Which Paramesotriton?

[pete]

Ben,

Outside the shop in Chessington would be fine for me - we both know where that is! (Main entrance to the Center rather than the aquatics building). Say 3pm? Please confirm.

You can have the tank if you want too??. 1 foot hexagonal - I'll throw it out otherwise. Let me know if you want me to bring it. I take it that you are coming by car?

Peter.

 

[pete]

Ben,

That would be 3pm tomorrow (Sunday).

Peter

 

[benjamin]

My parents have said later today (3pm-6pm today), or 1pm outside Chessington tommorow would be best (we can't do it at 3pm sunday). What type is the aquarium (sounds like a Hexafun) and does it have a filter and heater, If so what type (you don't have to tell me the company, just the type of filter eg. air pump under gravel, out of aquarium cannister, in aquarium sponge...etc.) Hate to see a good tank go to waste.

 

[benjamin]

I could also take the newt tomorrow (Sunday) after 5:30pm, the fact that the shop's closed by then shouldn't get in the way.

 

[pete]

Ben,

Sorry, I've been out working all afternoon / evening. Sunday 1pm outside Chessington is OK for me, unless you live near Kingston in which case we don't all have to go out to Chessington in the Sunday traffic.

There is no brand name on the tank. It has a hexagonal lid and a "Fluval 1plus" filter which is like a small bio-life design. Water through the bottom of the filter, through a sponge and out the top. No heater but does have a light. There is also some green gravel, plastic starfish and coloured glass beads in there, together with a minature castle and a model of an urn caught up in a discarded ship's anchor.......

We have a saying in England which goes "don't look a gift horse in the mouth".

Please confirm if 1pm Sunday is still OK and let me know if Chessington or Kingston.

Pete.

ps. You don't have a pond do you? I could use some marginal plants should you have any to spare...

 

[benjamin]

I would be interested In the aquarium 1pm it is.

 

[benjamin]

Thank you very much for the newt it seems to be happy with the others. Also thank you for the aquarium, though I am not going to be using it for the newt you gave me, I'll be using it for my caudo who needs to be separated from the others because of its nose, also thanks for the book.

 

[pete]

Ben,

That's OK. Thanks for providing it with a new home. It sounds like it is getting on well with the other animals which is a promising start. It had a big earthworm on Friday, so you may want to feed it tomorrow or the day after if you want to let it settle after the change of environment.

Looking at the excellent line drawings in the string "Male vs. Female Paramesotriton" and comparing them to the photos below, I would say that it is a female out of breeding condition. Also the description in that string of the long, low tail and the lack of sheen supports this view, to my mind. The rougher skin also points to a famale.

Perhaps you can post some better profile pics from your digital camera and see what people think?

I hope that you will now end up with a breeding pair of one type or para or another.

Regards,

Pete.

 

[karl]

well folks ive had 2 of these babies for about 18 months now & Thought That they were cynops pyrroghaster!This thread has made me doubt that! any ideas? both pics are of the same newt

 

[benjamin]

Hey they look like mine too.

 

[john]

Hi Karl,

Definitely Paramesotriton (Warty newts), certainly not Cynops. In Ireland most of the "fire-bellied" newts on sale aren't Cynops (unfortunately). I've actually only seen true fire-bellies once in this country, and those were Cynops orientalis in the Petshop in Blanchardstown a few years ago. The rest have always been Paramesotriton.

As for exact species, I'd bet P. guanxiensis, but I'm not an expert on this genus.

It's good to bump into another Irish enthusiast (there are only a few on the forum). If you would ever like to talk newts, please give me a ring (I'll send you my phone number via private message in a minute).

 

[jesper]

Karl,
Can you provide a belly shot?

 

[karl]

I have some slightly better shots which i'll try to post tomorrow,thanks for your help!

 

[karl]

this is the same newt ( male)You can just about see the blue sheen on his tail.
apologies for the quality of the pic im still getting used to the new camera

 

[karl]

For what its worth this is the (shy) female, i have a belly shot somewhere but cant locate it at the moment
here she is sneakin' around....
Again apologies for the pic quality.

 

[jesper]

It seems to be a very dark variant of the fuzhongensis/guanxiensis complex to me. I have never seen such a dark belly on a fuzhongensis/guanxiensis though. It seems to have a quite dark back too, maybe it is due to the lighting? Looking forward to more shots

(Message edited by jesper on November 04, 2004)

 

[karl]

thanks jesper
i will try & get a good shot at the week end, (when i can let some more light into the room)
im very rarely at home during the day these days!!!
The female is a lot lighter in colour than the male ( & quite a bit bigger too!)

 

[benjamin]

Well the male at least has a different belly pattern from my mystery paramesotriton but that doesn't neccesarily mean they're not the same species. Great that you have a male and a female. If you can breed them you might be able to tell the species, after looking at para pics on several websites it seems the juveniles are more distinct from eachother than adults, e.g. Fuzhong juveniles have an orange vertebral stripe while Hong Kong juveniles do not.

 

[karl]

They did breed earlier on in the year,which surprised me as i thought i had 2 males!
I had about 25 babies that slowly whittled away

.up till 5 weeks ago I still had about 10 left But they all Mysteriously died en masse when i moved house.
the only explanation i can think of for this would be temperature shock as my new apartment has turned out to be considerably warmer than the old place.
They didnt have an orange stripe so im none the wiser & they were still really small .
Anyhow i'll be better prepared next time & the adults are following each other round the tank again so who knows!!?