Newt Larvæ in Brackish Water

Abstract

THE statement in Miss H. Spurway's interesting observations on the above subject¹, that it is generally believed that amphibian larvæ are not found in salt or brackish water, is interesting because the brackish slacks or pools between the west Lancashire coastal dunes from Ainsdale to Formby have long been inhabited by breeding specimens of the common smooth newt, common frog, common toad, and natterjack toad. The natterjack is, of course, a well-known breeding inhabitant of brackish estuary waters ; many hundreds breed at Ainsdale; and I have seen its tadpoles in the tide line salt marsh at the Dee mouth between Hilbre Point and Hoylake, Cheshire, and at other estuaries.