Abstract
Abstract. In Amphibians, both positive and negative correlations between activity and full moon phase have been observed. In this study, we present data for two anuran species (Hyla intermedia and Rana dalmatina) studied in a hilly Mediterranean area of central Italy. We analysed, in a two-year survey, the relationships between the number of egg clutches laid each night and the moon phases by means of circular statistics. Moreover, the studied species exhibited clear oviposition site selection behaviour influenced, at least in H. intermedia, by moon phases. We observed the occurrence of an avoidance effect by amphibians for oviposition and specific egg-laying behaviour during moon phases around the full moon. This apparent lunar phobia was evident in both species when yearly data were pooled. On the other hand, while this pattern continued to be also evident in H. intermedia when single years were considered, in R. dalmatina it stood just in one year of study. Nonetheless, during cloudy nights, when moonlight arriving on the ground was low, the frogs' behaviour was similar to that observed in new moon phases. We interpreted the observed pattern as an anti-predatory strategy. Overall, comparisons between our own study and previous research suggest that there was insufficient evidence to establish any unequivocal patterns and that further research in this regard is needed.
Highlights
The effects of the moon on animal biology and behaviour have widely been recognised in several animal groups, including terrestrial vertebrates (i.e. Farbridge and Leatherland, 1987; Bentley et al, 2001; Naylor, 2001; Parson et al, 2003), and marine and intertidal animals, with evidence that most moon-related adaptations are regulated by an internal clock (Morgan, 2001)
The oviposition activity peaked during the transition phase between new moon and 1st quarter
Our data clearly showed a reproductive phenology nonrandomly related to lunar cycle, with both species concentrating spawning activity between the new moon and www.web-ecol.net/13/1/2013/
Summary
The effects of the moon on animal biology and behaviour have widely been recognised in several animal groups, including terrestrial vertebrates (i.e. Farbridge and Leatherland, 1987; Bentley et al, 2001; Naylor, 2001; Parson et al, 2003), and marine and intertidal animals, with evidence that most moon-related adaptations are regulated by an internal clock (Morgan, 2001). Moon effects on amphibian biology have been recognized (Church, 1960a, b; Byrne, 2002; Grant et al, 2009), the direction of this influence is rather controversial with evidence of both increased (Tuttle and Ryan, 1982; Grant et al, 2009; Yetman and Ferguson, 2011), and decreased activity under the full moon (Ralph, 1956; Church, 1960b; Fitzgerald and Bider, 1974; Duellman and Trueb, 1994). Concerning anurans, it has been observed that they were able to respond directly to changing moonlight (antipredator and/or foraging behaviours; Kotler et al, 1991), or may present an endogenous cycle with lunar periodicity (Ralph, 1957)
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