Inhertied possible Paramesotriton, ID confirmation, please?

[Herptiles]

Hey everyone, long time no post. I'm still maintaining my 1.1 Cynops orientalis (no breeding in the past few years, hoping that in the new flat we'll have better luck) in addition to a bunch of reptiles and fish.

I'm working with a local animal rescue, these newts showed up as "Chinese Firebellies." The previous owner kept this trio in a 10 gallon aquarium with a decent submersed filter and fake plants for something like 8 or 10 years. They've been doing well on a diet of earthworms (we inherited the vermicomposter, as well!), which I am pretty sure are red wigglers. Just got the worms yesterday, need to take a better look at them to be sure. Apparently two of them have bred before, but the larvae never survived the transition to land.

I am pretty sure that they are Paramesotriton based on size and wartiness, but would very much appreciate some more experienced eyes taking a peek to confirm.

#1: Possibly P. chinensis?

#2, thinking also P. chinensis:

#3, maybe P. hongkongiensis:

This group has coexisted in the same aquarium for nearly 10 years, apparently the woman was hand-feeding #3 to ensure that he got enough food. I have them in a very similar set-up to keep it as stress-free as possible. Seeing as I just got them yesterday, I haven't done a feeding yet to see what the situation's like. Ideally I'll get them split up by species and put the two conspecifics in a larger, more complex tank.

I would really appreciate any input, here!

Cheers,

 

[RobM]

I'm thinking you are right in your assumptions Christina. I would say the first two look like classic P.chinensis with that body shape, colour and warty-ness. The last one probably is P.hongkongiensis on the account of its well defined cranial ridges and that it is less knobbly and warty.

They definitely require a bigger than 10 Gallon aquarium! Good luck with these!

 

[Azhael]

I would agree, two P.chinensis and one P.hongkongensis. Both species are territorial and agressive, so yeah, give them pleeeeenty of space, preferably more than 20gallons. Either that or separate them, which personally i think is a much better option. Given that they can create hybrids, apart from everything else, it would be wiser to avoid all the risks byt separating them.

The two chinensis look fantastic by the way, beautiful colors and great physical state.

 

[Herptiles]

Thanks for the help! I had a feeling that the owner needing to hand-feed one was possibly due to stress, and/or the aggressiveness of the two hefty P. chinensis.

I'm going to wrangle up a 20-30 gallon to transfer the P. chinensis to first. I want to see how the lone P. hongkongiensis eats when there isn't anyone to bother him.

Now, the real challenge will be to find more individuals to work on a breeding group for both species!