A growth curve for the newt Triturus cristatus

I constructed Von Bertalanffy growth curves for a population of crested new ts (Triturus cristatus) in northern France. Data were collected through cap ture-recapture of individually recognized newts over a six year period. The assumption that year to year growth diminishes with size following a linea r negative relationship was tested and could not be rejected. Observations on seasonal growth were used to estimate average size of one year old juven iles. Inclusion of these data increased the precision with which the parame ters in the Von Bertalanffy model were estimated. The parameter defining gr owth curve shape was not convincingly different for males and females. Asym ptotic body size was significantly larger for females than for males. Compa rison with growth curves estimated from published data indicated significan t differences between populations, with slower growth and smaller size at m aturation in Norwegian T. cristatus than in French T. cristatus.