taxonID	type	description	language	source
E4B73CD1031655F98688145752E360CD.taxon	description	; Figs 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 Proposed English name: Zaimeng Lake Crocodile Newt	en	Decemson, Ht., Lalremsanga, Hmar Tlawmte, Elangbam, Premjit Singh, Vabeiryureilai, Mathipi, Shinde, Parag, Purkayastha, Jayaditya, Arkhipov, Dmitriy V., Bragin, Andrey M., Poyarkov, Nikolay A. (2023): A new cryptic species of Tylototriton (Amphibia, Caudata, Salamandridae) from mysterious mountain lakes in Manipur, north-eastern India. Herpetozoa 36: 203-224, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/herpetozoa.36.e106614, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/herpetozoa.36.e106614
E4B73CD1031655F98688145752E360CD.taxon	diagnosis	Diagnosis. The new species is assigned to the genus Tylototriton by having the following combination of morphological attributes: (1) the presence of dorsal granules, (2) dorsolateral bony ridges on the head, (3) the presence of dorsolateral series of rib nodules (knob-like warts); and (4) the absence of a quadrate spine and molecular data (see Fig. 2). Tylototriton zaimeng sp. nov. is distinguished from all other congeners by a combination of the following morphological attributes: (1) medium body size, adult SVL 61.4 - 67.5 mm in males, 61.6 - 68.7 mm in females; (2) tail comparatively short, subequal or slightly longer than body in both sexes, lacking lateral grooves; (3) skin roughly granulated; (4) head massive and wide, relative maximal head width comprising 24.3 - 27.9 % of SVL; (5) snout rounded in dorsal view; (6) supratemporal bony ridges on head very wide, protruding, with rough surface, beginning at the snout; (7) sagittal ridge on head well-distinct, very wide and protruding; (8) limbs comparatively short, tips of fore-limb and hind-limb not overlapping when adpressed along body; (9) vertebral ridge distinct, wide and not segmented; (10) rib nodules distinct, 13 - 14 along each side of body; (11) background colouration brown; (12) head, vertebral ridge, rib nodules, palms, soles, vent and ventral tail ridge with dull orange to yellowish-brown markings; (13) vomerine teeth organised in two distinctly curved bell-shaped widening anteriorly series, with 81 - 113 teeth.	en	Decemson, Ht., Lalremsanga, Hmar Tlawmte, Elangbam, Premjit Singh, Vabeiryureilai, Mathipi, Shinde, Parag, Purkayastha, Jayaditya, Arkhipov, Dmitriy V., Bragin, Andrey M., Poyarkov, Nikolay A. (2023): A new cryptic species of Tylototriton (Amphibia, Caudata, Salamandridae) from mysterious mountain lakes in Manipur, north-eastern India. Herpetozoa 36: 203-224, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/herpetozoa.36.e106614, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/herpetozoa.36.e106614
E4B73CD1031655F98688145752E360CD.taxon	description	Description of holotype. A medium-sized specimen in a good state of preservation (Figs 5, 6). Head. Head slightly longer than wide (HW / HL ratio 92.8 %) (Fig. 5 C-E), head slightly wider than body; pentagonal in shape in dorsal view, flattened in profile (Fig. 5 E); snout long, about three times longer than eye (UEW / SL ratio 36.6 %), gently rounded in dorsal view (Fig. 5 C), rounded in lateral view (Fig. 5 E), notably projecting beyond lower jaw; nostrils on anterior margin of snout located notably closer to snout tip than to eye (NSD / ON ratio 39.9 %), nostrils with antero-lateral orientation, not visible from dorsal view; eyes small, not projecting in lateral view (Fig. 5 E), slightly projecting in dorsal view (Fig. 5 C); labial folds absent; tongue oval, attached to anterior floor of mouth cavity, laterally and posteriorly free; vomerine teeth arranged in a bell-shaped distinctly curved series (Fig. 4 A), distinctly widening in the anterior one-third of vomerine tooth series length, further gradually widening posteriorly, reaching maximal width in the posterior one third of vomerine tooth series length; vomerine tooth series notably longer than wide (VTW / VTL ratio 40.4 %), anteriorly reaching beyond the level of choanae, numbers of vomerine teeth 113 (62 / 51 in right and left branches, respectively), upper jaw teeth 72 and lower jaw teeth 90; parotoids distinct, large and protruding, bean-shaped, slightly projecting posteriorly (Fig. 5 E); dorsolateral supratemporal bony ridges on head very wide, with rough surface, notably