Paddletail or Firebelly.

[Erinony]

Hello everyone

A friend of mine was under the impression that the newt she bought for her son 11 years ago was an "American Firebelly Newt" as that is what the pet shop told her. After seeing it I assured her it was not. I know pet shops mess up the species listing frequently. I'm thinking definitely paddletail of some sort? What do you all think?

 

[FrogEyes]

It's a warty newt, Paramesotriton sp. I've had one which was similar, and seen a photo of another which was reliably identified as Paramesotriton longliensis I think. I will refrain from offering a species ID at the moment however, without first reviewing the possibilities. Nice newt - I can think of a couple people who would gladly take it off your hands!

 

[AfroNewtkeeper]

It does look a bit like a paddletail, but I do agree with FrogEyes.
No such thing as an American Firebelly.

 

[Azhael]

Actually i´ve seen the useless term "firebelly" applied to Taricha, so technically, yes there is xD

There can be no doubt it is a Paramesotriton sp. but that´s as far as i could possibly dream to go.

 

[Chinadog]

Azhael's spot on, when the steady flow of C. pyrrhogaster dried up in the late '80s I saw Taricha for sale in UK pet shops labeled as American fire bellies! They were 8 times the price of Cynops though.

 

[Niels D]

Paramesotriton very beautifulicus I believe.

 

[Azhael]

Paramesotriton very beautifulicus I believe.

I believe that is a synonym of the taxon Paramesotriton bloodyhellis var. thatsgorgeous.

 

[Niels D]

Whaha. This reminds me of the topic about real scientific names which were probably given by scientists playing too much Dungeons and Dragons and reading/watching too much horror.

 

[Azhael]

Hey, that´s way better than some of the alternatives....i´ll take a nerdy scientific name like Oedipina complex over an aberration like Carmenelectra shechisme or La cerveza.