ISSN 1827-9635 (print) © Firenze University Press ISSN 1827-9643 (online) www.fupress.com/ah Acta Herpetologica 7(1): 49-55, 2012 Updated distribution of hybrids between Lissotriton vulgaris and Lissotriton montandoni (Amphibia: Caudata: Salamandridae) in Romania Iulian Gherghel1,*, Alexandru Strugariu1, Ioana-Madalina Ambrosă2, Ștefan R. Zamfirescu1 1 Faculty of Biology, “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University, Carol I Blvd., No. 20A, 700505, Iaşi, Romania. *Corresponding author. E-mail: iuliangherghel@gmail.com 2 Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences, “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University, Toma Cozma Str. no 3, 700554, Iaşi, Romania Submitted on: 2011, 17th November; revised on: 2012, 29th January; accepted on: 2012, 29th January. Abstract. Lissotriton montandoni is an endemic newt species found only in the Car- pathian Mountains and lives in sympatry with Lissotriton vulgaris in many aquatic habitats from the entire range of the former species in the Carpathian and Sudetes Mountains or in the hilly areas from the Subcarpathians. These two species usually generate hybrids where their parapatric ranges meet, especially along rivers that flow from the inside of the Carpathians, where valleys are used as ecological corridors by L. vulgaris. We surveyed several regions of the Eastern Carpathian Mountains between 2008 and 2011 and found 11 new populations of newts where hybrids between the two mentioned species were present. All new records of L. montandoni x L. vulgar- is were described in the eastern part of the Eastern Carpathians, in Neamț County, a region known also from previous literature to be a ‘hot spot’ for hybrids between these two species. The present paper also presents an updated review of the distribu- tion of Lissotriton hybrids in Romania. Keywords. Amphibians, Montandon’s newt, Smooth newt, hybridization, Carpathians. Lissotriton montandoni and Lissotriton vulgaris are two genetically related species with similar sexual behaviour (Belyaev, 1981; Pecio and Rafinski, 1985; Rafinski and Arn- tzen, 1987; Arntzen and Sparreboom, 1989) and they usually generate hybrids where the parapatric ranges of both species meet (Zavadil et al., 2003). Lissotriton montandoni is an endemic newt species found only in the Carpathian and Sudetes Mountains and lives in sympatry with L. vulgaris in many aquatic habitats from the entire range of L. montan- doni, especially along small rivers in the mountains or in the hilly areas from the Subcar- pathians (e.g. Fuhn, 1963; Şova, 1973; Szymura, 1974; Fuhn et al., 1976). 50 I. Gherghel et al. Many authors have indicated the presence of hybrids in areas where the ranges of these species overlap: Ukraine (Hofmann, 1908; Kushniruk, 1963), Poland (Szeliga- Mierzeyewski and Ulasiewicz, 1931; Juszczyk and Swierad, 1984; Rafinski, 1985, 1988; Pecio and Rafinski, 1985; Rafinski and Pecio, 1989; Babik et al., 2003), the Czech Repub- lic (Rehák, 1993; Šálek, 1993; Kotlík et al. 1997; Kotlík and Zavadil, 1999; Zavadil et al., 2003, 2004; Mikulicek and Zavadil, 2008). In Romania, hybrids between these two species were first reported by Fuhn (1963), Fuhn et al. (1976), Iftime (2004) (Transylvanian Alps) and by Gherghel et al. (2008) (Eastern Carpathian Mountains). In this study, we present an updated distribution of hybrids between L. montandoni and L. vulgaris in Romania, based on the previous literature and several new, previously unpublished records. Field surveys were conducted between the years 2008 and 2011 in the Eastern Car- pathian Mountains, with emphasis on Neamț County, where several hybrid populations have been previously reported (Gherghel et al., 2008). We captured newts from various aquatic habitats using drag nets. Each newt individual was photographed using a Nikon L100 digital camera for future analysis of hybrid colouration and, subsequently, released in the original habitat. The morphological characteristics used for identifications of hybrids are those previously described by Kotlik and Zavadil (1999), Iftime (2004) and Mikulicek and Zavadil (2008) (Table 1). Throughout our survey, we found hybrids between L. vulgaris and L. montandoni in 11 new locations (Table 2). All the sites with hybrids were located in the contact zone between the Carpathians and the Subcarpathians, areas where all breeding ponds were used by both parental species. Gherghel et al. (2008) found the hybrids at the contact of two biogeographic regions: continental (the Subcarpathians) and alpine (the Carpathian Table 1. Comparison of morphological characters used for determination of animals. Morphological feature Lissotriton vulgaris Lissotriton montandoni dorsal crest high and spotted very low and without spots crest denticulation denticulated not dorsolateral folds absent present lateral stripe on the lower tail margin pale blue cream coloured spots on the belly present absent spots on the throat present absent colour of the cloaca the same as the surrounding skin including spots black tail filament absent present colour on the flanks wide gold stripe between the orange ventral and brownish dorsal coloration the orange ventral colour merges smoothly into dorsal coloration webbing on the hind limbs present absent colour of palms of the hind limbs the same as the surrounding skin, often with spots gray to black and without spots 51Distribution of Lissotriton hybrids in Romania Fig. 1. Habitat overview of breeding ponds of Lissotriton hybrids in the Eastern Carpathian Mountains; in the left photo (a) is a fresh snow-melt temporary pond, in the right photo (b) is a roadside ditched with water used by hybrids for reproduction. Fig. 2. Updated distribution of L. montandoni x L. vulgaris hybrids in Romania.   52 I. Gherghel et al. Mountains). The characteristics of the breading ponds where we observed L. vulgaris x L. montandoni hybrids are similar to those found by Fuhn et al. (1976), Iftime (2004) and Gherghel et al. (2008) and can be described as temporary and permanent ponds formed by rainwater or snow-melt (Fig. 1a) or by overflowing mountain rivers. Other important habitats used by newts for reproduction are roadside puddles or roadside ditches (Fig. 1b). As observed by Iftime (2004), hybrids are generally present mostly in human disturbed areas, where the anthropogenic impact (like deforestation, heavy road traffic, near locali- ties) is greater than inside forests. Almost all records of L. montandoni x L. vulgaris in Romania were found in the east- ern part of the Eastern Carpathians and in the extreme southern range of L. montandoni. Until now, no hybrids between these species have been recorded in northern and western slopes of the eastern part of Eastern Carpathians (Fig. 2, Fig. 3, Table 2). ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We want to use this opportunity to express our gratitude to Dr. Krystyna Nadachowsha - Brzyska who read the article in its preliminary version and offered valuable comments for its improvement. A part of this study was financed through CNCSIS –UEFISCSU, Project PNII – IDEI 2098 No.1041/2009. Fig. 3. 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