an impossible granulosa egg

[Jennewt]

Every once in a while, I discover something in one of my aquariums that takes me totally by surprise (in a good way). While tending to my T. granulosa tank, I saw something that looked like an egg. I was certain that it wasn't an egg, but I pulled it off the plant for a closer look. Much to my surprise, it is a newt egg.

This event seems astronomically unlikely, for several reasons:

• The newts are juveniles. They morphed in summer 2007. I've seen some courtship, but they are nowhere near adult size. The females don't look gravid (in fact, I wasn't entirely sure they were female yet).
• They are Taricha, which are notorious for not laying eggs.
• The egg is twins. This is not so rare, but I don't think I've ever seen one of these before (except in photos on the axolotl forums).

I would bet that this is infertile. But incredible anyway!

 

[oregon newt]

I found a couple of those twin eggs in my tank. Of course, they were infertile. That is pretty cool, though. And by the way, nice picture!

 

[caudatadude28]

I have many eggs with like ten eggs in one membrane. The problem is they are triturus dobrogicus so when some of the duds start to get fuzzy it spreads to them all and they all die.

 

[Jennewt]

This being the Taricha forum, I'll also post some gratuitous photos of my 3 T. granulosa, who produced the egg.

 

[oregon newt]

I like the last photo. It reminds me of when my dog gets up and streches.

 

[Otterwoman]

It's like a yoga pose.

I'm sure it ws the last one who laid them. Look at that proud face!!

 

[NewtZoo]

I like the third picture too. It reminded me a T. granulosa I had that liked to climb all the plants in the tank. All my newts now are spelunkers and not into heights. BOOO!!!!

 

[audrey]

That is pretty awesome Jen!