Biology

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Almost nothing is known about the biology of the recently described, enigmatic Lao Newt (Laotriton laoensis). Using a combination of field surveys and village interviews, we determined that its geographic range is restricted to a small area in northern Laos. Aquatic adults occur in pools of small, cold, slightly acidic, flowing streams that traverse a variety of vegetation types at elevations above 1,100 m. Mark-recapture estimated that aquatic adults are locally abundant where they occur. Analysis of stomach contents found that the species consumes a wide variety of invertebrates and vertebrates, including large prey, and females eat conspecific eggs. Aquatic courtship takes place during the coldest and driest part of the year, and eggs are laid over a long period between dead leaves that accumulate on the bottom of stream pools. Larvae are aquatic and metamorphose into terrestrial efts. The species is threatened from overharvesting for food, medicine, and especially the international pet trade.

The Lao newt (Laotriton laoensis) is a recently described species currently known only from northern Laos. Little is known about the species, but it is threatened as a result of overharvesting. We integrated field survey results with climate and altitude data to predict the geographic distribution of this species using the niche modeling program MAXENT, and we validated these predictions by using interviews with local residents to confirm model predictions of presence and absence. The results of the validated MAXENT models were then used to characterize the environmental conditions of areas predicted suitable for L. laoensis. Finally, we overlaid the resulting model with a map of current national protected areas in Laos to determine whether or not any land predicted to be suitable for this species is coincident with a national protected area. We found that both area under the curve (AUC) values and interview data provided strong support for the predictive power of these models, and we suggest that interview data could be used more widely in species distribution niche modeling. Our results further indicated that this species is mostly likely geographically restricted to high altitude regions (i.e., over 1,000 m elevation) in northern Laos and that only a minute fraction of suitable habitat is currently protected. This work thus emphasizes that increased protection efforts, including listing this species as endangered and the establishment of protected areas in the region predicted to be suitable for L. laoensis, are urgently needed.

We describe a new species of Leptolalax from northern Vietnam. Leptolalax botsfordi sp. nov. is distinguished from its congeners by a combination of (1) supra-axillary and ventrolateral glands present; (2) dark brownish red ventral surface with white speckling; (3) medium body size for the genus (29.1-32.6 mm in 7 adult males, 30.0-31.8 mm in 2 females); (4) black markings on the flanks absent; (5) toes with rudimentary webbing and weak lateral fringing; (6) large pectoral glands (1.1-1.9 mm; 4-6% SVL) and femoral glands (2.4-4.3 mm; 7-14% SVL); and (7) an advertisement call with a dominant frequency of 2.6-3.2 kHz (at 14.0º C). At present, the new species is known only from upper montane forest between 2,795-2,815 m elevation on Mount Fansipan, Hoang Lien National Park. To our knowledge, Leptolalax botsfordi sp. nov. occurs at higher elevations than any other species in the genus. If L. botsfordi sp. nov. is truly restricted to a narrow, high-elevation band, it is likely to be part...

The experiment on the indigenous catfi sh (Pangasius hypophthalmus) consisted of testing three different feeds during grow-out. Fishes were stocked in small net cages (3.9m 3) held in the Mekong River at the Ban Hat Village, Champassak Province. The experiment lasted for three months from May 30 to August 30 2005. Two feeds were prepared locally by grinding, mixing and pressing the ingredients with a small press. The ingredients for the feed 1 were rice bran (25%), maize (25%), beer brewing waste (24%), broken rice (5%), fi sh meal (20%) and premix (1%). The ingredients for feed 2 were rice bran (40%), maize (15%), soybean oilcake (20%), broken rice (10%), fi sh meal (14%) and premix (1%). The third feed was commercial extruded pellets used for Clarias catfi sh (30% protein). The juvenile fi sh initially weighted 130g and measured 24cm in total length on the average. After three months, the fi sh fed with the commercial pellet showed better growth than the two others in terms of bod...

A new species in the morphologically conservative Tylototriton asperrimus group is described from Khammouan Province, Laos. Molecular phylogenetic analysis of mitochondrial DNA confirms its placement in the T. asperrimus group. Tylototriton notialis sp. nov. is diagnosable in mitochondrial DNA, nuclear DNA, and morphology from its congeners. The new species represents the first record of the genus from Laos, and is the southernmost known member of the T. asperrimus group.

An integrative taxonomic analysis of the Ptychozoon lionotum group across its range in Indochina and Sundaland recovers P. lionotum sensu lato Annandale, 1905 as paraphyletic with respect to P. popaense Grismer, Wood, Thura, Grismer, Brown, & Stuart, 2018a and composed of four allopatric, genetically divergent, ND2 mitochondrial lineages. Multivariate and univariate analyses of continuous and discrete morphological and color pattern characters statistically and discretely diagnose each lineage from one another and together, with maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference analyses, provide the foundation for the recognition of each lineage as a new species—hypotheses corroborated with a Generalized Mixed Yule Coalescent species delimitation analysis. Ptychozoon cicakterbang sp. nov. ranges throughout Peninsular Malaysia to Pulau Natuna Besar, Indonesia; P. kabkaebin sp. nov. is endemic to northern and central Laos; and P. tokehos sp. nov. ranges from southern Thailand south of the Ist...