Black-bellied C. e. popei

[TJ]

I'm not even sure if I should be posting pics of this one in the "Fire-bellied Newts" section in the first place It's almost completely black -- in fact, the blackest overall such C. ensicauda I've ever seen.

He actually has a little bit of coloration on his venter but it requires bright lighting to see it. We've always called him "Yellow Spot" because when we caught him in Okinawa, he had one big, bright yellow blotch on his back and no other prominent identifying marks. This spot has since faded, though not completely.

This fading has been discussed a bit among hobbyists in Japan but we can only speculate as to the cause.

Richard C. Goris writes in his Guide to the Reptiles and Amphibians of Japan that "the significance of these blotches is controversial, for they may disappear if the animal is kept in captivity under conditions of low light."

I guess you could say it's been kept under conditions of low light, more so than with my other tanks, and I have noticed fading with some of the others in the same tank.

(Message edited by TJ on September 18, 2004)

 

[TJ]

In case anybody is wondering, the plastic strips are in there for the females to lay their eggs on

 

[TJ]

Here's a shot showing his faded yellow blotch:

 

[TJ]

Here's a pic from December 2003, right after we caught her:

 

[jennifer]

Interesting photos, Tim. I hadn't heard before that the white spots on popei can fade in low-light conditions. That's really interesting, and I wonder about the mechanism for that.

 

[joseph]

If he/she was my newt, it'd be called either teddy bear or grizzly

 

[paul]

Hi Tim,

very interesting "firebelly" pic

Until now I only heard, that the yellow spots fade at old animals.

Paul

 

[TJ]

I hadn't heard that until now, Paul (about the spots fading on old animals). Interesting!

I really wonder about the low light thing though. I mean, I have bright-colored morphs and juvies that have developed their coloration under low-light conditions...

I will move this newt to another tank with bright lighting to see if this will restore the "gold"

 

[paul]

An interesting experiment, Tim.

Let us know the result!

I found, that Salamandra salamandra terrestris larvae growing with plenty of light, on white ground morph with clearly more yellow parts on their back than thus, kept in the darkness.
But I think, it has no influence to their adult coloration.

Paul