Lissotriton vulgaris ampelensis pics + video

[Jake]

Males

Females..

A video of a male tail fanning 4 females on the plant above him...
http://s160.photobucket.com/albums/t192/axolotl_jake/?action=view&current=MVI_1516.flv

 

[lilsoul]

cool video those are some nice looking newts.

 

[Azhael]

Gorgeous newts!
I find L. vulgaris to be incredibly beautiful, and these ones make the species proud haha.
Congrats....and good luck with the breeding.

 

[t_summ]

I hope mine grow up to be that good looking. Those are really, really, ridiculously good looking. How old are they?

 

[Jake]

Thanks everyone.

Travis- yours should grow up to be that good looking because they're offspring from these ones. They're 1.5 years old.

 

[Jake]

Here's a pic of a larva close to metamorphosis...

 

[sean]

newts

they look great i went out to my back garden a week or so ago and saw around about 50 of them if i go out in the dark i can shine a torch in the water and they are breeding. good luck with them.

 

[Neotenic_Jaymes]

Nice! They look fantastic Jake. I got to get some in the future.

 

[Jake]

 

[Azhael]

Congratulations Jake!
They are as tiny as they are cute.
Can i ask you something? My T.v.graecus are now aquatic, and though they are still way too young, i´m already wondering about what size they will become mature..can you tell the aproximate size yours did?

 

[Jake]

Can i ask you something? My T.v.graecus are now aquatic, and though they are still way too young, i´m already wondering about what size they will become mature..can you tell the aproximate size yours did?

This is a different subspecies, but they were about 4 inches long or just under.

At what size did you get your graecus to go aquatic?

 

[Azhael]

Oh i know they are a different subespecies. also i heard graecus has a smaller adult size...but i asked nevertheless out of curiosity.
So they become mature once they almost reach the adult and definitive size?

Mine are only 5cm(2 inches), so there´s still a long way to go hehe.

 

[Jake]

Update: I've raised about 100 or so of the L.v.ampelensis. The terrestrial stage with the morphs can easily be skipped if given plenty of plant and shallow water. The larvae/metamorphs also seem to be more peaceful than other species I've raised where hatchlings and full sized larvae can live peacefully without a single hand or foot missing. Here are a few pics of the offspring from this year.

 

[t_summ]

I could not get mine to stay aquatic. It is quite a bummer. I had 10 morph and only 4 survived in the enclosure I kept them in that had about an inch of water and a bunch of java moss. I'm glad that the 4 I have left are surviving on land. Its just too bad that they will take longer to grow and mature. I guess the breeding project will have to be pushed back a bit.

What temperature did you keep them at, Jake?

 

[Jake]

That is a bummer Travis, but maybe you'll have a pair in the group of 4? I think the main thing with them was misting them heavily before placing them in the aquatic environment. The juveniles develop a kind of hydrophobia and their skin doesn't actually get wet if they're just placed in the water (if you place a totally terrestrial newt in water and it crawls out again it usually looks like they were never in it). The temperature in the room they're in has been a constant 65 degrees F all summer. Some have been more reluctant and a couple did drown, but they were the small, weak ones of the group.

 

[petro]

Great to see this pictures!The S.Vulgaris is forbidden here in the Netherlands.
Not a real problem because they living with a lot off them in my backyard.
They are with so many that I can't take plants from outside(water)because there are so many eggs between. Even when I look them over and over to take them out,I have plenty larva in my terrarium.
Today I took the last ones out, to bring away.
They are a realy beautiful species,in springtime I putt a chair near the water(if not raining!)to look at them and how they behave.
Petro

 

[Molch]

I just found this old thread and am wondering if the pics and videos are still available elsewhere - the links seem to no longer work?

Also, out of curiosity, how does ampelensis differ, in size, color or biology, from the nominate form?

 

[caleb]

I posted the key to vulgaris subspecies from Chris Raxworthy's paper a while ago:
http://www.caudata.org/forum/f1173-...lissotriton-vulgaris-vulgaris.html#post258790

He further describes ampelensis as:

"Apuseni Smooth newt

The dorsal crest is of medium height (>1.0mm at mid-body) and weakly denticulated by rounded serrations. The tail gradually tapers to a fine thread (but there is no tail filament). There are no dorso-lateral folds. The body cross section is slightly square dorsally. The toe flaps are large and well developed".

This all applies only to breeding males. Main differences from v. vulgaris seem to be larger toe flaps, a more pointed tail, and a squarer body. The photos I've seen of ampelensis males all seem to have very large black spots on the sides, compared to those in v. vulgaris- I've no idea if this is generally true of the subspecies, though.