Cynops orientalis larvae update

[joseph]

The larvae have been growing steadily and one of them looks like it may morph soon-but since these are my first larvae I'm not sure.

The largest larvae

The largest larvae and one of the "runts" I seperated the 3 little ones and they have been eating well and growing quickly without competitors. In fact one of the runts looks almost ready to go back to hang out with the big boys.

Proud mom.

 

[jesper]

Nice pics Joseph!

 

[joeri]

How many do you have Joseph?

 

[joseph]

Thanks Jesper! Joeri, their are currently somewhere around 11 larvae.I'll have to take some updates as now that big one is about to morph!

 

[jesper]

Yes please, I'll post some pics of mine once the stress around my thesis vanishes...
I'll be very interested in their size when morphing!

 

[joseph]

Well, I was moving the larvae and realized that some of the larger ones are starting to get there belly patterns. I was curious so I coaxed the (not yet)morph into the tiny salsa cup and inspected its ventral portion. Little thing look like its taking after its mom

(Message edited by fishkeeper on December 19, 2004)

 

[joeri]

What size is he now?

@Jesper; good luck with your thesis - I'll be writing mine in the next semester. (off topic: what is it about?)

 

[joseph]

(not quite yet)Morph in a salsa cup for size comparison.

He(?) is starting to look much more newtlike. Belly pattern and throat color(visible in photo) are also coming in. Sorry about quality.

Some of the others which should follow suite. They are starting to get faint orangey tinges to the bellies

And lastly the rearing tub which they grew up in

 

[pamela]

Hi Joseph! Thank you for the nice pictures. I have two morphs around the same stage that your older ones are, and seven small ones. I have never experienced a newt morph so it is new and exciting to me also. (Little did I know that one day this would be quite an event for me!) Please keep us posted.

PS What have you fed the babies?

 

[joseph]

You're most welcome. Looks like we got quite a bit of C. orientalis raising going on

I can't wait till they morph and yup its definetly a very exciting experience.

The babies started off on microworms and daphnia...when I began to run low on daphnia they were fed entirely on microworms. Later, I began offering finely chopped blackworms and that is what they are eating now. They will also take frozen bloodworms but not with as much zest as live blackworms.

 

[jesper]

Yeah, quite a lot of C.o. larvae indeed. My 15 is far behind yours though, those gills are huge Joseph my larvae have tiny gills. I have raised my ones in very shallow and quite cool water(oxygen-rich). At what temp have you kept yours? Mine are kept at 19C.

 

[joseph]

My water was around the same temperature as yours but I did not make any effort to keep the water oxygenated. However when they were young the temp may have been closer to 70 or so. I think its just the age when the gills are at the maximum size.

 

[jesper]

Yeah, the gill size should be proportional to the body mass. I just thought that the gills looked huge in proportion to the body on those shots - I am probably wrong, the little guy has a big belly to oxygenate

 

[joseph]

LOL: Jesper I'd like to see pictures of yours when you get to it. It looks like it too around 2 months for mine to reach this stage.

 

[jesper]

Well Joseph it is obvious you have an american version of Cynops orientalis

The swedish version will of course be long, muscular and have blue eyes

 

[pamela]

Yes - I thought the gills were large, and feathery, also (mine are not.) Interesting about the age, I discovered my larvae on August 17, 2004. So they are around 4.5 mos old. But then I have (they) not had the luxury of blackworms, or microfoods except brine shrimp. They are now eating chopped bloodworms, some think they are delicious, others are not quite sure. The larger ones are voracious eaters of bloodworms. Might just be why they have grown so well (?). Anyway, great topic, fun stuff!

 

[joeri]

Mine had these fluffy gills too and I also didn't add extra oxygen. Maybe there's a connection? If you add more oxygen in the water it's easier for the larvae to filter it out the water and thus need smaller gills?

Just a wild guess from a non-qualified amateur

hehe, Jesper, I'd like to see a 'swedish' orientalis too

 

[jesper]

No one adds oxygen to the water, the oxygen dissolves into the water from the atmosphere. That would mean that the surface area facing air/ volume water would be proportional to oxygen concentration in the water. Thus shallow waters are better oxygenated than deep waters, also moving water dissolves gases better because of the turbulence in the surface area. The highest natural oxygen rates are reached when shallow water streams. Usually cool waters is also better oxygenated than warm waters - not sure why, might be because microbial activity that consumes oxygen is up in warmer waters.

I would also presume that the oxygen concentration in the water is the main regulator of gill size.

 

[joeri]

<blockquote><hr size=0><!-quote-!><font size=1>Jesper Danielsson wrote on Tuesday, 21 December, 2004 - 11:26 :</font>

"No one adds oxygen to the water"<!-/quote-!><hr size=0></blockquote>

Than what does an airstone do?
I thought you ment you had an airstone when you said 'oxygen rich water'.

 

[jesper]

Hehe, no I just keep the surface area big in relation to the water depth(volume).

An airstone doesn't do jack on its own, the pump that is connected to the airstone however adds air that the airstone distributes into small bubbles

. Pumps is just another way of increasing the surface area i.e. you don't add oxygen you increase the surface area. Of course if increasing the surface area is seen as adding oxygen then I do add oxygen by keeping the water level low.

I didn't think we were talking about pumps and airstones though

(Message edited by Jesper on December 21, 2004)