Notophthalmus meridionalis (Cope, 1880)

Class: Amphibia > Order: Caudata > Family: Salamandridae > Subfamily: Pleurodelinae > Genus: Notophthalmus > Species: Notophthalmus meridionalis

Diemyctylus miniatus meridionalis Cope, 1880, Bull. U.S. Natl. Mus., 17: 30. Type(s): Not designated; ANSP 1104-1106 (Helotes, Texas, USA) and ANSP 15977 (San Diego, Texas, USA) catalogued as types according to Brame and Gorham, 1972, Checklist Living & Fossil Salamand. World (Unpubl. MS): 57. See comments by Tighe, 2022, Smithson. Contrib. Zool., 654: 66–67. Type locality: "Matamoros, Mexico . . . tributaries of the Medina River and southward"; restricted to "Matamoros, Tamaulipas", Mexico, by Stejneger and Barbour, 1933, Check List N. Am. Amph. Rept., Ed. 3: 3; Smith and Taylor, 1948, Bull. U.S. Natl. Mus., 194: 15.

Molge meridionalisBoulenger, 1888, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., Ser. 6, 1: 24; Boulenger, 1890, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1890: 326.

Diemyctylus viridescens meridionalisCope, 1889, Bull. U.S. Natl. Mus., 34: 211.

Diemyctylus meridionalisStrecker, 1908, Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington, 21: 48.

Notophthalmus meridionalisStejneger and Barbour, 1917, Check List N. Am. Amph. Rept.: 7.

Triturus meridionalisDunn, 1918, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., 62: 452.

Diemictylus meridionalisWolterstorff, 1925, Abh. Ber. Mus. Nat. Heimatkd. Magdeburg, 4: 293.

Diemyctylus kallerti Wolterstorff, 1930, Abh. Ber. Mus. Nat. Heimatkd. Magdeburg, 6: 147. Holotype: MM N.V. 44/29, ex. nr. 1 (destroyed in W.W.II), according to Brame and Gorham, 1972, Checklist Living & Fossil Salamand. World (Unpubl. MS): 58. Type locality: "Angeblich Tampico-Mexiko. Wahrscheinlich aus dem gebirgigen Hinterland", Veracruz, Mexico. Synonymy (with Notophthalmus viridiscens) by Herre, 1936, Abh. Ber. Mus. Nat. Heimatkd. Magdeburg, 6: 196; with Notophthalmus meridionalis by Mecham, 1968, J. Herpetol., 2: 121–27.

Triturus kallertiSmith, 1934, Am. Midl. Nat., 15: 407.

Notophthalmus viridescens kallertiHerre, 1936, Abh. Ber. Mus. Nat. Heimatkd. Magdeburg, 6: 196.

Notophthalmus kallertiSmith, 1953, Herpetologica, 9: 98.

Notophthalmus meridionalis meridionalisMecham, 1968, J. Herpetol., 2: 121–27.

Notophthalmus meridionalis kallertiMecham, 1968, J. Herpetol., 2: 121.

Notophthalmus (Rafinus) meridionalisDubois and Raffaëlli, 2009, Alytes, 26: 57, 66.

Notophthalmus (Rafinus) meridionalis meridionalis —  Raffaëlli, 2013, Urodeles du Monde, 2nd ed.: 174. 

Notophthalmus (Rafinus) meridionalis kallerti —  Raffaëlli, 2013, Urodeles du Monde, 2nd ed.: 176. 

English Names

Texas Triton (Notophthalmus meridionalis: Yarrow, 1882, Bull. U.S. Natl. Mus., 24: 22).

Texas Newt (Notophthalmus meridionalis: Strecker, 1915, Baylor Univ. Bull., 18: 54; Bishop, 1943, Handb. Salamanders: 82).

Black-spotted Newt (Notophthalmus meridionalis: Conant, Cagle, Goin, Lowe, Neill, Netting, Schmidt, Shaw, Stebbins, and Bogert, 1956, Copeia, 1956: 174; Collins, Huheey, Knight, and Smith, 1978, Herpetol. Circ., 7: 9; Liner, 1994, Herpetol. Circ., 23: 12; Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 35; Collins, 1997, Herpetol. Circ., 25: 8; Crother, Boundy, Campbell, de Queiroz, Frost, Highton, Iverson, Meylan, Reeder, Seidel, Sites, Taggart, Tilley, and Wake, 2001 "2000", Herpetol. Circ., 29: 25; Liner and Casas-Andreu, 2008, Herpetol. Circ., 38: 31; Collins and Taggart, 2009, Standard Common Curr. Sci. Names N. Am. Amph. Turtles Rept. Crocodil., ed. 6: 15; Tilley, Highton, and Wake, 2012, in Crother (ed.), Herpetol. Circ., 39: 29).

