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Breeding smooth newt male

In the breeding season males develop a tall crest and the lower half of their tail fin is sky-blue coloured.

(photo: Judit Vörös)

Adult SMOOTH NEWTs are 10 or 11 cm long. Males have light and dark longitudinal stripes on the head. Their back and sides are spotted with black on a light brown or olive-green background. Males have serrated or undulated crest which begins between or behind the eyes and ends in a tip at the end of the tail. Throat and belly also have black spots on a yellowish background. Females are also light brown or olive-green with some dots but has a more uniform colouration. They also lack crest on the back. The sides are separated from the belly by a light stripe lined with dense black dots from below. The centre of their belly has a yellowish or reddish shade with black dots.

Distibution map by our National Herpetological Mapping Program:

Smooth newt female and male in its breeding colouration

The two sexes are characteristically different during the breeding season. Males have black dots while females lack those.

(photo: Judit Vörös)

 

Smooth newt paedomorph with a partially missing front leg 

Certain individuals retain their larval gills in adulthood.

(Photo: Jaime Bosch)

Smooth newt larva

Smooth newt larva with well-developped external gills.

(photo: Tibor Sos)

Smooth newt male in breeding colouration

In the breeding season males develop a tall crest and the lower half of their tail fin is sky-blue coloured.

(Photo: Gábor Szelényi)

Smooth newt female

Females are uniformly brown without black dots.

(Photo: Gábor Szelényi)

Smooth newt female

This female smooth newt is preying upon a common spadefoot egg clutch.

(Photo: Ákos Baracsy)

Smooth newt juvenile

At the end of the summer and in the autumn freshly metamorphosed young newts are often seen seeking shelter for the hibernation.

(photo: Bálint Halpern)

Smooth newt juvenile

At the end of the summer and in the autumn freshly metamorphosed young newts are often seen seeking shelter for the hibernation.

(photo: Bálint Halpern)

Breeding smooth newt male

In the breeding season males develop a tall crest and the lower half of their tail fin is sky-blue coloured.

(photo: Bálint Halpern)