"‚`kaishi Salamander" -- new species

[TJ]

picture source: Asahi Shimbun, Feb. 29, 2004

This salamander, a suspected lotic breeder found in the Akaishi Mountains of northwestern Shizuoka Prefecture and southeastern Nagano Prefecture, has recently been confirmed as a new species, being distinguished from other Hynobius species both genetically and morphologically. The Latin name has yet to be decided and a formal announcement has yet to be made.

 

[mark]

Hi Tim,
Thanks for the info, is this the only one they found or is there a full population of them?

 

[TJ]

Hi Mark, they've found at least 50 of them so far. This is not a reclassification but a newly described species. There are at least a couple of cases of other Hynobius types in Japan that are currently considered to be the same species but will likely be eventually reclassified as different species from each other.

 

[jennifer]

Wow, a whole new species. Thanks for being on the cutting edge, Tim! Let us know when you find out what Latin name is assigned.

 

[TJ]

Hehe, I already know what it will be but have promised not to tell

 

[henk]

Hynobius timjiensis ??

 

[henk]

Well Tim I was already afraid you left the Hynobius front (it is so lonely here), aparently you haven't.

Keep me posted on this new species will you ? I would like to read about it when it gets published...

 

[elizabeth]

neat, another Hynobius, does this make 27 total?

 

[TJ]

Yeah, it sure is

I can't say right off hand what the number stands at. All I know is that most are in Japan, around 16-17 of them. The area of present-day mainland China, (from whence they originally came!), has only 2 or 3 (I'm talking Hynobius here, not Hynobiids in general). Taiwan has at least 3, I think, and S. Korea 2 at least. What's that make? 25. Maybe Henk can fill in the blanks.

Henk, I'll be sure to keep you posted. There are some very interesting things about this sal, such as that it is thought to breed not in open streams utilized by H.kimurae, with which its range overlaps, but in small underground streams where larvae, hatched from large eggs, might develop without feeding on anything but yolks and metamorphose at a small body size -- which would explain why no larvae have yet been found. Anyway, I'd better not spill any more beans that I have already

 

[henk]

Tim this sure looks like a very interesting species from the ecological point of view. At the speed that new Hynobius species are growing now...I better should look out and install my tanks in a larger place ???
Anyway I still have plenty of fun with mine here too.

 

[TJ]

The report is finally out!!!

The chosen name of the new species is Hynobius katoi.

Here is the abstract:

A New Species of Salamander of the Genus Hynobius from Central Honshu, Japan (Amphibia, Urodela)

Matsui Masafumi1), Kokuryo Yasuhiro2), Misawa Yasuchika3), Nishikawa Kanto1)

1) Graduate School of Human and Environmental Studies, Kyoto University
2) Fujieda city
3) Civil Engineering and Eco-Technology Consultants

ABSTRACT We describe a small salamander from south Central Honshu, Japan, as a new species, Hynobius katoi. The genetic distances between this species and several named species, including sympatric H. kimurae, derived from allozyme data from a starch gel electrophoresis, proved to be sufficiently large to differentiate it at a specific rank. Distribution of this species is confined to the montane regions of Shizuoka and Nagano Prefectures, on the Akaishi Mountains of the Chubu District, central Japan. It is regarded as a member of the naevius group of Hynobius, characterized by small number of large, pigmentless ova. The species differs from the other species of the naevius group by the combination of relatively small body size, nearly spotless body, relatively few vomerine teeth forming moderately shallow series, and unique electrophoretic pattern of isozymes.

For the full report, see:

http://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/zsj/21/6/661/_pdf/-char/ja/

(Message edited by TJ on July 15, 2004)

 

[henk]

Hai Tim, it doesn't seem to stop out there no. The Hynobius genus continues to grow this last 3 years at quite a speed and I'm doing my best to follow. I have downloaded the article which I will read with much interest. Thanks for sharing.