/ ^UL 10 1928 ^ ^ 



i LJBRARY 



Vol. 5, p. 247-2 1"J, pi. 15. ^^xl f ijf V OF ^C\^\^^ '^^ ^''*^^ 



Occasional Papei 



OF THE 



Boston Society of Natural History. 



A NEW SUBSPECIES OF THE RED SALAMANDEll 

 FROM LOUISIANA. 



BY SHERMAN C. BISHOP. 



Mr. Percy Viosca, Jr., of New Orleans, has collected a 

 number of Red Salamanders which are sufficiently distinct from 

 the described forms to deserve subspecific recognition. The 

 specimens were all taken in the vicinity of Bogalusa, La., an 

 area from which Pseudotriton ruber has not been recorded. 

 Pseudotriton montanus flavissimus, the dwarfed. Coastal Plain 

 derivative of P. montanus, has been recorded by Dunn ^ from 

 near Bogalusa, but unHke this subspecies, the salamander here 

 described attains a size scarcely less than that of the typical form. 

 This subspecies is named in honor of the collector : 



Pseudotriton ruber vioscai, subsp. nov. 



Type. — No. 75057, U. S. National Museum; adult female; collected April 

 10, 1926. (PI. 15, fig. 3.) 



Type locality. — A spring run 10 miles west of Bogalusa, La. 



Description. — The body is stout; the tail comparatively short, comprising 

 only 35 per cent of the total length. There are fifteen costal grooves, excluding 

 an imperfectly developed axial. The ground color of the dorsal surface in the 

 preserved specimen is dull yellowish brown; the lower sides and venter dull 

 yellow, lighter. The entire dorsal surface of the trunk and the tail is marked 

 with large, well-separated black blotches which are irregular in shape but tend 

 to form a fairlj^ regular herringbone pattern in some individuals. On the 

 venter and lower sides, the dark spots are smaller and closer together. There 

 are six and one-half intercostal spaces between the appressed toes in the type. 

 The teeth do not differ materially from those of typical ruber. 



Measurements of four adult specimens are as follows: 



Total length 



Head 



Tail 



Ratio of tail to 

 total length 



148 mm. (type) 



23 mm. 



53 mm. 



35 



132 mm. 



20 mm. 



50 mm. 



37.8 



132 mm. 



20 mm. 



48 mm. 



Tip regenerated 



118 mm. 



18 mm. 



40 mm. 



33.9 



1 The salamanders of the family Plethodontidae, p. 293, 192(3. 