protruding, continuing from the snout tip to the anterior end of parotoid, becoming wider towards the posterior end (Fig. 5 C); sagittal bony ridge on head very wide and protruding, becoming higher and wider posteriorly (Fig. 5 C); gular fold indistinct (Fig. 5 D). Body. Body habitus stout (Fig. 5 A); costal folds absent; vertebral mid-dorsal ridge very wide, not segmented, beginning at the occiput region and continuing to the anterior one fourth of tail length, separated from sagittal head ridge with gap subequal to eye in length (Fig. 5 C); rib nodules prominent, distinct, forming knob-like glandular warts, 14 on both sides of body, arranged in two longitudinal lines on dorsolateral surfaces of dorsum, running from area posterior to axilla to tail base (Fig. 5 A); on body, rib nodules almost of the same size, rounded, decreasing in size posteriorly on sacrum and tail basis. Limbs. Limbs comparatively short and slender (Fig. 5 A); fore-limbs slightly shorter than hind-limbs; relative length of fore-limb FLL / SVL ratio 35.1 %, relative length of hind-limb ratio 37.6 %; fore- and hind-limbs not overlapping when adpressed towards each other along sides of the body; fingers and toes well developed (Fig. 5 F-I), free of webbing; fingers four, comparative finger lengths: 1 FL <4 FL <2 FL <3 FL; toes five, comparative toe lengths: 1 TL <2 TL <5 TL <4 TL <3 TL. Tail. Tail comparatively short and thick, slightly shorter than body length (TAL / SVL ratio 97.0 %); tail laterally compressed on all of its length, gently tapering posteriorly, lateral grooves on tail absent; dorsal tail fin starting at the anterior one fourth of tail length, becoming more distinct posteriorly, with maximal tail height at posterior two thirds of tail length, dorsal and ventral tail fins smooth; tail tip pointed. Skin texture and skin glands. Skin dorsally very rough, with numerous small granules present on dorsal surfaces of head and dorsum (Fig. 5 A, C), lateral sides of body and tail; ventral surfaces more smooth with smaller granules arranged in transverse striations (Fig. 5 B); small granules regularly arranged on throat (Fig. 5 D); head ridges and parotoids with rough surface; skin on dorsal surfaces of limbs granular, on volar and plantar surfaces of hands (Fig. 5 G) and feet (Fig. 5 I) with tiny grooves forming a reticulated pattern; metacarpal or metatarsal tubercles absent. Cloacal region slightly swollen, vent as a longitudinal slit (Fig. 5 J), vent edges with small transverse folds.	en	Decemson, Ht., Lalremsanga, Hmar Tlawmte, Elangbam, Premjit Singh, Vabeiryureilai, Mathipi, Shinde, Parag, Purkayastha, Jayaditya, Arkhipov, Dmitriy V., Bragin, Andrey M., Poyarkov, Nikolay A. (2023): A new cryptic species of Tylototriton (Amphibia, Caudata, Salamandridae) from mysterious mountain lakes in Manipur, north-eastern India. Herpetozoa 36: 203-224, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/herpetozoa.36.e106614, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/herpetozoa.36.e106614
E4B73CD1031655F98688145752E360CD.taxon	description	Measurements and counts of the holotype. Measurements of the holotype are presented in Table 3. Additional morphometric characters (all in mm) include: ICD 9.1; CW 13.0; NSD 1.8; 1 FL 3.8; 2 FL 5.7; 3 FL 6.7; 4 FL 4.1; 1 TL 3.1; 2 TL 4.7; 3 TL 8.6; 4 TL 8.4; 5 TL 4.8. Meristic characters: UJTN 72; LJTN 90; VTN 62 / 51 (right / left); DLWN: 14 / 14 (right / left). Body weight (when alive): 13.5 g.	en	Decemson, Ht., Lalremsanga, Hmar Tlawmte, Elangbam, Premjit Singh, Vabeiryureilai, Mathipi, Shinde, Parag, Purkayastha, Jayaditya, Arkhipov, Dmitriy V., Bragin, Andrey M., Poyarkov, Nikolay A. (2023): A new cryptic species of Tylototriton (Amphibia, Caudata, Salamandridae) from mysterious mountain lakes in Manipur, north-eastern India. Herpetozoa 36: 203-224, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/herpetozoa.36.e106614, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/herpetozoa.36.e106614
E4B73CD1031655F98688145752E360CD.taxon	description	Larval measurements (n = 4; in mm). SVL 35.1 + / - 2.5; HL 10.2 + / - 0.7; HW 10.3 + / - 0.7; OL 2.7 + / - 0.2; AGD 21.1 + / - 1.5; TAL 35.3 + / - 2.5; FLL 11.9 + / - 0.8; HLL 12.1 + / - 0.8; MXTAH 5.2 + / - 0.4.	en	Decemson, Ht., Lalremsanga, Hmar Tlawmte, Elangbam, Premjit Singh, Vabeiryureilai, Mathipi, Shinde, Parag, Purkayastha, Jayaditya, Arkhipov, Dmitriy V., Bragin, Andrey M., Poyarkov, Nikolay A. (2023): A new cryptic species of Tylototriton (Amphibia, Caudata, Salamandridae) from mysterious mountain lakes in Manipur, north-eastern India. Herpetozoa 36: 203-224, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/herpetozoa.36.e106614, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/herpetozoa.36.e106614
