Mertensiella caucasica (Waga, 1876)

Class: Amphibia > Order: Caudata > Family: Salamandridae > Subfamily: Salamandrinae > Genus: Mertensiella > Species: Mertensiella caucasica

Exaeretus caucasicus Waga, 1876, Rev. Mag. Zool., Paris, Ser. 3, 4: 327. Syntypes: MNHNP (1 specimen) and MZV (1 specimen), by original designation. Thireau, 1986, Cat. Types Urodeles Mus. Natl. Hist. Nat., Rev. Crit.: 23, regarded MNHNP 6477 (formerly 1877.96) as the holotype. Type locality: "altissimis montibus Caucasi, supra limites silvarum, in regione graminum" (= Grass zone above the forests on the higher elevations of the Caucasus Mountains); rendered as Zekarskii Pass by Nikolskii, 1918, Fauna Rossii, Zemnovodnye: 192, and "Zekari Mountain Pass between river Kura and Rioni, Georgia" by Kuzmin, 1999, Amph. Former Soviet Union: 138.

Salamandra caucasica — Boulenger, 1882, Cat. Batr. Grad. Batr. Apoda Coll. Brit. Mus., Ed. 2: 5.

Salamandra caucasia — Knoblauch, 1905, Ber. Senckenb. Naturforsch. Ges., 1905: 89. Incorrect subsequent spelling.

Mertensiella caucasica — Wolterstorff, 1925, Abh. Ber. Mus. Nat. Heimatkd. Magdeburg, 4: 244. Thorn, 1968, Salamand. Eur. Asie Afr. Nord: 178.

Salamandra (Mertensiella) caucasica — Özeti, 1967, Copeia, 1967: 287.

Mertensiella caucasica caucasica — Tartarashvili and Bakradze, 1989, Bull. Acad. Sci. Georgia, Tbilisi, 133: 177–179.

Mertensiella caucasica djanaschvilii Tartarashvili and Bakradze, 1989, Bull. Acad. Sci. Georgia, Tbilisi, 133: 177-179. Types: Not stated. Type locality: "in Georgian SSR in the vicinity of mount Tirala (Batumi region)", Georgia. Stated as "Mtirala Mountain, environs of Batumi Town, Adjaria, Georgia" by Tuniyev, 1999, Adv. Amph. Res. Former Soviet Union, 3: 48.

Mertensiella djanaschvilii — Raffaëlli, 2022, Salamanders & Newts of the World: 255.

Common Names

Caucasian Salamander (Ananjeva, Borkin, Darevsky, and Orlov, 1988, Dict. Amph. Rept. Five Languages: 32; Tartarashvili and Bakradze, 1989, Bull. Acad. Sci. Georgia, Tbilisi, 133: 179; Stumpel-Rienks, 1992, Ergänzungsband Handbuch Rept. Amph. Eur., Trivialnamen der Herpetofauna Eur.: 50; Tarkhnishvili and Gokhelashvili, 1999, Adv. Amph. Res. Former Soviet Union, 4: v).

კავკასიური სალამანდრა (Georgian: Tarkhnishvili, Iankoshvili, Seropian, Kachlishvili, and Todua, 2026, Caucasiana, 5: 64). 

Kavkasiuri Salamandra (Georgian: Tarkhnishvili, Iankoshvili, Seropian, Kachlishvili, and Todua, 2026, Caucasiana, 5: 64). 

Caucasus Salamander (Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 35).

Distribution

South-central Georgia (Kura River, Borjom region, northwestern Trialeti ridge) and the western Caucasus from the Borjomi area, western Georgia, to northeastern Türkiye to the west in the eastern Black Sea region, west to Çambaşi, south of Ordu (Ordu, Gresun, Rize, Trabzon, Artvin, Kars, Bayburt, Gümüshane provinces). 

