Posted by Amy Ransom on June 21, 2006

Q: On a recent visit to Mt Wachusset State Reserve in Central Massachusetts, in a pond clearly marked as containing baby spotted salamanders a bright orange variety (only one or two individuals among the other normally colored ones). It was the same orange as the tiny goldfish (unwanted imports I believe) swimming in the pond, but had the same red dots as the normally green-brown majority had. Any theories, ideas on what this could be? (I perhaps read too much science fiction and am hoping to have discovered a bizarre example of cross-species hybridization.) I caught it and so I was able to observe it up close. Thanks for any light you can shed. (My college's biologists was puzzled.)

Habitat: pond/lake

State: Massachusetts

Habitat: pond/lake

A: You saw the immature form of the Red-spotted Newt that is called a Red Eft. Red-spotted Newts lay their eggs in water but the babies transform into efts, crawl out onto land and spend one to three years there before returning to water to live there as adults. We generally think of salamanders as spending their immature phase in water and adult phase on land but these animals reverse this scenario.

Red Efts are often quite brightly colored (orange with red spots) and are frequently seen crawling about the forest floor, especially after wet periods. These salamanders have a toxic skin secretion that seems to keep most predators at bay and maybe this is why they can be so obvious as they crawl about. Hope this solves your little "mystery". The Peterson Institute has a great field guide to reptiles and amphibians that provides all kinds of info on your local animals. You can get one on line from their store and use as a reference for future sightings. Thanks for asking.

John Wiessinger ( June 22, 2006)