This spring we conducted fieldwork in the Dutch dune area Meijendel, close to Leiden. One of our target species was the northern crested newt (Triturus cristatus). There is a crested newt population in Meijendel that is completely isolated from the rest of the species’ range. While dipnetting away in a pond full of crested newts, my student Bas Helder caught his first crested newt ever. And it was a weird one: a partially flavistic male, reminiscent of a Koi carp. We wrote a little note about it (in Dutch) in RAVON’s newsletter Schubben & Slijm.

Reference: Helder, B., de Brouwer, J., Ouwehand, J., de Visser, M., Wielstra, B. (2021). Koi-kamsalamander. Schubben & Slijm 48: 8.