Dunn — Reptiles and Amphibians. 133 



Pseudotriton ruber ruber (Sonnini). 



Midway, one adult under a log in woods, 2 larvae in a spring; Anniston, 

 26 adults and larvae taken in springs; Crozet, one larva in a spring. 



Pseudotriton ruber schencki (Brimley). 



Mt. Sterling, one larva in a spring. 



The true state of affairs is not reflected in the classification if we rec- 

 ognize schencki from the southern half of the Southern Blue Ridge and call 

 the animals from the rest of the mountains ruber. As a matter of fact 

 the animals of the northern half of the Southern Blue Ridge are as worthy 

 of racial recognition as schencki. P. schencki is marked by clear coloration 

 and by special amount of black pigment on the chin. The race to be 

 described has almost no black pigment in the chin and, indeed, has less 

 black pigment than either ruber or schencki. 



Pseudotriton ruber nitidus, n. sp. 



Type, M. C. Z., No. 5649, adult female; White Top Mt.,Va., 4000 feet 

 (under a log in woods); July 11, 1919; E. R. Dunn, collector. 



Diagnosis. — A red salamander with no black pigment on distal half 

 of tail and little or none on chin. Distinct spots on dorsal surface. No 

 dark ground color. 



Description of Type. — Sixteen costal grooves counting axillar, six inter- 

 costal spaces between appressed toes; head flattened, rounded in outline, 

 no canthus rostralis, head width b l / 2 in distance from snout to vent. 

 Head length 4 in body length. A groove along neck from eye to gular 

 fold, a groove from this vertically down past angle of jaw, lower eyelid 

 prolonged backward in a narrow fold. Tail short, flattened at tip, a 

 raised keel on dorsal surface. Fingers short 3, 2, 4, 1 in order of length. 

 Toes 3, 4, 2, 5, 1 in order of length. Red, lighter below, definite scattered 

 spots on top of head, on back, on top of proximal half of tail and on upper 

 surfaces of limbs. No markings on body or tail ventral to a line joining 

 insertions of legs. A few dots along lower lip and on throat. Vomerine 

 tooth series confluent with parasphenoid series, well separated from each 

 other, each forming a right angle and passing beyond outer border of 

 choanae which are small. 



Dimensions. — Total length, 97; head, 12; body, 49; tail, 36 mm. 



Remarks. — Occasional young specimens of the other two races of ruber 

 may show the coloration of this form, but as a rule the black lips of schencki 

 and the spotted tail tip of ruber appear upon transformation. Besides 

 the type one was taken at Abingdon at the edge of a spring. Others have 

 been seen from Linville, Cane River, Cranberry, Spruce Pine, Roan Mt., 

 and Old Fort, N. C. Brimley records ruber from Burnsville, N. C, in all 

 probability referring to this form. Typical schencki occurs at Asheville 

 School, near Asheville, N. C, and schencki, with a definite trend toward 

 nitidus in the less black on the chin and on the tail, at Marshall, N. C. 

 Apparently nitidus inhabits the area bounded by the Stone Mts. and Iron 

 Mts. to the west, the Blue Ridge to the east and the Black Mts. to the 



