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)