Eastern Newt (Notophthalmus viridescens)

September 27, 2011

Eastern newts, courtship (Maple Flat Ponds, Virginia)
Photograph © Steven David Johnson (All Rights Reserved)
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Photograph © Steven David Johnson (All Rights Reserved)
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Terrestrial eft stage
Photo © by Dave Huth, some rights reserved. Click image for licensing information.

Terrestrial eft stage (Maple Flat Ponds, Virginia)
Photograph © Steven David Johnson (All Rights Reserved)
Contact Steven David Johnson for image licensing

Video © by Dave Huth, some rights reserved. Contact Dave Huth for licensing information.

Photograph © Steven David Johnson (All Rights Reserved)
Contact Steven David Johnson for image licensing

Video © Steven David Johnson (All Rights Reserved)
Contact Steven David Johnson for image licensing

Music by Gurdonark (CC BY NC).
http://dig.ccmixter.org/dig?user=gurdonark

Water sound effects provided from Apple sound library.

Underside view
Photo © by Dave Huth, some rights reserved. Click image for licensing information.

Top view
Photo © by Dave Huth, some rights reserved. Click image for licensing information.

Photograph © Steven David Johnson (All Rights Reserved)
Contact Steven David Johnson for image licensing

Description

This salamander ranges from 6.5 to 14 cm in length. Terrestrial N. viridescens (“red efts”) are juveniles and thus generally smaller in size (3.5 to 8.6 cm in length); efts are orange-red to reddish-brown in color. Aquatic adults are generally green with two dorsal rows of red to orange spots; the dorsum may also be yellow-brown, olive-green, or dark brown. The venter is yellow. Breeding aquatic males have brighter and redder spots than females (Davis and Grayson 2008), as well as enlarged hind legs, swollen vents and a broadly keeled tail, and black keratinized structures on the inner thigh and toe regions (Behler and King 1996). Terrestrial adults have granular skin, in contrast to aquatic adults, which have smooth mucous skin (Walters and Greenwald 1977).

Subspecies include N. v. dorsalis, N. v. louisianesis, N. v. piaropicola, and N. v. viridescens (Behler and King 1996) . However, phylogenetic analyses have identified clades that do not correspond to the current subspecies designations (Takahashi 2008).

Supplier: AmphibiaWeb

Distribution

Distribution and Habitat

This species is one of the most widely distributed salamanders in North America, occurring primarily from Nova Scotia to Florida, and also southwest to Ontario. It prefers ponds and lakes with dense, submerged vegetation and relatively undisturbed stretches of streams, swamps, neighboring woodlands and ditches (Behler and King 1996).