Marbled newt larvae

[TJ]

 

[TJ]

 

[TJ]

 

[TJ]

 

[philip]

superb pictures tim. are they recent larvae or did you take the pictures last year? i have a pair of marmoratus which are just coming into breeding condition, so i'm keeping my fingers crossed for some eggs.

 

[TJ]

Thanks Philip. They're new pics of recently hatched larvae.

I haven't removed them from the adults' tank as I'm busy as it is tending to juvie marbleds from the previous round of breeding. I do feed them though in case they don't get enough in there as it is.

Best of luck with yours!

 

[sergé]

Tim you will loose most of them probably if you leave them with the parents, because even if the parents don't eat them they will start on their younger siblings...but you are aware of that.

 

[TJ]

Thanks for the advice Serg.

Hmmm...it's just that with the previous batch, I had larvae that reached a truly respectable size before I removed them, so I figured these might be OK too...for a while at least. I've been adding food in the form of brine shrimp and small tubifex worms, but unlike Cynops larvae, for instance, these marbled larvae don't hang out at the bottom of the tank where this food is available. So yes, I suppose that makes it all the more likely they'll feed on each other.

I've currently caring for larvae from three Cynops species, not to mention all the various morphs, so I don't need more on my plate right now, but heck, I'll probably transfer the marbled larvae to their own container this evening now that I've been called to accounts

 

[joseph]

Great photos of some interesting larvae! Really captures that sheen they have along the borders of the tails when at that size(but I saw this in karelinii, not marmoratus).

Seems if they hang out in the water column alot daphnia would be a good food. .

 

[TJ]

Thanks, Joseph.

Interesting what you said about the tail fringe sheen. I noticed this recently with a couple of my Cynops cyanurus larvae, this one for instance:

http://www.caudata.org/forum/messages/13/51835.jpg

I presently have no access to daphnia except in costly, industrial amounts. I hope to culture daphnia one of these days though.

 

[terry]

This tail sheen is very much noticable in my Triturus pygmaeus, Tim. Most of the advance adults show it prominently and as do some of the developing larvae. Some of the larvae posses a strange neon tint on these sheens giving them a fish like quality. I have also noticed such sheen on some of the larvae of T dobrogicus. I suspect some even begin to display gender related colouration as there are two distinct patterns in the larvae.

As to attacking each other: I have had not a single experience of my pygmaeus larvae attacking each other. Maybe because they were sufficiently fed or the younger siblings had sufficient places to hide in. I only lost two advanced larvae which were close to metamorphosis.