For the last several years, we have noticed odd subcutaneous lesions in some newts at various field sites. We have begun attending to the incidence of these lesions in earnest and over the last three years, roughly 40% of the newts from one pond appeared to have them.

The lesions appear to be caused by an Ichthyophonus-like organism.

Often, the animals that exhibit these lesions appear to be unusually skinny.

We are beginning to study the incidence and impact of this pathogen on the newt populations. See Sherman (2008) and Sherman et al. (2009).