Hynobius leechii Boulenger, 1887

Class: Amphibia > Order: Caudata > Family: Hynobiidae > Subfamily: Hynobiinae > Genus: Hynobius > Species: Hynobius leechii

Hynobius Leechii Boulenger, 1887, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., Ser. 5, 19: 67. Holotype: BMNH 1946.9.6.53 (formerly 1886.12.8.14), according to Brame and Gorham, 1972, Checklist Living & Fossil Salamand. World (Unpubl. MS): 9, and museum records. Type locality: "Gensan [= Wonsan], Corea [= Korea]"; Stejneger, 1907, Bull. U.S. Natl. Mus., 58: 29, 331, expressed some doubt about the provenance of this specimen.

Hynobius mantchuricus Mori, 1927, China J. Sci. Arts, Shanghai, 6: 205. Holotype: Preparatory Department of Keijo Imperial University, Seoul, by original designation; status of specimens currently not known. Type locality: "Yugakujo, S. Manchuria", China; given as "Yugakujo (= Xiongyue Co.), Liaoning Prov., China", by Zhao and Adler, 1993, Herpetol. China: 107. Resurrected from synonymy of Hynobius leechii by Zhao, Hu, Jiang, and Yang, 1988, Studies on Chinese Salamanders: 65, where it had been placed by Chang, 1936, Contr. Etude Morphol. Biol. Syst. Amph. Urodeles Chine: 65. Resurrection implicitly not recognized by Fei, 1999, Atlas Amph. China or by Thorn and Raffaëlli, 2000, Salamand. Ancien Monde: 88. Placed in synonymy of Hynobius leechii by Zeng and Fu, 2004, Amphibia-Reptilia, 25: 121.

Hynobius leechii leechiiMori, 1928, Chosen Nat. Hist. Soc. J., 6: 47, 53.

Hynobius mantschuriensisGee and Boring, 1929, Peking Nat. Hist. Bull., 4: 18. Incorrect subsequent spelling.

Hynobius lechiiTago, 1931, Imori to Sanshio-uo: 35. Incorrect subsequent spelling.

Hynobius leechiiTago, 1931, Imori to Sanshio-uo: 15, 108.

Hynobius manchuricus Kurashige, 1932, Annot. Zool. Japon., 13: 327. Syntypes: Zoological Laboratory, Manchuria Teachers' College (7 specimens), by original designation; status of specimens currently not known. Type locality: "Mt. Heichyô [= Benxihu Shan] near Honkeiko [= Benxi Hu, Liaoning Province]", China. Synonymy by Thorn, 1968. Salamand. Eur. Asie Afr. Nord: 65. (Recognized Zhao, Hu, Jiang, and Yang, 1988, Studies on Chinese Salamanders: 65).

Hynobius kurashigei Sowerby, 1932, China J. Sci. Arts, Shanghai, 17: 237. Substitute name for Hynobius manchuricus Kurashige, 1932, thought to be preoccupied by Hynobius mantchuricus Mori, 1927.

Hynobius (Hynobius) leechiiDubois and Raffaëlli, 2012, Alytes, 28: 77–161.

English Names

Gensan Salamander (Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 28).

Liaoning Salamander (Hynobius mantchuricus [no longer recognized]: Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 28).

Chinese Salamander (Ananjeva, Borkin, Darevsky, and Orlov, 1988, Dict. Amph. Rept. Five Languages: 20).

Manchurian Salamander (Ananjeva, Borkin, Darevsky, and Orlov, 1988, Dict. Amph. Rept. Five Languages: 21).

Northeast China Hynobiid (Fei and Ye, 2016, Amph. China, 1: 164). 

Distribution

Korean Peninsula (except for the southern quarter) and northeastern China (Liaoning, Jilin, and Heilongjiang Provinces), 200 to 850 m elevation.

Geographic Occurrence

Natural Resident: China, People's Republic of, Korea, Democratic People's Republic (North), Korea, Republic of (South)

Comment

Not assigned to species group. Stejneger, 1907, Bull. U.S. Natl. Mus., 58: 29–30, redescribed the holotype and provided a brief account. Yang, Kim, Min, Suh, and Suk, 1997, Korean J. Biol. Sci., 1: 247–257, demonstrated the presence of three species under this name in Korea, labelled Forms A-C. Form B subsequently recognized as Hynobius quelpaertensis. See accounts by Ye, Fei, and Hu, 1993, Rare and Economic Amph. China: 34, and Thorn and Raffaëlli, 2000, Salamand. Ancien Monde: 88–90. Zeng, Fei, Ye, and Jiang, 1997, Zool. Res., Kunming, 18: 341–345, reported on karyotypic differences among populations suggesting that more than one species resides under this name (called by them the Kori Salamander). Yang, Kim, Min, and Suh, 2001, Monogr. Korean Amph.: 40–41, provided a brief account, map and figure for South Korea. In the Hynobius leechii group of Fei and Ye, 2005, in Fei et al. (eds.), Illust. Key Chinese Amph.: 30 (who only noted Chinese species). Zeng and Fu, 2004, Amphibia-Reptilia, 25: 119–122, reported on genetic variation. Fei, Hu, Ye, and Huang, 2006, Fauna Sinica, Amph. 1: 160–166, provided an account. See brief account by Raffaëlli, 2007, Les Urodèles du Monde: 45. Fei, Ye, and Jiang, 2010, Colored Atlas of Chinese Amph.: 45, provided a brief account including photographs of specimens. Fei, Ye, and Jiang, 2012, Colored Atlas Chinese Amph. Distr.: 38–39, provided an account, photographs, and map for China. Raffaëlli, 2013, Urodeles du Monde, 2nd ed.: 64, provided a brief account, photo, and map. Sparreboom, 2014, Salamanders Old World: 72–74, reviewed the biology, characteristics, distribution, reproduction, and conservation of the species. Min, Baek, Song, Chang, and Poyarkov, 2016, Zootaxa, 4169: 475–503, reported on this molecular phylogenetics of this and closely related species. See account by Fei and Ye, 2016, Amph. China, 1: 164–166. Dot map and discussion of status for North Korea provided by Song, 2016, J. Natl. Park Res., Rep. Korea, 7: 211–217. Borzée and Min, 2021, Animals, 11 (187): 1–36, mapped the species and discussed relationships, restricting the range in Rep. Korea with the naming of three additional species from the southern part of Rep. Korea. Borzée, Litvinchuk, Ri, Andersen, Nam, Jon, Man, Choe, Kwon, Othman, Messenger, Bae, Shin, Kim, Maslova, Luedtke, Hobin, Moores, Seliger, Glenk, and Jang, 2021, Animals, 11 (2057): 1–37, provided locality records, a distribution map as well as modeled distribution, life history comments, and conservation status for P.D.R. Korea. Raffaëlli, 2022, Salamanders & Newts of the World: 80–83, provided an account, summarizing systematics, life history, population status, and distribution (including a polygon map). Andersen, Chuang, Choe, Kim, Kwon, Jang, and Borzée, 2022, Zool. Stud., Taipei, 61(25): 1–10, reported on the elevational range (3–1212 m) in Rep. Korea. 

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