Species Identification

[marcus]

Recently I had been given a couple of newts identified to me as P. Funhongenesis. After a few weeks thinking that something just wasn't right, I started to investigate.

I visited Living Underworld and came across what I think I may have for newts here. I actually believe that these three newts are Dim Tao Warty newts and not Funzhong. If there is someone in the know out there, can you verify this from the pictures?

If someone out there is familiar with this species, can you determine from the pictures if I have all males or females? If the pearlescent strip on their tale is a sign of being male, I may have two males and one female.

Any help is greatly appreciated. Thank you!

 

[paris]

looks like 2.1 just like you guessed. those are some real good and healthy looking specimens! my fushongs dont have that bold a tail stripe, they may indeed be a different species.

 

[jennifer]

Do all 3 have a similar belly pattern? It's common to find pet shop shipments of warty newts that have a mixture of species.

 

[ralf]

Hi Marcus,
I think you are referring to the "Tam Dao -" or Vietnamese warty newt (Paramesotriton deloustali). The two animals on top in the first picture might actually be P. deloustali. The belly pattern in the second picture looks also very "deloustali" to me.
I am not so sure about the bottom respectively first animal in pic 1 and 3. You definitely have two males in your group.
Can we have belly shots of all three?

 

[marcus]

They all three have the exact same belly patterns. And yes, thank you for the clarification on the common name! Tam Dao!

 

[ralf]

Most probably they are all Paramesotriton deloustali then. Please check also for orange/red spots at the upper side of the base of the limbs as a lot of the Tam Dao animals have those.
Recently it was discovered that this species respectively very closely related animals has/have a much wider distribution than previously thought (even into Southern China). These animals have also appeared in the pet trade. You might want to check for small parasitic mites on your animals as some populations have these. They are easily removed with a turkey baster.

 

[andy]

Well, I know someone in Duesseldorf/Germany, who is very specified in asian newts. Here u can contact him : http://www.salamanderseiten.de/

Greetings, Andy

Aachen / Germany