Black-spotted Newt (Notophthalmus meridionalis meridionalis: Conant, 1975, Field Guide Rept. Amph. E. Cent. N. Am., Ed. 2: 259; Collins and Taggart, 2009, Standard Common Curr. Sci. Names N. Am. Amph. Turtles Rept. Crocodil., ed. 6: 15).

Southern Black-spotted Newt (Notophthalmus meridionalis meridionalis: Liner, 1994, Herpetol. Circ., 23: 12).

Texas Black-spotted Newt (Notophthalmus meridionalis meridionalis: Collins, 1997, Herpetol. Circ., 25: 8; Crother, Boundy, Campbell, de Queiroz, Frost, Highton, Iverson, Meylan, Reeder, Seidel, Sites, Taggart, Tilley, and Wake, 2001 "2000", Herpetol. Circ., 29: 25; Tilley, Highton, and Wake, 2012, in Crother (ed.), Herpetol. Circ., 39: 20; Liner and Casas-Andreu, 2008, Herpetol. Circ., 38: 31; Tilley, Highton, and Wake, 2012, in Crother (ed.), Herpetol. Circ., 39: 29 Highton, Bonett, and Jockusch, 2017, in Crother (ed.), Herpetol. Circ., 43: 30).

Mexican Black-spotted Newt (Notophthalmus meridionalis kallerti: Liner, 1994, Herpetol. Circ., 23: 12; Liner and Casas-Andreu, 2008, Herpetol. Circ., 38: 31).

Distribution

Gulf coast of southern Texas (USA) into adjacent Tamaulipas, Mexico, south to northern Veracruz (Siberia), eastern San Luis Potosí, extreme northeastern Hidalgo, and Puebla, Mexico.

Geographic Occurrence

Natural Resident: Mexico, United States of America, United States of America - Texas

Comment

See accounts by Mecham, 1968, Cat. Am. Amph. Rept., 74: 1–2, and Petranka, 1998, Salamand. U.S. Canada: 446–447. Mecham, 1968, J. Herpetol., 2: 121–127, noted that intergradation of the two subspecies is narrow and geographic variation within subspecies low, suggesting that different species are involved. Mendoza-Quijano, Mejenes-López, and Barragán-Torres, 2002, Bol. Soc. Herpetol. Mexicana, 10: 53–54, reported the species for the state of Hidalgo and discussed the overall distribution of the species. Raffaëlli, 2007, Les Urodèles du Monde: 139, provided brief accounts by subspecies (although he suggested that kallerti is likely a distinct species), figure, and map. Irwin and Judd, 2005, in Lannoo (ed.), Amph. Declines: 884–887, provided a detailed account that summarized the biology and conservation literature with special reference to the populations in the USA. See photograph, map, description of geographic range and habitat, and conservation status in Stuart, Hoffmann, Chanson, Cox, Berridge, Ramani, and Young, 2008, Threatened Amph. World: 605. Lemos-Espinal and Dixon, 2013, Amphibians and Reptiles of San Luis Potosí: 28–29, provided an account for San Luis Potosí, Mexico. Raffaëlli, 2013, Urodeles du Monde, 2nd ed.: 174–175, provided brief accounts by subspecies, photographs, and range map. Carbajal-Márquez, Quintero-Díaz, and Martínez de la Vega, 2014, Herpetol. Rev., 45: 650, provided a range extension in San Luis Potosí, Mexico, and discussed the range and possible extirpation of the population at Agua Blanca, San Luis Potosí, Mexico. Altig and McDiarmid, 2015, Handb. Larval Amph. US and Canada: 132–133, provided an account of larval morphology and biology. Lemos-Espinal and Dixon, 2016, Amph. Rept. Hidalgo: 342–343, provided a brief account and map for Hidalgo, Mexico. Raffaëlli, 2022, Salamanders & Newts of the World: 331–332, provided subspecies accounta, summarizing systematics, life history, population status, and distribution (including a polygon map). Bassett, 2023, Reptiles & Amphibians, 30(e18486): 1–18, provided an updated county distribution map for Texas, USA.

External links:

Please note: these links will take you to external websites not affiliated with the American Museum of Natural History. We are not responsible for their content.