Records of Amphibians in the Caves of Zonguldak Province in Western Black Sea Region of Turkey

Abstract

An inventory belonging to knowledge of the amphibian fauna is provided from the caves in Zonguldak province, western Black Sea Region of Turkey. No systematic field survey of amphibians in Turkish cave environments has yet been performed. The number of known caves in the western Black Sea region is approximately 280 and the province of Zonguldak ranks second with 41 caves in this region. We conducted our field surveys in 31 caves of Zonguldak during the period in 2017 – 2019 and our results revealed occurrences of four amphibian species. Dedicated surveys using appropriate methods will increase the number of amphibian species in the caves.