Kleurafwijkende vuursalamander in België

Aberrant coloured fire salamander in Flanders (Belgium) In a small isolated population of fire salamander (Salamandra salamandra) in East-Flanders, Belgium, a subadult individual with a colour deformation was observed in autumn 2018. This colour deformation has been called ‘hypomelanistic’ by Seidel & Gerhardt (2016). The focal colour deformation has qualitative and quantitative reductions of melanine in the melanofores in the skin, resulting in a pink or brownish colour where the skin should be black. In an albinistic individual, the eyes would be red and in a leucistic deformation, the yellow spots would be (partially) deformed as well. This colour deformation in fire salamanders is rarely observed. The best known is a population in Wuppertal/Remscheid. As melanin is thought to play a role in the immunity against skin infections in frogs, the focal individual might suffer from higher risk of skin diseases, but more research is needed to confirm this. In small isolated populations colour deformations can be a sign of genetic impoverishment. This can be of interest for the conservation of these small isolated populations, and population genetic research would be highly interesting