A new newt of the genus Cynops (Caudata: Salamandridae) from Fujian Province, southeastern China

A new species of fire-bellied newt, Cynops fudingensis, is described from northeastern Fujian Province, southeastern China. This species forms a well-supported clade with C. orientalis and C. orphicus based on molecular phylogenetic analysis of nucleotide sequences from mitochondrial DNA subunit two of NADH dehydrogenase and its two flanking tRNAs. Further, its genetic distance to each of the two previously described species is large. Principal-components analysis of external linear measurements differentiates the new species from C. orientalis and C. orphicus in morphological space. Geographically, C. fudingensis occupies the distribution gap between C. orientalis and C. orphicus.