WHAT'S NEW Births, Hatchings, Acquisitions

By Donna Bear, Curator of Species Management and Jasmine Alvarado, Species Management Officer

Molly fish can be found in fresh, brackish and coastal salt water from North Carolina to the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico. However, due to human interference, molly fish have been introduced and established in various countries around the world as baitfish or mosquito control. Unfortunately, these introductions have only disrupted native plants and wildlife since mollies not only eat mosquito eggs, but other fish larva and algae and can be aggressive towards other fish. Because of the variety of mollies in appearance, they have become popular aquarium fish as well. They have upturned mouths and a flat head that allows them to feed from the water’s surface. You can see our molly fish in the pool at the Range of the Jaguar exhibit. How many can you find?

Striped newt

(Notophthalmus perstriatus)

The striped newt is a two-to four-inch-long salamander native only to Georgia and Florida. Born as larvae, striped newts will remain in their pond for up to six months before changing into efts, landdwelling juvenile newts. Depending on environmental conditions, they may instead develop into paedomorphs—breeding adults that retain their larval appearance and continue living in water. The striped newt has a life span of 12 to 15 years in the wild, and even longer in captivity. However, due to habitat loss, climate change, human activity and amphibian diseases, the striped newt has been recently added to FWC’s imperiled native species list. In 2012, the Zoo joined the Striped Newt Repatriation project, a local conservation project started by Coastal Plains Institute (CPI) to help re-establish the wildlife population of this species in the Apalachicola National Forest wetlands.

Together with CPI, over 8,000 newt larvae have been released back to the wild. Visit the Amphibian Conservation Center at the Zoo for a closer look at the striped newt.