^ l <7he Red -Bellied Newt f 



4 4 



4 DR. R. W. SHUFELDT 4 



^ ^L^^ & 4 



4 4 



4 



4 



4 



4 

 4 



4 



4 



4 



4 

 4 

 4 

 4 



4 

 4 

 4 

 4 

 4 

 4 

 4 

 4 

 4 

 4 

 4 

 4 

 4 

 4 

 4 



4 



Red-bellied Newt 



Diemyctplus pyrrKsgaster 



Pkotograpked h$ the Author 



During the latter part of March of this 

 year (1916) Mr. Edward S. Schmid, the 

 well-known pet fancier, of Washington, 

 D. C, obtained from a Japanese dealer 

 in San Francisco, a lot of over one hun- 

 dred specimens of that most beautiful 

 salamander of Japan, the Red-bellied 

 Newt (Diemyctyhts pyrrhogaster). This 

 elegant form belongs in the same genus 

 with our common little spotted water 

 newt (D. viridescens), though, in my 

 opinion, it is not very closely related to 

 it — at least, each may be at the extreme 

 limit of the generic confines of that 

 group. 



Mr. Schmid very generously loaned 

 me half a dozen specimens from this fine 

 collection, and these I picked out for the 

 great differences to be seen in the color 

 distribution on their under parts. Five 



of them formed the subject for a colored 

 wali chart which I prepared, giving the 

 animals a size of some six times that of 

 life (linear). Employing this chart as 

 a means of demonstration, with the aid 

 of the living specimens in a small fish 

 globe, I presented a brief account of 

 these very interesting batrachians at the 

 meeting of the Biological Society of 

 Washington, which was held on the 8th 

 of April, 19 1 6. Subsequently I copied 

 my chart with the camera, reducing the 

 five figures to the natural size of the liv- 

 ing animals, and these I colored as in 

 life. This illustration is here reproduced 

 to supplement the short description given 

 below. 



Superiorly, the skin of this batrachian 

 is rather rough, due to the presence of a 

 fine, warty growth upon it. When seen 



