Info on Paramesotriton hongkongensis

[kim]

I'm very excited to say that im getting some Paramesotriton hongkongensis eggs! kindly being given to me by Andy Baker!

I've read a few things and had a few pointers about raising them and the general habitat but i'd like to know how you guys care for yours from eggs to after moprhing.. and let me know if you've had any problems that I could try and stay clear of.

I wasnt very successful with raising the axie eggs I got, only one survived... but I believe that these aren't as hard to get feeding.

Anyway.. thanks for any pointer you can give me

 

[chris]

You got my private message, right?
Chris

 

[kim]

Yup cheers Chris.. Some great Info there... I'm now a bit worried about cyclops, I think I have them in the daphnia from the shop... God knows how im going to get rid of them!

 

[andy]

If we're talking about the same tiny insect here i have to ask why you would want to get rid of them? I've raised a fair few species in the last 17 years or so and i've always found cyclops to be great food for newly hatched larvae and have never had any problems as a result. They're a perfect size for the first couple of weeks and the natural pools i know of where a great number of newts breed are full of the stuff, rest assured in the wild they would eat loads of cyclops as well as daphnia bloodworm etc.

 

[jesper]

Paramesotriton(Wild at least) doesn't live in the UK Andy

I believe that small copepods(cyclops etc) are cosmopolitans though, so its a fair question.

I have found that small copepod in large numbers do attack larvae - some of the small copepod species are indeed carnivores. However I believe that the numbers needed to pose a threat to the larvae are only achieved in an artificial system.

I have used them many times now(not with paramesotriton though) without problems, be aware that you only put in a few copepods at a time - so that the larvae will consume all in a couple of hours.

(Message edited by Jesper on April 06, 2005)

 

[kim]

Ok thanks for that info Jesper.. I was a bit worried as i had read on a previous quote that they killed almost all of chris's larvae.

 

[andy]

LOL, thanks for pointing that out Jesper! Though i didn't say the newts pools were full of paramesotriton!

it would be big news if they were! I've fed large numbers of these in the past,the larvae make sure they're not around for long and i've never observed them attacking larvae myself

 

[chris]

I would still err on the side of caution. I use the same cyclops to feed Lissotriton vulgaris larvae without any problems. I wouldn't think a few in with daphnia would pose a problem. The cylops look like they are repeatedly bumping into the larvae, particularly round limbs and gills, when they are attcking. If you can (I am going to do this with my new batch of fuzhongensis) just stick to foods that will not have probs, such as whiteworms, grindalworms, microworms, bloodworm and chopped small earthworms. Paramesotriton are fairly large when they hatch.
You could try sifting the daphnia with a teastrainer - the larger daphnia would be caught and small daphnia and cyclops would pass through. The larvae should mannage the adult daphnia.
Chris

 

[andy]

I do that but i use a large holed net,with a very fine one underneath, but i do it with the aim of catching the tiny life to give to the larvae,larger daphnia etc go back into their storage quarters. I'm not saying your wrong by any means but on many occasions i have had the larvae's water "alive" with cyclops and all i observe is constant eating. Perhaps i have been lucky!

 

[kim]

Ok guys, thanks for that, i will keep an eye on them and make sure not 'bumping' is happening..

Are the larvae born with front legs?

 

[francesco]

they don't have any legs when they hatch and for the first couple of days they don't eat

 

[juraj]

Hi Francesco,
some paras larvae hatch pretty developed and ready to hunt immediately after hatching.

 

[kim]

I know they take a few days to start eating but was unsure if they had legs or not..

I got the eggs today! I cant wait!

 

[frank]

Interesting though, this Cyclops story. I had high mortality of larvae from Tylototriton shanjing and Neurergus kaiseri early after hatch, when the yolk sac is still there. These larvae had been attacked by Cyclops and using magnification, you can see the lesions the copepods make in the body wall of the larvae. However, it is extremely difficult to avoid bringing them in with Daphnia etc.

 

[kim]

Ok..

I picked up my 2 pond bags of Daphnia.. and oh my god theres loads of them!

I just going to have to keep a very close eye on them... and only put enough in for feeding.. try not to keep them stocked up with food while im at work :S

 

[karl]

I had some last year kim but they all died

some whittled away & the rest died en masse due to heat (i think)
Funnily enough one of my little guys lasted ages &
grew quite large without any help from me!!
i missed the egg when separating initially but there mustve been something nourishing in the parent's tank cos he grew so big on his own!

 

[kim]

Aww sorry to hear that Karl..

Well i hope at least i get them to morph.. Im going to try my hardest lol..

Did yours hatch with legs at all?

 

[karl]

most of mine came out with legs. they seemed to take ages to hatch.Im hoping my "parents" are going to try again !!!

 

[jennifer]

Karl - this is not the first time I have heard this. Another person also had the experience that hongkongensis larvae left in the parents tank survived and grew much better than those raised separately. From this, I would infer that the super-tiny foods found in an aged tank are what they prefer OR... they do better when they have a lot of cover (plants and rocks to hide in).

I have found that some Cynops larvae seem to do better when kept in a dark-colored container with lots of plants. However, I've never done any careful examination of the variables.

 

[juraj]

I left some larvae in the parents tank too but they disappeared...