Amphibians
Banded Newt
Ommatotriton · also called banded newts
A banded newt takes the usual crested-newt look and reworks it: instead of a jagged sawtooth ridge, the breeding male grows a smooth, unbroken crest running the length of his body and tail, and instead of a plain tail he carries one striped in bold blue and dark bands, a pattern no other European or Middle Eastern newt shares.
Overview
Banded newts are the genus Ommatotriton, now generally split into two species, found across the hill and mountain country of Turkey, the Caucasus, the Levant, and northern Iran. They hunt aquatic invertebrates while breeding and switch to slugs, worms, and insects on land the rest of the year, generally living at higher elevations than many European newt relatives.
A different crest entirely
Where the great crested newt’s breeding male grows a tall, notched, sawtooth crest, the male banded newt develops a smooth, continuous crest with no gap at the tail base, paired with a striking blue-and-dark striped tail shown off during an elaborate underwater courtship dance.
Status
Least Concern but declining in parts of the range, hit by the drainage and pollution of breeding ponds, agricultural water extraction in an increasingly water-stressed region, and some collection for the pet trade — with regional instability also making population monitoring difficult in places.
Banded Newt: common questions
How is a banded newt different from a great crested newt?
Both are crested newts in the loose sense that breeding males grow an enlarged dorsal crest, but the crests look quite different. The great crested newt develops a tall, deeply jagged, sawtooth crest with a distinct gap and step down at the base of the tail. A male banded newt instead grows a smooth, continuous, unbroken crest running from the head straight through to the tip of the tail, with no notch at the tail base, and his tail additionally carries a bold pattern of alternating blue and dark stripes that the great crested newt does not have, making the two easy to tell apart once you know what to look for.
Why does the male banded newt have a striped tail?
The blue-and-dark striped tail pattern seen in breeding males is a seasonal ornament used in courtship, displayed prominently during an elaborate underwater dance in which the male positions himself in front of a female, fans and vibrates his tail, and wafts scent toward her to encourage her to accept a spermatophore, a packet of sperm he deposits on the pond bottom for her to take up. As with the crest and colouration of many other newts, the vividness and condition of the tail pattern likely serves as a signal of the male's fitness that females use, at least in part, to choose a mate.
Where do banded newts live?
Banded newts are found across a band of hill and mountain country stretching from Turkey through the Caucasus and the Levant into northern Iran, generally at somewhat higher elevations than many of their European relatives, breeding in still or slow-moving ponds, pools, ditches, and slow streams and spending the rest of the year in nearby woodland, scrub, or grassland. Because parts of this range have a pronounced dry season, the timing of their breeding migration and the amount of time spent in water can vary more than in newts from consistently wetter climates further west in Europe.
Are banded newts kept as pets?
Yes, their striking breeding colouration, particularly the smooth crest and blue-striped tail of the male, has made banded newts reasonably popular in the amphibian-keeping hobby, and some are bred in captivity specifically for this trade. However, a portion of the animals sold are still collected from the wild in parts of the range, which adds pressure on populations already affected by wetland loss and water extraction, so prospective keepers are encouraged to seek out captive-bred individuals from a reputable source rather than wild-caught newts where possible.