Fei's Stout Newt; Pachytriton De Fei

Pachytriton feii is a small-sized newt with a male snout-vent length range of 58.5 – 90.5 mm and female range of 69.6 – 93.4 mm. The head is oval in shape, longer than wide, depressed, and flat. The snout is truncated slightly beyond the lower jaw. The nostrils are close to the snout tip and there is a labial fold, most noticeably in the posterior half of the upper jaw. The skull is narrow and the maxillary connects with the pterygoid to form a straight line. The frontalsquamosal arch is complete and the epibranchial is short. The gular fold is weak, but present. The body is slender and flat. The species has smooth skin, long and thin limbs, and a broad tipped tail. There are 11 costal grooves between axilla and groin. Adpressed limbs are 1.5 costal folds apart. The average forelimb length is 25.8mm in males and 23.7mm in females. The average hindlimb length is 29.6mm in males and 28.3mm in females. Pachytriton feii toes and fingers do not have any webbing. The tail is laterally compressed and the dorsal fin is evident posteriorly (Nishikawa et al. 2011).This species is most similar to Pachytriton granulosus, both with similar body size and coloration. Pachytriton feii can be distinguished by some morphological characteristics: wider head, larger eyes, thinner tail, longer snout and limbs, and wider vomerine tooth series (Nishikawa et al. 2011).The color in life is uniformly dark brown on the dorsal side. The ventral side is lighter then the dorsal side. The ventral side has reddish orange markings. The markings are brighter and sharper in the juveniles. The underside of the tail and cloaca are light orange. There are no black spots over the body. When preserved, the dorsal coloration fades and becomes a light brown to cream color. The bright markings on the ventral side fade to cream (Nishikawa et al. 2011).The dorsolateral side of juveniles tends to have orange spots. Juveniles also have more finely scattered orange markings on the ventral side. The ventral orange markings are obscured against the ventral ground color. While adults have tongues that are connected to the mouth floor, juveniles have a protrusible tongue (Nishikawa et al. 2011).The species was first described by: Nishikawa K, Jiang J-P, Matsui M 2011 Two new species of Pachytriton from Anhui and Guangki, China (Amphibia: Urodela: Salamandridae). Current Herpetology 30:15-31.This species is in the genus, Pachytriton. It is the sister taxon to Pachytriton brevipes (Nishikawa et al. 2011).The species is named after Dr. Liang Fei of the Chengdu Institute of Biology at the Chinese Academy of Science (Nishikawa et al. 2011).Several mites were found on limbs and inside the mouth of adults (Nishikawa et al. 2011).

Pachytriton feii is found in Southern Anhui Province, People’s Republic of China. The species is known only from Mt. Huang. Pachytriton feii is commonly found in streams 600 meters above sea level (Nishikawa et al. 2011).

Adults are nocturnal, but can be seen during daytime if there is cloudy or rainy weather. Pachytriton feii prey under the water. No eggs and larvae have been found, but breeding season seems to start in the late spring into early summer. Terrestrial juveniles have been found near the stream at the end of April. This suggests that before sexual maturation, the species enters the water. In Pachytriton, both sexes have shown aggressive territorial conflict in captivity. Bite scars on the head, body, and tail of wild specimens have been found (Nishikawa et al. 2011).

Very little is known about Pachytriton feii. It is possible that collection for the pet trade is causing a population decline, but more population studies would need to be done to confirm this (Nishikawa et al. 2011).

Pachytriton feii, as well as other Pachytriton, are collected for the pet trade (Nishikawa et al. 2011).

Pachytriton feii is a species of salamander in the family Salamandridae from the Huangshan Mountains of Anhui, and southeastern Henan, China.