newt larvae

hello there! I've got a garden pond with a population of 3 frogs, loads of
waterboatmen, small water beetles, and some newt larvae - I've been
looking everywhere to identify what kind of newts they are:

in daylight they appear quite black, but look much paler in torch light,
and they have slightly serrated tails with small black spots. They seem
quite cocky, as in they swim about casually often at the surface. They
have all 4 limbs and amazing looking gills, and are approaching the size
of an adult smooth newt - there are only 2 or three of these, and then
there are a few much smaller newt larvae which are just as developed but
seem dwarfed next to them. All larvae were introduced at the same time,
from a friend's pond and they were all the same size when put in (my
friend has no idea what kind of newts laid the eggs as he doesn't really
bother with his pond at all).

I would love to know what the bigger ones are, and how to tell the various
larvae apart (none of the pages are that helpful regarding larvae)

Also, do waterboatmen eat newt larvae cos they seem to keep eyeing up
the smaller ones but think better of tackling the chunkier ones?

Sorry if this is all going over old ground but I'd really appreciate some
help, or pics of newt larvae that I can compare them to! :D

Hello Morpheus - cheers for the info! I realise that these might be great
crested newts, and so I was extremely careful getting a photo of one - I
kept
stress to a minimum and only took one pic so it was quick - I didn't
handle
the newt in any way either, and it was fine on release and swam around
like
nothing had happened! Maybe it's just a smooth newt but they seem to
spend most of the time near the surface both afternoon and night...

here it is!
let me know!!!



Edited by cactusboy

Hmmm ... Looks like a neotenous Alpine Newt to me but may be Great Crested. Any chance of a lateral view picture?

 

Where are you in the UK? - the yellow lines along the back could indicate that the newts are alpine newts - Another picture taken from the side would have helped - the faint gold/black bands on the feet suggest to me it could be a crested newt

if you send me a post code (pm) I can look to see if any alpine newts are close by

JC

 

 

 

I am referring to the toes on the feet - there are slight bands on them - a key feature to id cresties

Jon