Retail stores in Canada and the USA generally buy from local wholesalers, who in turn mostly buy from a handful of major wholesalers in the USA, so the trends are more or less continental. Much of the fish trade comes out of Shanghai, and the newt species which live around Shanghai are Pachytriton granulosus, Paramesotriton chinensis, and Hypselotriton chinensis, so these will be the cheapest available to the fish trade. Among the Pachytriton however, several other species do still get mixed in. H.orientalis can be obtained in the USA for a wholesale price of 39 CENTS. Japan is a much more affluent country, and Cynops from Japan are $2, $5 for specific localities. That's the wholesale price before it leaves Japan. Most pet stores are catering to customers who don't care what species they get, they just want a cheap newt with their fishes. Even the morespecialized stores really won't have a clue what variety of salamanders exist, how to tell them apart, or that there is even a market. They will buy the most common or popular terrestrial species when available, and the cheapest foreign newts when available. Japanese newts are still available, but they're magnitudes more expensive now than H.orientalis. The situation for Taricha is likely similar - first world country means much higher jobber cost, especially when they know that people will pay it. There have also likely been major cutbacks on how much of each species can be commercially harvested [if any] in a particular state, as protection increases and commercialization becomes increasingly regulated. Those jobbers who remain can often sell their stock within a very limited market area or online. When major distributors get stock, it sells out fast and may be scattered in small numbers across the continent or around the world.