Geographic Occurrence

Natural Resident: Georgia, Türkiye

Comment

Much of the literature (prior to 2022) cited below actually applies to Mertensiella djanaschivilii (controversially regarded as a subspecies of Mertensiella caucasica). See account by Kuzmin, 1999, Amph. Former Soviet Union: 138–146, who doubted the validity of the currently recognized subspecies (now Mertensiella djanaschvilii and Mertensiella caucasica). Kuzmin, 2013, Amph. Former Soviet Union, Ed. 2: 71–75, provided an account. Tarkhnishvili, Thorpe, and Arntzen, 2000, Mol. Phylogenet. Evol., 14: 414–422, noted that two populations that are likely distinct species are distinguishable, one in central Georgia (now Mertensiella caucasica) and another in southwestern Georgia and northeastern Turkey (now Mertensiella caucasica djanaschvilii). Franzen, 1999, in Grossenbacher and Thiesmeier (eds.), Handbuch Rept. Amph. Eur., 4(1): 329–366, provided a review of the biology. Obst in Engelmann, Fritzsche, Günther, and Obst, 1993, Lurche Kriechtiere Eur.: 73–74, provided a brief account, figure, and map. 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: 603. Tarkhnishvili, Kaya, Gavashelishvili, and Serbinova, 2008, Herpetol. J., 18: 155–163, provided evidence that two allopatric species (now Mertensiella caucasica and Mertensiella djanaschivilii) are covered by this one taxonomic name, that can be diagnosed by fixed mtDNA differences and habitat variables. Raffaëlli, 2013, Urodeles du Monde, 2nd ed.: 214–215, provided a brief account, photograph, and map. Sparreboom, 2014, Salamanders Old World: 252–255, reviewed the biology, characteristics, distribution, reproduction, and conservation of the species. See Dufresnes, 2019, Amph. Eur., N. Afr., & Middle East: 167, for brief summary of identifying morphology and biology, a range map, as well as a photograph, suggesting that this is species complex. Raffaëlli, 2022, Salamanders & Newts of the World: 255–258, provided an account (including distinguishing Mertensiella djanaschvilii from Mertensiella caucasica), summarizing systematics, life history, population status, and distribution (including a polygon map). Arslan, Akdağ, Yaşar, Olivier, Benedetti, Morelli, and Çiçek, 2024, Nature Sci. Data, 11(292): 1–5, linked out (https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.6781260.v1) to a database of traits and localities in Turkey. Tarkhnishvili, Iankoshvili, Seropian, Kachlishvili, and Todua, 2026, Caucasiana, 5: 59–138, summarized the distribution in Georgia (including a polygon map), the taxonomic literature, barcoding literature, and possible cryptic species, although rejecting the species status of Mertensiella djanaschvilii. 

Mertensella caucasica djanashvilii: Başoğlu and Özeti, 1973, Türkiye Amphibileri: 36–37, provided an account for the Turkish populations (as Mertensiella caucasica). Özeti and Yilmaz, 1994, Türkiye Amfibileri: 51–54, provided an account for Turkish populations (as Mertensiella caucasica).  Tuniyev, 1999, Adv. Amph. Res. Former Soviet Union, 3: 48-49, discussed the status and distribution of Mertensiella caucasica djanaschvilii.  Beşir and Gül, 2019, Herpetol. Notes, 12: 45–51, provided a dot map for Rize Province, northeastern Türkiye (as Mertensiella djanaschvilii). See comments under Mertensiella caucasica noting literature that included this taxon as a subspecies of that species. Kurnaz and Kutrup, 2019, Nat. Conserv. Res., 4: 109–111, provided new localities and modeled the distribution in Gümüşhane province in Türkiye (as Mertensiella caucasica). Çiçek, Yakin, Afsar, Ayaz, and Tok, 2019, Acta Biol. Turcica, 32: 37–41, provided new localities in Türkiye and a dot map for the species' range (as Mertensiella caucasica). Yaşar, Çiçek, Mulder, and Tok, 2021, North-West. J. Zool., Romania, 17(e201512): 232–275, discussed and grid-mapped the range in Türkiye (as Mertensiella caucasica). Raffaëlli, 2022, Salamanders & Newts of the World: 255, resurrected the name Mertensiella djanaschvilii on the basis of evidence presented by Tarkhnishvili, Thorpe, and Arntzen, 2000, Mol. Phylogenet. Evol., 14: 414–422, and Tarkhnishvili, Kaya, Gavashelishvili, and Serbinova, 2008, Herpetol. J., 18: 155–163.  

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