The Fire Belly Newts or Fire Newts, are a genus of newt

Newt

A newt is an aquatic amphibian of the family Salamandridae, although not all aquatic salamanders are considered newts. Newts are classified in the subfamily Pleurodelinae of the family Salamandridae, and are found in North America, Europe and Asia...

s native to Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 and China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

. All of the species show bright yellow or red bellies, however this feature is not unique to this genus.

Species

• Chenggong Fire Belly Newt
  Chenggong Fire Belly Newt
  Chenggong Fire Belly Newt is a species of newts of China.The Genus Cynops is due for a split. the Chinese species wil be one genus and the Japanese species another. Cynops chenggongenis is at the centre of all this. There is much debate about the validity of Cynops cyanurus and Cynops chenggongensis...
  
   (Cynops chenggongensis )
• Blue-Tailed Fire Belly Newt (Cynops cyanurus)
• Japanese Sword-Tailed Newt (Cynops ensicauda)
• Chinese Fire Belly Newt
  Chinese Fire Belly Newt
  The Chinese Fire Belly Newt is a small black newt, with bright orange aposematic coloration on the ventral side. Cynops orientalis is commonly seen in pet stores, where it is frequently confused with the Japanese Fire Belly Newt due to similarities in size and coloration. C...
  
   (Cynops orientalis)
• Dayang Fire Belly newt (Cynops orphicus)
• Japanese Fire Belly Newt
  Japanese Fire Belly Newt
  The Japanese Fire Belly Newt is a common Asian newt. It is commonly confused with the Chinese Fire Belly Newt due to similarities in coloring and size, and most newts sold as Japanese Fire Bellys are likely to be the more commonly collected Chinese Fire Belly instead.-Description:This newt is...
  
   (Cynops pyrrhogaster)
• †Wolterstorff's Newt (Cynops wolterstorffi)

Fire Belly Newts as pets

Fire Belly Newts are sometimes sold at pet stores. They do best in room-temperature freshwater aquariums with a small area of land or wood for them to surface on. Contrary to the way in which they're often sold at pet stores, Fire Belly Newts do not require terrariums, and actually thrive in misty aquatic environments. Fire Belly Newts can be fed blood worms, brine shrimp

Brine shrimp

Artemia is a genus of aquatic crustaceans known as brine shrimp. Artemia, the only genus in the family Artemiidae, has changed little externally since the Triassic period...

, or chopped-up earthworm

Earthworm

Earthworm is the common name for the largest members of Oligochaeta in the phylum Annelida. In classical systems they were placed in the order Opisthopora, on the basis of the male pores opening posterior to the female pores, even though the internal male segments are anterior to the female...

s. Some newts can go two to three days without food. They also do well in groups, provided there is proportional space in the environment.

Taxonomic controversy

It has been suggested that the genus cynops is due for a split, the Chinese species being placed in a separate genus from the Japanese ones. The species Cynops cyanurus is at the centre of all this. There is much debate about the validity of Cynops cyanurus and Cynops chenggongensis. All the known captive animals could be something different from cyanurus as they do not entirely match the original description of the species. The only known animals that match that are animals originating from Chemnitz

Chemnitz

Chemnitz is the third-largest city of the Free State of Saxony, Germany. Chemnitz is an independent city which is not part of any county and seat of the government region Direktionsbezirk Chemnitz. Located in the northern foothills of the Ore Mountains, it is a part of the Saxon triangle...

Zoo but the problem is that they have not been able to get the F2 animals to breed well, which could suggest that they are in fact a hybrid of cyanurus and chenggongensis or an undescribed Cynops species. There have even been suggestions that the animals thought to be cyanurus in collections is in fact chennggongensis.

Aquarium Proportions

Both Japanese and Chinese Fire Belly Newts are best suited to an aquarium with a small amount of wood or stone on the surface. The aquarium should include caves or other places for the newts to hide when they are frightened. This helps to relieve stress or even death.

External links

• Order:Caudata at livingunderworld.org http://www.livingunderworld.org/caudata/database/salamandridae/cynops/
• Fire Bellied Newts as Pets at exoticpets.com http://exoticpets.about.com/cs/salamanders/a/firebelliednewt_2.htm
• Fire Newts, Care and information at aquascape.co.uk http://www.aquascape.co.uk/Fire%20Newt.mht