Triturus cristatus - Great Crested Newt

Great Crested Newt

Taxonomy

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Amphibia

Order: Caudata

Family: Salamandridae

This is the largest of the three newt species found in the wild Britain and also the one most threatened by habitat loss and pollution. These newts grow up to 15cm long and they look much more 'chunky' than either the Common Newt or the Palmate Newt. Their skin is also darker - on top it is either dark brown with blackish spots or, occasionally, completely black - and it is much rougher and more warty then the skin of the other newts. The underbelly of a Great Crested Newt is orange with with black spots, and on its lower flanks it is stippled with small white dots.

Although these newts are called 'crested' only the males have crests, and then only during the spawning season. In early spring, the males develop a 'dinosaur-like' serrated crest along their backs and a much smoother crest along the top of their tails. By early autumn, when they leave the water, the males have lost their crests and look much more like the females.

Like its smaller relatives, the Great Crested Newt feeds on all kinds of invertebrates and small fishes. Being so large, it needs a lot more food than either a Common Newt or a Palmate Newt, and so it is rare to find Great Crested Newts in acid moorland areas where food is scarce. They like vegetation-rich lowland ponds where there is plenty to eat while in the water and also during the pre-hibernation period out on land. Ponds with plenty of marginal vegetation suit it well, whereas most garden ponds, with lawns mown up to the edge, are much less likely to attract these large newts.

Populations of Great Crested Newts occur in Wales, England and Scotland. (They are not native to Ireland.)This species is protected by British and European law which makes it an offence to kill, injure, capture or disturb them or to damage or destroy their habitat. If these newts move in to your garden pond, enjoy their company by all means, but be aware that it is illegal to sell them or to give them to a friend or a neighbour. (These rules apply not only to Great Crested Newts but also to their spawn or larval stages.)