The Taiwan lesser salamander (''Hynobius fuca'') is a species of

salamander Salamanders are a group of amphibians typically characterized by their lizard-like appearance, with slender bodies, blunt snouts, short limbs projecting at right angles to the body, and the presence of a tail in both larvae and adults. All ten ...

in the family

Hynobiidae The Asiatic salamanders (family Hynobiidae) are primitive salamanders found all over Asia, and in European Russia. They are closely related to the giant salamanders (family Cryptobranchidae), with which they form the suborder Cryptobranchoidea. A ...

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

. The Taiwan lesser salamander is known from four localities in the central and northern part of the Syueshan Mountain Range; it appears to be scarce. Its elevation range is about , which is the lowest among Taiwanese hynobiids. They live on densely shaded, moist forests and are found along mountain creeks or under rocks or rotting wood. The Taiwan lesser salamander is relatively short, but robust. Adults are about in snout–vent length. They breed in winter and early spring. Females lay egg capsules that both males and females appear to guard until they hatch.

References

*Amphiweb: Information on Amphibian Biology and Conservation. 2008, Berkeley, California
Hynobius fuca
Downloaded on 20 September 2009. Hynobius Amphibians described in 2008 Amphibians of Taiwan Endemic fauna of Taiwan Taxa named by Kuang-yang Lue {{salamander-stub