Complete Guide To The Eastern Newt
Quick Facts About The Eastern Newt
|
Scientific Name |
Notophthalmus viridescens |
|
Common Name(s) |
Eastern Newt, Red-Spotted Newt |
|
Animal Type |
Amphibian |
|
Diet |
Carnivore |
|
Adult Lifespan |
5 – 15 years (Tyning 1990) |
Eastern Newt Image Gallery
How To Identify Eastern Newts
- Eastern Newts grow between 2.5 – 5.5 inches long (6.4 – 14 cm).
- Skin looks rough rather than slimy.
- Juvenile and adult Eastern Newts look very different from one another.
- Juveniles (called “efts”):
- Vary in color from red-brown to bright, neon orange (Martof et al. 1980)
- Have dark eyes rimmed in bright yellow above and below.
- Have long, slim, tails that are round in cross-section and resemble the tails of lizards.
- Adults are yellow-brown to olive green above and yellow with black spots below and have:
- Small, black spots along their backs and tails.
- Larger, bright red dots rimmed with black in a single row on each side of the bodies.
- Very long, laterally flattened, paddle-shaped tails lined on top and bottom with flexible membranes that help them swim.
- Dark eyes rimmed in yellow-brown or olive green.
- Juveniles (called “efts”):
How To Find Eastern Newts
Most Eastern Newts transform several times over the course of their lives, from egg, to aquatic larvae, to terrestrial efts, to aquatic adults.
Efts are terrestrial and live in moist forested environments. When efts develop into adult newts, they leave their forest habitats and transition to an aquatic lifestyle. Adult Eastern Newts live in ponds, lakes, and pools in and near rivers and streams.
What Eastern Newts Eat
- Adult and larval Eastern Newts feed on a variety of animals including:
- Insects like beetles, flies and their larvae (including mosquitoes), caddisflies, and stoneflies.
- Spiders
- Butterflies and moths
- Frog and toad eggs and their tadpoles
- Fish and other salamanders’ eggs.
- Smaller newts
- Snails, springtails, water mites, worms, and zooplankton (Strain, Turk, and Anderson 2014, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11273-014-9362-6)
- Juvenile efts feed on worms and insects and their larvae, especially springtails (Behler and King 2020).
What Eats Eastern Newts
Eastern Newts manufacture toxins that exude onto their skin; efts have the greatest concentration of toxins (Tipton et al. 2012). This chemical defense is effective against many potential predators but not infallible.
Eastern Newts are still preyed upon by:
- Northern Water Snakes (Nerodia sipedon)
- Bullfrogs (Rana catesbeiana)
- Snapping Turtles (Chelydra serpentina) (Wrynn and Gall 2019, https://doi.org/10.1656/045.026.0414)
- Painted Turtles (Trachemys picta) (Tipton et al. 2012)
- Common Green Darner dragonfly larvae (Wrynn and Gall 2019, https://doi.org/10.1656/045.026.0414)
- Fish
- Predaceous diving beetles
Eastern Newt Behavior And Life Cycle
- Eastern Newts mate in spring and fall.
- In preparation for mating, hormonal changes cause male Eastern Newts to develop:
- Enlarged hind legs
- Large, black, rough patches on the insides of their thighs and tips of their toes (Behler and King 2020).
- In preparation for mating, hormonal changes cause male Eastern Newts to develop:
- Females deposit their eggs one at a time on leaves of submerged plants in late winter, spring, and into early summer.
- They may fold the leaves over each egg to hide the eggs from view and protect them from predators (Martof et al. 1980).
- The larvae hatch underwater after approximately 35 days, although the time frame varies (Martof et al. 1980).
- In summer and fall, the aquatic larvae transform into efts, and leave the water for their moist terrestrial habitats.
Fun Facts About Eastern Newts
- Eastern Newts release a poison onto their skin that makes them toxic to many predators, and juvenile efts are more toxic than adults. But they release their toxin when their skin is bruised or broken, as it is during an attack by the usual sort of predator.
- But adult Eastern Newts fall prey to blood leeches, who avoid ingesting the newt’s skin poison by penetrating into the newts’ body cavities and feeding from the inside out (Tyning 1990).
Eastern Newt Classification
|
Phylum |
Chordata |
|
Class |
Amphibia |
|
Order |
Caudata |
|
Family |
Salamandridae (Newts) |
|
Genus |
Notophthalmus |
|
Species |
N. viridescens |
Binomial Name |
Notophthalmus viridescens |
