C. c. cyanurus larvae - strange lack of coloration

[neel]

I have a group of recently hatched C. c. cyanurus larvae, (3-4 weeks old), and they have been largely fed freshly-hatched brine shrimp (with some tubifex worms, and now some blood worms, etc).

A little more than half of the group are the black color I'd expect, however about 1/3 of the group shows almost no pigmentation. They seem to be perfectly healthy, react as the rest of the group do, grow proportionally, and feed similarly. I have no reason to believe they're unhealthy, other than their coloration.

Has anyone else seen this? Is this something to be concerned about, perhaps dietary, that I can correct?

I'll take some photos and post if this will make a difference.

Thanks,
-Neel

 

[xMIDNIGHTx]

Hello neel!

I have the same situation you do. I also have several C. cyanurus larvae and roughly 1/3 are dark brown and the others are light (almost no pigment). Mine are as healthy as can be and show no difference other than the color. Mine have been fed blackworms this whole time.

If you look at pictures of the C. cyanurus adults, will will see a difference of color tone. I believe this is why the larvae are different color tones as well, when they grow up the ones that are darker will be black/brown and the ones with little pigmentation will be light brown or tan. This is only a guess as this is my first time raising C. cyanurus.

Mitch

 

[Jennewt]

I've seen cyanurus larvae with colors everywhere from jet black to very light beige. After morph, they continue to vary in color, although by adulthood most of them from a single batch tend to be all about the same. I'm thinking that it may be a protective mechanism - if the mud is lighter/darker in different years, there will always be some young ones that are hidden well.