Hong Kong Warty Newt

The Hong Kong newt is a stocky, semiaquatic salamander about 14–15cm long. Its reddish-brown to dark-brown body has irregular orange markings underneath, with each animal carrying an individually distinctive ventral pattern. The species occurs in Hong Kong and coastal Guangdong and uses woodland and clear mountain streams. It is Hong Kong's only naturally occurring tailed amphibian. (Hong Kong Biodiversity Information Hub)

From September to March, adults migrate from the forest floor into stream pools to breed, sometimes gathering by the hundred. Breeding males are smaller than females and develop a bluish-white stripe along the tail. During courtship they fan their tails and release pheromones. Females place fertilized eggs among submerged roots or leaves; larvae possess external gills, then develop lungs and leave the water after metamorphosis. (Hong Kong Biodiversity Information Hub)