2 replies to this topic

[centrarchid]

Just a bit ago I went out with the spot light normally used for the farm side of things.  This time I went to pond to check on what is going on and got an eye full.  My pond crawls with Central Newts and Warmouth.  It was nothing to see four newt within a square foot.  Warmouth were crowding shallows.  Fish were disturbed a bit but I could see where they flushed from.  I wonder how the newt can persist with Warmouth when Central Newt do not fare well with fishes like Bluegill and Largemouth Bass and were Warmouth are the only "Lepomis" (should be put in its own genus IMO) that consumes nasty tasting tadpoles.  

 

My property must be the newt capitol of Missouri but mole salamanders (Spotted I think) are hard to come by and I have yet to see a woodland salamander of any species.

[gerald]

Maybe there's better things available for your warmouths to eat, and newts are a last resort when starving.  Or maybe they'll eat newt eggs/larvae but not adults?  Ambystoma salamanders in central MO might include spotted, ringed, marbled, tiger, small-mouthed ...  Unlike newts, the Amby's usually wont breed in a pond where they can smell fish.

[centrarchid]

Locally only mole salamander present appears to be Spotted Salamander.  Tigers and Marbled also present across river.  I think I am a little west of RInged Salamander's range. Smallnouthed is a decidedly bottoms land critter around here.  I am seeing larval newts each year in pond and catch small efts under boards near pond perimeter each summer.

 

The Warmouth are generally not overly plump so they should have at least some motivation to consume even adult newt.