Ribbed Newt (Pleurodeles Waltl)

Ribbed newt, or spiny newt, or ribbed salamander (Pleurodeles waltl) lives in the western part of the Iberian Peninsula. This is one of the largest species of newts. Can live in slightly polluted and slightly salty water bodies. Lives in shallow or temporary stagnant water bodies. Adults and larvae are predators, they hunt various invertebrates. Reproduction takes place in water. Poisonous glands are located throughout the body of the newt.

Area

Spain, Portugal, Morocco, Central and South Iberia, Africa. In the Sierra di Loggia (Granada), it occurs up to an altitude of 1200 m. The spiny newt also lives in dark caves, at a depth of 60-70 m near Ben Slaymayne, Bukhot, Morocco.

Appearance

The skin of the newt is grainy, rich in glands. There is no dorsal crest, the tail is trimmed with not large fin folds. The tail is shorter than the body. Males are slimmer than females, calloused formations appear on their front legs (during the breeding season). The dorsal ridge is absent. The newt has 56 vertebrae. The sharp ends of the long ribs, breaking through the skin, protrude outward. With their help, the spiny newt defends itself from enemies - at the moment of danger, it takes a pose in which the ribs protrude outward as much as possible. In addition to the sharp ribs, venom glands are located throughout the newt's body. The poison of the newt is not strong, but getting on fresh wounds of the mucous membrane inflicted by the sharp edges of the newt makes it spit out its prey. The cloacal lips in males are hypertrophied.

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Color

The coloration is brownish with indistinct spots on the back. The belly is buffy with small dark spots. On the sides of the body are orange-red spots surrounding the protruding ends of the ribs.

The size

Males grow up to 31 cm, females up to 28 cm.

Life span

In captivity, newts live up to 12 years.

Habitat

The spiny newt lives in shallow or temporary standing water bodies (ponds, lakes, ditches). The body of water should be deep (up to a meter deep) with or without aquatic vegetation. Can live in slightly polluted and slightly salty water bodies.

Enemies

Enemies include herons, storks, snakes.

Nutrition / food

Adults and larvae are predators, they hunt worms, mollusks, insects, small invertebrates, young snakes. In the absence of prey, it can eat plants. The spiny newt tolerates prolonged fasting well.

Behavior

It leads an aquatic and terrestrial lifestyle. It may not leave the reservoir for years. Rarely found on land, more often near water. In rainy weather, the spiny newt migrates to a new habitat.

Reproduction

Mating and spawning takes place in water. Two days after mating, spawning begins. Over two breeding periods, one female lays up to 1300 eggs (young females lay up to 150 eggs). The female attaches eggs to plants or various objects in the form of short chains of 9-20 pcs. The size of the eggs is 1.7 mm (diameter 2 mm), the diameter of the gelatin envelope is 5-7 mm.

Season / period of breeding

The season coincides with the humid period: February-April, or July-August, or October-March.

Courtship ritual

Approaching the female, the male touches her muzzle, and then grabs the female from below. The spermatophore is deposited on the female's body, and the male, helping her, moves it with his paws closer to the cloaca. The male can repeat the courtship ritual 7 times in a row.

Incubation

The eggs are incubated for two weeks.

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Development

Newborn larvae of newt are up to 11 mm long. They begin to feed on the fifth day of life, and until that time they live off the contents of the yolk sac. Metamorphosis begins after 100-110 days (at a water temperature of 18 ° C). In Spain, young newts by the end of the first year of life reach a length of up to 14 cm, at the age of two years - up to 17.5 cm.

Population / conservation status

The spiny newt is protected in Spain.

Comments: withstands high levels of radioactive contamination of water.