Legs..!..maybe?..!

[blueberlin]

Hi everyone,

I think my larvae are (finally!) developing their front legs. Of course I've been checking every... well, about every 15 minutes... for the past 2 weeks so maybe I'm imagining it - like when I thought, how odd, some of them are developing their back legs first, until I realized that must be a poopie. Ahem. So, I thought from looking at pictures that the front legs develop right up under the gills. Now I see, I think I see, little pimple-like things on their ribs, kind of at the front side (head side) of their bellies, sort of. I'm afraid I can't take a pic because the tank is well shaded and I don't want to scare them with a flash. Does anyone have enough experience with hatchings to tell me where exactly the leg buds appear?

I'm so excited... I know I'm acting like a fussy hen.

-blue

 

[Bellabelloo]

Sounds like leg buds too me..now you'll be waiting for the back legs too !!!!

 

[Daniel]

The little front legs appear right behind the gills (in the pic the legs have grown for some days already):

 

[blueberlin]

Oh I'm a leg man baby!

Ok you're no baby and I'm not a man - but now they have back legs! No, not a poopie and not my imagination and actually also not technically speaking really legs, but leg stubs - they look just like the pic of the front legs above. Possibly the most fascinating thing about having animals that remain larval is being able to observe physiological development with the naked eye. Although the burping bubbles thing is kind of cute, too.

 

[Bellabelloo]

I was peering at Tiddler ( my rogue axolotl larvae) earlier this evening, and having picked my self off the floor after the shock on how quickly he has grown..I then noticed that not only has he got front legs ....but back stumps too. I had forgotten how ridiculously exciting it is to pass these mile stones !!:dizzy:

 

[blueberlin]

ridiculously exciting

Indeed. I have been officially branded as a nerd here. (But they just don't know diddly - or Tiddler - do they.)

 

[ali000]

not fair

I can't see any leg buds on mine, the bigger ones are about 10 days old so hopefully they will come soon, although my eyesight isn't too good so I probably wont be able to see them anyway

 

[blueberlin]

G'mornin' Alison!

I can't remember which color your babies are but mine are brown and still their legs are see-through. I imagine lighter colors would not be different..? Now they have fromt legs including toes, but I still can't see them unless they are actually swimming or hanging onto something. Same for the back legs - I can only see them occasionally (they aren't really legs yet anyway).

 

[ali000]

Morning

I've got light ones and dark, their gills are very see through, I shall try to look harder tonight, perhaps buy a magnifying glass

 

[blueberlin]

Maybe if you put them in a clear container and look at it from the bottom?

 

[ali000]

Thats a good idea, I'll try that when I get home tonight and let you know what I find

 

[blueberlin]

haha! Isn't it exciting??

 

[ali000]

well.....
I have looked and looked and still can't see any legs

but they do have fat bellies

One has really long gills, perhaps these are in fact legs (obviously not all 6 )

Ali

 

[blueberlin]

Oh, that's disappointing. Well, they'll come, that's for sure. You tell them that an old nag way over in Berlin is also waiting for them to get their legs!

 

[ali000]

I'll let them know

I might try and take a photo on zoom and then I can study that, I'ts hard to study them when they keep zipping around

 

[blueberlin]

I posted a picture for you here (very dark, I have no lighting and am lousy with a camera anyway):
http://www.caudata.org/forum/showthread.php?t=54791

The larva in the picture actually has legs developed down to the toes, but you can see (hopefully) that even so, it is still very difficult to identify the leg as such.

-Eva