Firebelly coloration

[dorytheemofish]

One of my 2 youngest newts, Douglas, has an odd coloration. I was wondering if it is a variation in color within the range of Chinese firebellies, or if he could possibly be Japanese. I'm guessing he's Chinese.

He is a very light brown (for a newt), with small white spots down his sides.

This is a poor quality picture, and I apologize. Additionally, I know the spots on the bellies of Chinese and Japanese firebellies are different, so I can try to get a picture of Doug's belly if necessary.

 

[Azhael]

I´ve had some morphs and juveniles display that kind of coloration. They didn´t do well so perhaps they are less fit.
If the animal has been recently bought in a pet-shop it could be a geographical variety.

There was a not so recent post about a newly acquired Cynops that looked very much like yours and also had a somewhat different belly coloration...It was argued that they could be another species...possibly Pingia granulosus.

 

[maelstrom]

i just yesterday seen online a few pics that looked exactly like your pic. They were all labeled as blue tailed fire bellied newts. Really light brown and can have a blue color to the tail and up the sides to the head sometimes, mostly during breeding season but can be permanent color as well

 

[TLaw]

Not too take the topic on too much of a tangent, but has anyone ever noticed that CFBs can sometimes kind of change color? I've got two males and one female, but strangely enough the female can sometimes change from really dark, almost black, to like a lighter grey/brown coloration. Anyone else seen something like this happen before?

 

[Azhael]

Yes, that happens sometimes. Not all animals seem to be able to change their coloration drastically, but it certainly happens. In addition, males during breeding season can also suffer color changes. My old male gets very light brown during the bussy nights. My younger male is also getting brownish around the head.

If you could take a picture from the side, it would certainly help identify it. I don´t think it´s Cynops cyanurus, though, but it could be.

 

[NightWolf]

Rather recently, a friend of mine who breeds chinese fire bellied newts found that three of his larvae had that same coloration. I am not sure if it is a color mutation, or merely an extreme lack of pigment, however, I did notice that the toes on your newt seem to be more pointed and long, not what I normally encounter in newts. It is possible that the place where you purchased him/her (I'm pretty sure it's female judging from the longer tale) could have accidently put two species together.