Diagnosis 



Large bodied, with wide, depressed head. Head, body, tail 

 and extremities covered with small tubercles. Eight or 10 ochre 

 or whitish warty protuberances on each side. Tail strongly 

 compressed laterally with reduced crests. Front of 

 vomeropalatine tooth rows beyond level of choanae. 



Size 



Total lengths to 252 mm in males and 242 mm in females. 



Description 



Strongly depressed head, slightly longer than wide; ^ound 

 snout; small, dorsolateral eyes. Conspicuous gular fold. Body, 

 except abdomen, covered with tubercles. Tail laterally 

 compressed; its length approximately equal snout-vent length. 

 Tail tip blunt. Dorsal and ventral crests on tail, somewhat 

 more prominent in males during reproductive period. Males have 

 black keratinous pads on the inner side of the forelimbs when 

 breeding. Each side of body with a series of ochre or whitish 

 protuberances. During breeding season, crests turns orange. 

 Cloacal opening similar in both sexes; pappilate appearanced in 

 males and ridged in females. Coloration olive green, brownish 

 or yellowish grey. Venter yellowish or orange-coloured with 

 scattered dark marks. 



Variation 



Adults from Morocco are smaller than those from the 

 Iberian Peninsula. Also when breeding, crest development is 

 less and of shorter duration than in the Iberian ones. The tail 

 is shorter than or the same as snout-vent length in metamorphic 

 individuals and longer in adults. Individual or geographic 

 variation in Morocco has not been described. 



Ecology 



This species live from sea level to 1100 m. Its basic diet 

 is crustaceans. It spend the summer under stones and in 

 fissures in the mud at depths of 30-50 cm and is aquatic during 

 the reproductive season. Between December and January, young 

 specimens are observed under stones or in the mud. They have 

 been found in caves at depths of 60-70 m. 



Biology 



They breed in temporary ponds and slow moving waters. 

 Active adults can be observed on rainy nights. Larvae are 

 observed from the end of February onwards. Larvae reach a total 

 length of 115 mm. Metamorphs collected on May measured from 31 

 to 60 mm SVL . Metamorphs are found from May until the end of 

 October. Larvae are larger at the end of the season. 

 Reproductive individuals measure a minimum total length of 97 

 mm. 



Distribution 



Western Morocco (Fig. 4). 



