''Hynobius ikioi'' 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 ...

Kyushu is the third-largest island of Japan's five main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands ( i.e. excluding Okinawa). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regional name referred to Kyushu and its surroun ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

Physical characteristics

''Hynobius ikioi'' is very close to ''

Hynobius amakusaensis ''Hynobius'' is a genus of salamander (Asian salamanders) in the family Hynobiidae, occurring in Japan, Korea, China, Taiwan and Far East Russia. It contains these species: Species Species included (as of March 2021): *'' Hynobius abei'' Sato ...

'' and ''

Hynobius osumiensis ''Hynobius'' is a genus of salamander (Asian salamanders) in the family Hynobiidae, occurring in Japan, Korea, China, Taiwan and Far East Russia. It contains these species: Species Species included (as of March 2021): *''Hynobius abei'' Sato, ...

'', both also from Kyushu, but is easily distinguished from them by its uniquely bi-colored dorsum.

Taxonomy

This species was described in 2017 by Matsui, Nishikawa & Tominanga; it was previously thought to be a population of '' Hynobius stejnegeri''.

References

ikioi Endemic amphibians of Japan Amphibians described in 2017 Taxa named by Masafumi Matsui Taxa named by Kanto Nishikawa Taxa named by Atsushi Tominaga {{salamander-stub