Marbleds -- morphs

[TJ]

Anyways...I had removed most of the larvae from the main 90x45x45 tank to raise in tubs, safely away from the adults. Subsequently, 7 of the 8 adults took to land and were removed from that same tank as well, leaving just one stubbornly aquatic adult and some stray larvae.

Well, it turns out that the larvae left in that tank -- pretty much to fend for themselves as they didn't get my personal attention -- have turned out to be giants compared with the ones that were removed and fed daily with frozen bloodworm. These also received some frozen bloodworm that was intended mainly for the single remaining adult, but I suspect they have been cannibalizing or something as they're so much bulkier than their transferred siblings.

Water temperature is a constant 21C (73F) for the bulky ones, or 1-2 degrees lower than that for the "normal" ones.

Here are shots of one of them, which is about 6 cm in length compared with around 5 cm for the transferred ones:

I was pleasantly surprised to find that pinkish vent rim

Is this common to all marbled larvae and at what point does it disappear?

(Message edited by TJ on August 31, 2005)

 

[terry]

That pinkish vent rim is remarkable!

Then again I do not have any newt larvae of my batch to see if this is a common trait. I'll keep you posted ( hopefully).

On a lighter note. I heard from Rubén and Sergé that the marbled that I posses are possibly newts from portugal or northern spain. The distinctive cream bellies are typical of that area or so I think. Does not say much about the male with the dark belly though.

I'm curious if your newt will stay in a neotonic state! that would be something.

 

[TJ]

Glad to see you're getting that sorted out, Terry. As for me, I don't really care all that much (at this stage, at least) what precisely mine are or where they came from

I just transferred some of my morphs to a larger setup as they're getting on in size, so here's a picture of them. These are the ones that I don't regularly hand-feed. The several that I do hand-feed are kept separately and are, predictably, bulkier.

The one you were curious about morphed last week

Only two more larvae to go, but neither seem to be in a neotonic state...

(Message edited by TJ on September 22, 2005)

 

[terry]

Awwwww!
And i was hoping that there would be a paedomorphic/ neotonic marbled newt for you tim! Sigh

.

My suspicions are growing with my lot since they have gone aquatic and the smallest of the two seem to resemble pygmaeus as it is now autumn ( equinox is tomorrow) and the two smaller males have grown crests! The Male with the dark belly is deffinately marmoratus.

I hope I'll have my own little colony of newt larvae soon. ( looks at your picture with envy).

On another note, I'm setting up a tank for cynops ensicauda popei. Sadly I do not have any to inhabit the tank. Its a pity I'm not back in asia otherwise I would have flown to japan and obtained them myself. My best luck is to try the breeders here in Holland.

 

[william]

wonderful picture tim! did the pink rim remain with the morph?

 

[TJ]

Thanks, William. I haven't checked on the pink rim yet but will

Terry, glad to hear you'll approach breeders for the popei because the wild ones are sadly being overexploited in their tiny range and are now designated as "endangered" by the IUCN, though it'll likely be a long, long while before the Japanese government affords them any protection. Pass the word!

A couple of days ago, I moved all eight of my marbled adults into a 90x45x45 cm tank, two-thirds land and the rest water for the single still-aquatic one among them. "Colony" does seem to be the right word, with this many (35+) now on hand!

 

[TJ]

Here's what I meant by the difference in size between the regularly hand-fed ones and the occasionally hand-fed ones:

 

[josh]

tim, those are beautiful marbled newts! i bought 6 from david a year ago and they are incredible animals! i hope to breed them this comming spring. they are also very bold and actively hunt every time i introduce something new to their cage. i love this species.