Red Spotted Newt Pattern Variation?

psychotic · Apr 2, 2012

Two days ago I was poking around in my pond and happened to find a strange looking newt. Out of the 20 newts that I caught (and put back) this one was much different.

I'm used to seeing red spotted newts that look like this:

However this female doesn't look like the above pictured male and female (or the other tons of newts in my pond). She has so much pattern that if not for her "red spots" I wouldn't have thought she was the same type of newt. But we don't have any other type of newt here!

So my questions is this:
Is this a common pattern variation of the red spotted newt or did I really find something unusual?

EasternNewtLove · Apr 2, 2012

I'm not sure if that's common or not, but it's definitely cool! It's pattern reminds me of some kind of big cat!

psychotic · Apr 3, 2012

Dang it's really driving me nuts! No one seems to be able to give me an answer lol. I'm keeping her and my big male jumped on her right away. So hopefully they will make some babies and some will look like mama.

FrogEyes · Apr 3, 2012

It's a red-spotted newt with an [I presume] abnormal pattern. You similar variations in other newts, including Taricha granulosa, Hypselotriton orientalis, and Cynops pyrrhogaster.

EasternNewtLove · Apr 3, 2012

Hopefully there will be some nice looking babies

psychotic · Apr 3, 2012

Thank you for the help. She caught my eye right off because she looked much different from the others. I hope it can be passed along to her offspring.

Otterwoman · Apr 4, 2012

That's pretty cool, but in my opinion the variation among red spotted newts is infinite. It may even change over time. The red spots won't move, but the green part will change.

psychotic · Apr 4, 2012

It will be exciting to see how much she changes. I wonder if her color will change too? Right now she is light brown with a yellow belly.

nhaislip · Apr 4, 2012

I see alot of variety in Noto. in TN and this one looks alot similar to some I have found before. They are definitely incredibly variable.

Miko Hayashi · Aug 10, 2015

I have a few Red Spotted newts with various pattern variation. Two of them are the strangest (one of the two is missing) and the other four seem more normal. One of the strangely patterned ones is olive green with a yellow belly and five YELLOW looking spots. The other was most likely female (Gravid with eggs but currently MIA) that was mottled in appearance with incredibly faint red spots. I thought she was a central newt but I caught her in Vermont.

seandelevan · Aug 15, 2015

I'll tell you this.....I have lived in many different states and most of these newts I've seen all were run of the mill. I'm talking NY, NC, VA but for two years I lived in PA near the heart of the allegheny national forest and MOST of the newts I saw there looked like the ones you have pics of. A lot looked almost exotic. Never thought of it until I saw this post.

Crystalann0219 · Jun 11, 2016

I've seen so many different pattern types and spot types all out of the same pond. Some had tiny red spots, some have bold red spots with a bold black outline. Some have alot of the darker markings and some may have just a few and be mostly green. It's really interesting that they they can look so different. One of my newts is named Aztec Mama, because her markings reminded me of some sort of Aztec pattern. Shes alot different than my others. I'll try to add some pics of them soon. I'm still new to the forum so still figuring it out.

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