The three following South European species belong to the Euproctus group, so called on account of the mostly conical, backward directed, and vividly coloured vent.
T. asper s. pyrenaeus.–The Pyrenean newt has hitherto been found only in the Pyrenees, for instance in Lac Bleu and Lac d'Oncet, which latter lies about 7000 feet above the level of the sea. According to Bedriaga,[[63]] it prefers lakes which are supplied during the whole summer with water from glaciers. It is very sluggish, only moving to breathe and when in search of food, which consists of worms and insects. The general colour is greenish brown, dark above; the under side of the head and body are bright orange red in the female, yellow in the male; dark spots separate this bright colour from the flanks. The tail has a narrow ventral stripe of bright red and yellow. The cloaca of the female is bright red, that of the male dull grey. The total length amounts to about 4 inches or 10 cm.
The pairing time is the end of June, or later in cold seasons. The male gets hold of the female by forming a noose with its tail round her; it lies underneath, the cloacae being pressed together so that the spermatozoa can be taken in directly. The larvae have large yellow-green spots on the back and sides, and a bright red ventral tail-fin; when metamorphosed the greenish spots become more confluent on the back, producing a broad spinal band. Larvae which live in deep water are dark, while those in sunny places are light-coloured and spotted with yellow.
T. montanus in Corsica and T. rusconii in Sardinia are allied forms, but the males are distinguished by a spur-like process or dilatation at the end of the fibula.
T. waltli, the Iberian Newt, is olive-brown above, yellowish with blackish markings below. The tail has a yellow or orange ventral line. There is no crest. A remarkable peculiarity of this species (which it shares only with Tylototriton andersoni of the Loo-Choo Islands) is its ribs, which are very long, sharply pointed, and frequently perforate the skin. Before perforation the point of the rib lies in a lymphatic space. This surprising feature has by many authorities been considered as abnormal or pathological. Certainly young, and even many adult, individuals are found in which the skin is not perforated, but when these are handled the wriggling motions of this strong newt force the points of the ribs through the skin, and they remain sticking out to the extent of several millimetres. The wounds heal up, the skin forming a neatly finished-off hole through which the spike projects, not as a formidable, but as a sufficiently awkward, protective weapon.
Fig. 25.–Triton waltli. Spanish Newt, adult and larvae. × ⅔.
Large females reach a length of 10 inches. The larvae metamorphose, as a rule, when they are between 2 and 3 inches long, but those which have been bred in tanks often reach double this length. These newts are frequent inhabitants of the rain-water cisterns common in the South of Portugal and Spain, into which they tumble without ever being able to get out again. This species spends most of its time in the water, preferring ponds, among the vegetation of which they can be watched lying motionless, with their limbs hanging down and with the head close to the surface; but they are lively during the night. When their ponds dry up they leave them, crawling into the most unexpected places, to aestivate under rocks, or even in the walls of old buildings, where they are found by accident only. The range extends from Central Spain and Portugal into Morocco.
Tylototriton verrucosus lives in the Eastern Himalayas and in the mountains of Yunnan. The skin is tubercular, with large parotoids; above uniform black-brown, pale below; the tail has a ventral yellow or orange line. Total length about 6 inches. T. andersoni of the Loo-Choo Islands is remarkable for the pointed ribs which perforate the skin.
Pachytriton brevipes, discovered in Kiansi, Southern China, has a smooth skin, olive-brown above, with many black dots; the under parts are yellowish, dotted with black. Total length about 7 inches.