Melanoid axolotl gills turning white?

[Joebro12]

Hey I was in the middle of feeding my little guy when I noticed the back of one single stalk on his right side is turning white between the filaments. Its not fuzzy so I don't think it could be fungus, there's no "mass" on the back of it. Just turning white. Lemme give you my water parameters.

pH: 7.0-7.5
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 10-20
Temperature: 62-66° F

Diet: cut up nightcrawlers daily, as much as he can eat in 5 minutes

I wish I had a photo to show you, but at the same time this little white spot showing up is very hard to see and I don't have a light for the tank so its hard to see unless he's standing in a certain spot where there is the most natural light (which is hardly any). I'm open to any kinds of ideas or suggestions on how to approach this. I've been trying my best to make sure my little guy is alright but sometimes things just happen despite your best efforts thank you all in advance.

 

[AMurry24537]

Water parameters and diet look perfect! I doubt it's anything related to that. Is he scratching at the gill at all? Displaying any signs of stress? How old is your axolotl? Also, I need to ask because there are some common misconceptions out there, is he really melanoid or black? Any color of axolotl can be melanoid if they lack iridiphores. If he is melanoid, we'd have to look for other causes, but I would suspect that this might be some natural coloring developing. If you do manage to get any pictures, they would be helpful. In the meantime, keep up consistent water changes and keep an eye on the parameters!

 

[Joebro12]

Yup pure melanoid, bred entirely from its melanoid ancestors from a breeder in my area. I've seen him reach towards his gills like twice in the last week, he is 4.5 inches long between 4-6 months, his gills are curled a bit but they were perfectly relaxed yesterday. And yeah I'm gonna keep a close eye on him and see how things develop. Everything in the tank is soft and can't possibly damage the axolotl and his body doesn't seem to have any scratches or abrasions on him.

 

[AMurry24537]

Yup pure melanoid, bred entirely from its melanoid ancestors from a breeder in my area. I've seen him reach towards his gills like twice in the last week, he is 4.5 inches long between 4-6 months, his gills are curled a bit but they were perfectly relaxed yesterday. And yeah I'm gonna keep a close eye on him and see how things develop. Everything in the tank is soft and can't possibly damage the axolotl and his body doesn't seem to have any scratches or abrasions on him.

Hmm, interesting...that's quite the conundrum. Could you tag me if you add any photos or updates?