Discovered another species of toad fish in Vietnam

Kyoto University researchers (Japan) and Vietnam Nature Museum have just announced a new species of toad in the Herpetology Current magazine. The new species is described based on morphological and molecular biology comparisons with the species of toad fish recorded in Vietnam and neighboring countries such as China and Laos.

Zebra toad fish Tylototriton ziegleri.

Specimens of the new species were collected in the mountainous areas of Ha Giang and Cao Bang provinces. The new species of toad fish is named after the name of Associate Professor Thomas Ziegler (Cologne Zoo, Germany), who has many contributions to biodiversity research and conservation in Vietnam.

The zigzag Tylototriton ziegleri Nishikawa, Matsui & Nguyen , 2013 has the following main identification characteristics: the muzzle-anal sucking length 54 - 68mm in males, 71mm in females; rough skin with very small nodules; bone ridges on head clearly; skin ridges between prominent spine, created by a row of large nodules; nodules on the ribs clearly; long and slender legs, sucking fingers and toes far apart when folded along the body; tail piece; the face on the back is dark brown or black; side nodules, orange fingers and toes; orange bulb, anal area and bottom tail orange.

In the article announcing the new species, the authors also recorded a new species of southern Lao toad Tylototriton notialis. So far, there have been seven species of toad fish in our country so far, of which three species are only distributed in northern Vietnam including Tam Dao toad Paramesotriton deloustali, Vietnamese toad Tylototriton vietnamensis, and new species zigzag Tylototriton ziegleri.