Marbleds -- going aquatic

[jennifer]

Looking good, Tim! Quite a sexy bunch of males. It wouldn't surprise me if you got eggs, but it also wouldn't surprise me if your females take another year to be ready. They don't look very fat. I've heard that female marms often mature later than the males do. Good luck with them!

 

[TJ]

Thanks Jen. Well, that's just one female that you see there. I'm keen to check out the sexes of the other four (the ones still on land) to see if there is a plump female among them.

I'd feel real sorry for the males if the females aren't ready yet because then they'll have gotten all worked up over nothing

You said before that the males generally have a broken stripe (like a dashed line) while the females have a broader continuous stripe. I wasn't quite able to discern this from the pic I posted last month:

Would you say then that this one is a female?

If so, she sure is plump and might have good breeding potential!

(Message edited by TJ on March 16, 2005)

 

[jennifer]

I am notoriously unreliable at sexing newts, but I think that's a fat female. If so, she has potential

 

[TJ]

<font color="ff0000">This thread has been moved here from the Photo Gallery.</font>

 

[TJ]

Seven out of eight are now aquatic -- four males with crests and three females.

Indeed, two of the females are nice n' plump, this one for example:

 

[TJ]

A male:

I'm keen to see how much more the crest will develop

For a look at a real beauty, check out this one in a pic posted by Fabian:

http://www.caudata.org/forum/messages/985/6656.jpg

(Message edited by TJ on March 19, 2005)

 

[TJ]

Another male:

(Message edited by TJ on March 21, 2005)

 

[francesco]

tim
is it so pale because of the flash or is that the normal colour?

 

[andrew read]

Immature male marbleds look exactly like females - they could still mature into males after three years.

 

[TJ]

Hi Francesco. It's just because of the flash

The tank they've been in hasn't ideal for taking photographs -- bad lighting and too much reflection. I'm in the process of fixing that though.

Andrew, very good point. I shouldn't assume I've got four females!

Here's a pic taken yesterday of more mature and less mature males:

(the more mature one is the same as in the pic just before this one - observe the difference!)

That crest is truly magnificent! I wonder if it has maxed out or if it''ll get bigger still...

(Message edited by TJ on March 27, 2005)

 

[rubén]

Great views Tim

the flash effect makes seem these marbled newts just like southern pygmaeus ( only the crests are too high ). Have you got any pic of the belly? should be interesting.

 

[TJ]

Thanks, Ruben. I posted about them before at:

http://www.caudata.org/forum/messages/13/12299.html?1108997278

...at which time I used this pic:

I was coming under the impression that they are pygmaesus because of their light-colored bellies (which may or may not have darkened since then), but now that I hear the crests are too high for pygmaesus...

(Message edited by TJ on March 27, 2005)

 

[TJ]

And I'll close off this long thread on a joyful note: eggs!

...to be continued in a new thread:

http://www.caudata.org/forum/messages/13/34333.html?1116236697

(Message edited by TJ on November 17, 2005)