E4B73CD1031655F98688145752E360CD.taxon	distribution	Distribution and Natural history. To date Tylototriton zaimeng sp. nov. is known from five localities in montane areas of Manipur State, north-eastern India (see Fig. 1: localities 2 - 6) on elevations from 1,180 to 2,210 m a. s. l. The actual extent of distribution of the new species remains unknown; it is likely that Tylototriton zaimeng sp. nov. occurs further northwards along the Khongtheng Mountain Range and other heavily forested highlands in the Nagaland State of India and even may penetrate to the easternmost parts of Arunachal Pradesh State of India and Sagaing Division of Myanmar. The taxonomic status of the existing record of Tylototriton sp. from Sagaing, Myanmar (Fig. 1: locality 7), tentatively identified as T. cf. panwaensis by Grismer et al. (2019), requires further studies as it may represent a lineage closely related to Tylototriton zaimeng sp. nov. Our knowledge on biology of Tylototriton zaimeng sp. nov. is incomplete. Adult animals were encountered both at night and during the day-time on the shallow parts of the lake (Fig. 9). The Zaimeng Lake, where the new species was for the first time encountered, is situated on top of Khongtheng Mountain Range at Thonglang Village (Bena Tababang); it is located on an elevation of ca. 2,212 metres above sea level and is one of the highest lakes in Manipur (Fig. 9 A). The lake total area measures about 90,580.46 m 2 and is surrounded by evergreen montane forest composed of Michelia champacca, Phoebe hainensenia, Magnolia sp. and Quercus sp. with dense Arundinaria munro bamboo undergrowth (Sebastian 2015; Singh et al. 2018). Adult male and female newts were observed slowly moving along the muddy bottom in clear water. Tylototriton zaimeng sp. nov. is locally abundant: in July, hundreds of adult newts could be seen on the bottom of Zaimeng Lake (Fig. 9 B, C). The new species is known to local Liangmei people as " Takope ", or " Tadui taku " in Liangmei dialect (Singh et al. 2018), " Lengva " in Tangkhul and " Hangoi mamei panba " in Manipuri meaning " Tailed amphibian " (Selim 2001). Other species of amphibians recorded syntopically with the new species at the type locality include Polypedates sp. and Zhangixalus sp.	en	Decemson, Ht., Lalremsanga, Hmar Tlawmte, Elangbam, Premjit Singh, Vabeiryureilai, Mathipi, Shinde, Parag, Purkayastha, Jayaditya, Arkhipov, Dmitriy V., Bragin, Andrey M., Poyarkov, Nikolay A. (2023): A new cryptic species of Tylototriton (Amphibia, Caudata, Salamandridae) from mysterious mountain lakes in Manipur, north-eastern India. Herpetozoa 36: 203-224, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/herpetozoa.36.e106614, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/herpetozoa.36.e106614
E4B73CD1031655F98688145752E360CD.taxon	etymology	Etymology. The specific name " zaimeng " is given as a noun in apposition and represents a Latinised version of the Liangmei dialect word " Tylototriton zaimeng " literally meaning " Puzzle Lake " or " Mystery Lake ". The name is given in reference to the Zaimeng Lake - a high-elevation mountain lake in Koubru Forest Division, the famous location where the crocodile newts were for the first time recorded in Manipur. It is believed that the name of the Lake was given by the Zeliangrong ancestors of Thonglang Village who passed by the Lake, but could not find their way to their destination as they used to return to the same spot again and again and circled the Lake over and over again (Sebastian 2015).	en	Decemson, Ht., Lalremsanga, Hmar Tlawmte, Elangbam, Premjit Singh, Vabeiryureilai, Mathipi, Shinde, Parag, Purkayastha, Jayaditya, Arkhipov, Dmitriy V., Bragin, Andrey M., Poyarkov, Nikolay A. (2023): A new cryptic species of Tylototriton (Amphibia, Caudata, Salamandridae) from mysterious mountain lakes in Manipur, north-eastern India. Herpetozoa 36: 203-224, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/herpetozoa.36.e106614, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/herpetozoa.36.e106614
