photo by Sumio Okada, Kamo-gun, April 2000.

Description : Male 8-14cm TL, Female 10-13cm TL, Larva 3-3.5cm TL. Japanese fire-bellied newts are rough skin, blackish brown in color. The belly is red or orange with black spots. There are some local variation of their spot patterns. This species does defensive posturing when they feel danger, and the bad smell mucus come out from the skin. They are external fertilization. This is the most common salamander in Hiroshima.

Habitat and Habits : They inhabit ponds, rice fields, swamps and streams. Their food items are water insects, tadpoles or larvae. Adults usually hibernate in the muddy bottoms of ponds or streams. The juveniles are terrestrial, found under barks, stones and fallen leaves in grassland or woodland.

Breeding : Japanese fire-bellied newts breed in April to early July. The males court waving thier tails in pools and pick at females with their tip of the nose. Females deposit their eggs one by one along the weeds. Larvae hatch within 30 days.

Range : This species occurs throughout Hiroshima. In recent years, improvement of the rice field or an agricultural chemical has a effect on the decling of this species.