The eastern newt, Notophthalmus viridescens, is a common newt in eastern North America; they are also common aquarium pets, either collected from the wild or sold commercially. They reside in small lakes, ponds, streams, or nearby wet forests. Their production of tetrodotoxin makes the species inedible to predatory fish and crayfish. Eastern newts have three stages of life, the aquatic larva or tadpole, the red eft or terrestrial juvenile states, and the aquatic adult. In their juvenile phase, they are bright orange and land-dwelling and eventually turn a dull olive green, with a dull yellow belly in the adult stage.