Carpathian newt
Carpathian newt ( Lissotriton montandoni ), male
The Carpathian newt ( Lissotriton montandoni; Syn: Triturus montandoni; see Triturus ) is a salamander of the family of Real Salamander ( Salamandridae ).
Features
It is a small, dainty pig - adult animals are up to 100 mm long in the males 80 (rarely 95), with the females. The head is flat and broad; It has three longitudinal grooves at the top. The males develop in the water costume two raised lateral Rückendrüsenwülste, causing the fuselage cross-section appears somewhat rectangular. Furthermore, they have a thread at the tail end (see: palmate newt ) and form instead of a comb ( see for example: newt ) has a central back strip, which merges into the Flossensaum of the tail. Your top is gray-brown to olive green and often mottled dark. The lateral head area is dark colored and interspersed with bright spots. The lower Schwanzflossensaum the male has a bright stripe with dark spots. The belly is bright orange - red, sometimes yellowish, and usually unspotted (compare: Alpine newt ). Females and juveniles often have a bright zigzag pattern on the back, which settles from the darker, brownish flanks. They have no back bar and lower fin edges. In the less impressive country costume previously smooth skin is velvety and water repellent.
Dissemination
The species occurs naturally only in a relatively small area in the region of Central and Eastern European Carpathians. Specifically, the North-Eastern Slovakia ( Beskydy, High and Low Tatras ), the western tip of Ukraine with the Carpathians and the Romanian Eastern Carpathians ( Transylvania ), the Sudetes ( southern edge of the eastern border of Poland and the Czech Republic), settled. The vertical distribution ranges from 200 to nearly 2000 m - the focus is on the stage height 600-1200 meters.
In 1901, Carpathian newts were exposed in the Bavarian Forest and there in 1938, and the last time in 1950 been proven.
Habitat and behavior
The main habitat is coniferous and deciduous forests of the Carpathians. Here, the newts hide during the day under stones, brushwood piles and the like. At night they go hunting for insects, woodlice, spiders and worms; in spawning mainly small crustaceans and insect larvae are captured. After hibernation until March / April lasts from October / November and spent terrestrial to frost safe places, the newts migrate in late spring for reproduction waters. At lower altitudes, these are rather cool, shaded pond, at higher altitudes small, faster heated pool.
Reproduction
During mating in the water, the male is courting a female newt in typical fashion - special parallels consist of the behavior of closely related species newt and palmate newt. Finally, it sets off a spermatophore which is taken up by the female with the cloaca. Later this 35-250 eggs attached individually fixed on water plants.
After 10 to 30 days maximum embryonic development, the larvae hatch and now require about three months until metamorphosis into land animals. Until then, they grow from first to last six to ten 30 ( 40 ) mm length zoom. In warm shallow waters, the larval development can take place faster.
Threats and conservation
Stocks suffer from the pollution and destruction of spawning grounds and under artificial fish stocking in ponds.
Legal protection status (selection)
- Habitats Directive: Annexes II and IV (there are specially establishing protected areas / strictly protected species )
- Federal Nature Conservation Act ( Federal Nature Conservation Act ): strictly protected