Egg comparison between C.e.popei, C.e.ensicauda

[TJ]

Interesting to observe here that the C.e.e eggs are smaller, clearer and have lighter nuclei than the C.e.p eggs.

(5 C.e.p eggs on the left, 5 C.e.e eggs on the right)

 

[john]

I have to say this- that's the best egg shot I've ever seen from a photographic point of view - the clarity and detail are awesome and way beyond almost anything I've taken. The low noise of your DSLR is a sight to behold (if anyone is a digital photo nerd like me you will know what I mean). My hat is well and truly off to you Tim and I feel privileged that you would share your great photos with us here (I think you should increase the size of your copyright notice though).

 

[john]

Oh and I left out perhaps the most important kudos - the dynamic range is amazing (i.e. the number of gradations in tone from light to dark that the camera can successfully distinguish) - wow

.

 

[jennifer]

Tim, wonderful picture. It's so rare to get a side-by-side comparison of such things in a single photo.

I would suggest that perhaps the difference in clarity may be due to different conditions in the tanks where these came from. The ones on the left appear to have "tank stuff" stuck on them.

 

[TJ]

Why thank you very much, glad to hear you liked the pic

I'd been meaning to post some egg comparisons for quite some time. I'm still experimenting with new camera and ever newer macro lens, and any tips on photography from digital photo nerds or otherwise would be much appreciated!

For comparison purposes, here is an close-up shot of the nominate ensicauda eggs, utilizing the flash this time for better light penetration:

One of the eggs, the white one, seems to be a dud. One can even detect some fungus growing on it.

Jen, you're right about the reason for the difference in clarity. I've switched one of the popei eggs for a much, much clearer one in this pic and those that follow:

(new egg on far left)

 

[TJ]

Finally, here is another comparison, this time including C.pyrrhogaster eggs, which I found to be roughly the same size as C.e.e eggs, though slightly smaller and considerably stickier, more gelatinous (i.e. more difficult to detach from plants by hand).

(C.e.p eggs on left, C.e.e eggs on upper right, C.p eggs on lower right)

(C.e.p eggs on upper left, C.p eggs in middle, C.e.e eggs on upper right)

 

[ralf]

I am going to steal one of these as well for the cs on CC if you don't mind Tim.

My nominates are also laying at the moment. They seem to sneer at the plastic strips I provided, however and prefer good old South American Egeria (quite unlike their popei siblings).

Ralf

 

[john]

Fantastic Tim, you're refining your technique I see

. Ralf - I'm very much looking forward to that sheet .

 

[TJ]

I hasten to add, however, that I recently heard from a local herpetologist that the eggs of the northern variety of C.e.popei are generally larger than those of the southern variety (though for whatever reason the southerners tend to reach a larger size as adults than the northerners). The eggs pictured above are from the northern variety.

Ralf, surely you know already you have my full blessing

My nominates, not being so fussy as yours, lay their eggs on both Egeria and plastic strips. But they have ravenous appetites, so I have to stuff them with bloodworm in view of their predilection for dining on their own eggs!

John, thanks! But it's a shame I couldn't repeat the quality of the first photo. I had to take them from an angle to reduce glare, which I found hard to do without partial loss of focus. I do have a polarizing filter around somewhere, but that results in a darkened image (though I suppose I could compensate for that, using the flash). Oh well, guess I'll just have to keep experimenting

Also, the sharpening function sure is nice but too much makes it difficult to properly show the transparent egg sac. Think I might have gone just a little bit too far in this respect with a couple of photos, but no harm done!