# Auratus breeding; Male secretes first?



## Reef_Haven (Jan 19, 2011)

I came across this article on www.DendroBase.de 

Here is a translation from a portion of the BREEDING section:

*The spawning area will be chosen by the male. The courtship can take up to 2 h (Wells, 1978). It examines the male several possible Ablaichstellen until it chooses one. In the terrarium are particularly fond of using horizontally mounted photo cans or so-called spawning shed (covered petri dish with coconut). In open country they spawn on flat sheets in the leaf litter (Wells, 1978). The couple has reached the spawning ground is the pairing. The animals are sitting side by side and there is no amplexus. The males distributed among sweeping motion with his sperm blister fluid from the surface and leaves the spawning site. Now, the female lays her eggs on the wet surface and inseminated and also the location of exits. The behavior described here with Körperstreicheln and separate delivery of the egg and sperm without a Amplexusist typical of all members of the subfamily Dendrobatinae*

The translation is a little rough.
I found it interesting that the male was stated to introduce his semen first and then the female lays her eggs. 

I've seen a few people state that they get more fertile eggs by providing a dry petri dish vs. a misted dish. 

Has anyone witnessed this before?


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## Rusty_Shackleford (Sep 2, 2010)

I've never heard that about auratus before. I remember reading in Poision Frogs, by Lotters et al, there is a frog that the male secretes sperm then leaves while the female lays the eggs. They proved that was the case by pulling the eggs before the male came back and they still hatched. I'll have to go look up and see which frog that was.


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

Within anurans as a group we know that the jelly surronding the eggs can impede the motion of sperm once it reaches a certain level of hydration and this prevents sneaker males from contributing as well as other funtions. In the intial hydration stage, the jelly actually assists with sperm motility which helps to ensure fertilization of the eggs. This is why the dogma about leaving the eggs in for the male to return back to is based on false premises. 

Ed


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## Rusty_Shackleford (Sep 2, 2010)

So waiting 24-48 hrs to pulls eggs is a fallacy? If there are eggs visible then they are most certainly fertilized already?


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

Rusty_Shackleford said:


> So waiting 24-48 hrs to pulls eggs is a fallacy? If there are eggs visible then they are most certainly fertilized already?


Yes, there could be differences in hydration of the jelly (and thus sperm motility) if you pull them immediately) so it is best to leave them until both parents are not in attendence (the male could also return and add water to help with hydration of the jelly, which would affect development and thus make people think he had returned to fertilize the eggs). 

Ed


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## Rusty_Shackleford (Sep 2, 2010)

Ed said:


> Yes, there could be differences in hydration of the jelly (and thus sperm motility) if you pull them immediately) so it is best to leave them until both parents are not in attendence (the male could also return and add water to help with hydration of the jelly, which would affect development and thus make people think he had returned to fertilize the eggs).
> 
> Ed


Thank you Ed. The chances of catching them immediately after or during spawning is probably small. I have always waited 24 hours to pull eggs, so I suppose continuing that practice it still ok, but not absolutely necessary to ensure fertilization.


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