous black mark (interrupted) on lateral surface of parotoid having two, well-defined spurs that project posteroventrally; undersurface granular, lacking markings except for two indistinctly-margined dark spots on chest, and black spot on left leg.

Remarks.--This nocturnal, introduced species (Okada, 1931:47) is presumably widespread in Korea and seemingly prefers lowland habitats. Individuals were taken in sparse vegetation on a sand flat near the Han River, at the edge of a rice field in a light rain, along a road at night, and in millet fields adjacent to the Han River, which was flooding at that time (July 9).

As is obvious from the foregoing descriptions, the male (KU 40118), which was obtained on March 19, differs considerably from the nine females; neither does it agree with Stejneger's (1907:66) or Okada's (op. cit.:45-46, fig. 18) description of males of Bufo bufo asiaticus [=gargarizans] from Wonsan and Seoul. Upon cursory examination, KU 40118 is notable for having a contrasting dorsal pattern and elongate, ranidlike proportions. Some of the characteristics resemble those of Bufo raddei Strauch as given by Stejneger (op. cit.:70-72, figs. 53-57), Okada (1935:9, figs. 2 and 32-34, pls. II-III), and Liu (1950:203-205, fig. 43).

Stejneger (op. cit.:59-68) recognized B. b. gargarizans as occurring in southern China, and Bufo bufo asiaticus as the subspecies occurring in northern China. Subsequently, asiaticus was relegated to synonymy under the earlier-named gargarizans--see discussions by Pope and Boring (1940:33) and Liu (op. cit.:220).

=Kaloula borealis= (Barbour)