Gold-striped salamander

The gold-striped salamander, golden-striped salamander, saramaganta or píntega rabilonga (Chioglossa lusitanica) is a species of salamander in the family Salamandridae. It is the only species of the genus Chioglossa. It is found in the north-west of Iberia at an altitude of up to 1,300 m.

Gold-striped salamander
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Urodela
Family: Salamandridae
Subfamily: Salamandrinae
Genus: Chioglossa
Bocage, 1864
Species:
C. lusitanica
Binomial name
Chioglossa lusitanica
Bocage, 1864
Range map[1]

This is a short-legged salamander with protruding eyes and a tail that makes up 2/3 of its total length. It has a smooth upper side with 10-11 coastal grooves which are dark brown to blackish and usually two parallel golden stripes on the back which can sometimes be broken. It is an agile terrestrial amphibian, and is nocturnal. It may shed its tail like a lizard if it feels threatened, and lives for about eight to 10 years. It feeds primarily on invertebrates, using its sticky tongue to catch them. They mate on land with clutches of 10-35 eggs laid between stones in running water or on the walls of caves. The larvae develop in water.

Original watercolour included in the first scientific description of the species by naturalist José Vicente Barbosa du Bocage in 1864

Its natural habitats are moist deciduous forests with bushes, mosses, often under stones near rocky streams or caves. It is threatened by habitat loss.

The species has two described subspecies, C. l. lusitanica and C. l. longipes[2]

Notes and references
  1. Jan Willem Arntzen, Jaime Bosch, Mathieu Denoël, Miguel Tejedo, Paul Edgar, Miguel Lizana, Iñigo Martínez-Solano, Alfredo Salvador, Mario García-París, Ernesto Recuero Gil, Paulo Sá-Sousa, Rafael Marquez 2008. Chioglossa lusitanica. 2010.1 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Archived June 27, 2014, at the Wayback Machine Downloaded on 16 May 2010.
  2. JAN W. ARNTZEN, DICK S. J. GROENENBERG, JOÃO ALEXANDRINO, NUNO FERRAND & FERNANDO SEQUEIRA (2007) Geographical variation in the golden-striped salamander, Chioglossa lusitanica Bocage, 1864 and the description of a newly recognized subspecies. Journal of Natural History, 41(13–16): 925–936.

References
  • Jan Willem Arntzen, Jaime Bosch, Mathieu Denoël, Miguel Tejedo, Paul Edgar, Miguel Lizana, Iñigo Martínez-Solano, Alfredo Salvador, Mario García-París, Ernesto Recuero Gil, Paulo Sá-Sousa, Rafael Marquez 2008. Chioglossa lusitanica. 2010.1 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 16 May 2010.
  • New Holland European Reptile and Amphibian Guide.

Media related to Chioglossa lusitanica at Wikimedia Commons

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