Ichthyosaura apuana (Bonaparte 1839)

Class: Amphibia > Order: Caudata > Family: Salamandridae > Subfamily: Pleurodelinae > Genus: Ichthyosaura > Species: Ichthyosaura apuana

Triton apuanus Bonaparte, 1839, Iconograph. Fauna Ital., 2 (Fasc. 26): pl. , fig.3. Type(s): Not stated or known to exist, although clearly including animal in figure 3 of the original publication. Type locality: Serravezza, Apuanen, northwestern Italy. Synonymy by Gray, 1850, Cat. Spec. Amph. Coll. Brit. Mus., Batr. Grad.: 21; Boulenger, 1882, Cat. Batr. Grad. Batr. Apoda Coll. Brit. Mus., Ed. 2: 12.

Triton alpestris apuanus — Gray, 1850, Cat. Spec. Amph. Coll. Brit. Mus., Batr. Grad.: 21.

Triton neglectus Jan, 1857, Cenni Mus. Civ. Milano: 55. Type(s): MSNM. Type locality: "Apennini", Italy. Nomen nudum. Synonymy with Ichtyosaura alpestris by Schreiber, 1875, Herpetol. Eur.: 39. Placed in this synonymy on the basis of geography (DRF). 

Triton alpestris var. immaculatus Dürigen, 1897, Deutschl. Amph. Rept.: 628. Substitute name for Triton apuanus Bonaparte, 1839.

Triton alpestris var. apuanus — Schreiber, 1912, Herpetol. Eur., Ed. 2: 95.

Triturus (= Triton) alpestris subsp. apuana — Wolterstorff, 1934, Zool. Anz., 106: 34.

Triton alpestris subsp. ocellata Wolterstorff, 1934, Zool. Anz., 106: 36. Holotype: MM, by original designation; destroyed 16 January 1945 (Tyler, Fucsko, and Roberts, 2023, Zootaxa, 5230: 162). Type locality: "Genua [= Genoa]", Italy. Placed in this synonymy on the basis of geography (DRF). 

Triturus alpestris apuanus — Mertens and Müller, 1940, Abh. Senckenb. Naturforsch. Ges., 451: 9.

Triturus alpestris inexpectatus Dubois and Breuil, 1983, Alytes, 2: 11. Holotype: MNHNP 1982.1275, by original designation. Type locality: "Lago dei Due Uómini, á l'ouest de Fagnano Castello (Calábria), altitude 1077 m, latitude 39°33´08"N, longitude 03° 34´15" E Roma", Italy. Distinctiveness from Triturus alpestris apuanus rejected by Sotiropoulos, Eleftherakos, Džukić, Kalezić, Legakis, and Polymeni, 2007, Mol. Phylogenet. Evol., 45: 211-226, Speybroeck, Beukema, and Crochet, 2010, Zootaxa, 2492: 1–27, Recuero, Buckley, García-París, Arntzen, Cogǎlniceanu, and Martínez-Solano, 2014, Mol. Phylogenet. Evol., 81: 207–220. Chiocchio, Bisconti, Zampiglia, Nascetti, and Canestrelli, 2017, Sci. Rep. (Nature, London), 7 (2955): 1–12, considered the taxon distinct. 

Mesotriton alpestris apuanus — García-París, Montori, and Herrero, 2004, Fauna Iberica, 24: 174.

Ichthyosaura alpestris apuana — Dubois and Raffaëlli, 2009, Alytes, 26: 37.

Ichthyosaura alpestris inexpectata — Dubois and Raffaëlli, 2009, Alytes, 26: 37.

Ichthyosaura alpestris (alpestris) apuana — Dubois and Raffaëlli, 2009, Alytes, 26: 66.

Ichthyosaura alpestris (alpestris) inexpectata — Dubois and Raffaëlli, 2009, Alytes, 26: 66.

Ichthyosaura apuana apuana — Raffaëlli, 2018, Alytes, 36: 185; Raffaëlli, 2022, Salamanders & Newts of the World: 364. 

Ichthyosaura apuana inexpectata — Raffaëlli, 2018, Alytes, 36: 186. 

 

Common Names

Italian Alpine Newt (Triturus alpestris apuanus: Steward, 1969, Tailed Amph. Eur.: 39).

Appenine Alpine Newt (Ichthyosaura apuana apuana: Raffaëlli, 2022, Salamanders & Newts of the World: 364). 

Calabrian alpine Newt (Ichthyosaura apuana inexpectata: Raffaëlli, 2022, Salamanders & Newts of the World: 364).

Distribution

Slow-moving streams in northwestern and central Tuscany, Liguria, and  (Italy) west to extreme southeastern France (Alpes-Maritimes and Alpes-de-Haute-Provence), sea level to 1790 m elevation; isolated population in southern Italy (Calabria); introduced into New Zealand near Waihi, Waikito. 

Geographic Occurrence

Natural Resident: France, Italy

Introduced: New Zealand

Comment

See comments under Ichthyosaura alpestris for access to revisionary literature, with which this species was confused prior to 2022. Lanza, 1983, Guide Reconoscimento Spec. Animali, Anf. Rett.: 70–73, reported on the Italian populations of nominal Ichthyosaura alpestris, now mostly assigned to Ichthyosaura apuana. See detailed account (as Mesotriton alpestris) by Andreone, Tripepi, and Vanni, 2007, in Lanza et al. (eds.), Fauna d'Italia, 42 (Amph.): 254–265, for Italian population (now mostly assigned to Ichthyosaura apuana). Covaciu-Marcov, Cicort-Lucaciu, Sas-Kovács, Ilieș, and Josan, 2009, North-West. J. Zool., Romania, 5: 406–419, discussed (as Ichthyosaura alpestris) biogeography in western Romania. Mateo, Ayres, and López-Jurado, 2011, Bol. Asoc. Herpetol. Esp., 22: 3, discussed a population in the Sierra de Guadarrama, introduced from the Cordillera Cantábrica, Spain. Arntzen, King, Denoël, Martínez-Solano, and Wallis, 2016, Herpetol. J., 26: 49–56, discussed the origin of introduced populations in New Zealand as elucidated by mtDNA analysis. Heiss, 2017, Salamandra, 53: 137–141, reported on a neotenic/leucistic population (as Ichthyosaura alpestris) in the Province of Bolzano, northern Italy. Chiocchio, Bisconti, Zampiglia, Nascetti, and Canestrelli, 2017, Sci. Rep. (Nature, London), 7 (2955): 1–12, reported on molecular phylogeography (as Ichthyosaura alpestris) in peninsular Italy. Raffaëlli, 2022, Salamanders & Newts of the World: 359–364, provided subspecies accounts, summarizing systematics, life history, population status, and distribution (including a polygon map). Vörös, Varga, Martínez-Solano, and Szabó, 2021, Acta Zool. Acad. Sci. Hungaricae, 67: 177–197, reported on mtDNA diversity (in the older more inclusive sense of Ichthyosaura alpestris) as evidence of Pleistocene refugia (including what are now Ichthyosaura reiseri populations). Bernabò, Iannella, Cittadino, Corapi, Romano, Andreone, Biondi, Splendore, and Tripepi, 2023, Animals, 13 (871): 1–19, discussed (as Ichthyosaura alpestris inexpectata) conservation strategies and the effect of introduced fish on the Calabria, Italy, population. 

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.