odd neotonic cyanurus

[Ed]

As some of you may remember from last year, I had an odd colored neotonic cyanurus. Here are a couple of shots taken recently of the same newt. It is now sexually mature (and I have to decide if I am going to pair it up) and still retains the full gill sets. I have a couple of other more normally colored adults (which produced this newt) that have retained the gill slit although the gills are very reduced are still present. Has anyone else seen had any real neotony in this species?

 

[Jake]

I have a group of cyanurus larvae and one recent morph that are coloured almost the same as this one, but it's too early to tell if any of the remaining larvae will be neotonic.

 

[houmian]

Only one explain,it's a wolterstorffi,also a leucistic type.

 

[Kaysie]

I can't decide if HouMian is joking or not. C. wolterstorffi has been 'extinct' for how long now?

 

[coendeurloo]

Just for a moment there I thought HouMian could be a close friend of Ed and might have uncovered his secret C. wolterstorffi population which he has been hiding since 1979 (there's your answer Kaysie)

But alas, reality kicked in.

 

[Ed]

while this group of C. cyanurus has produced a few neotonic adults (the gills are still present but are barely visible,) this is the only one that has retained the full set of gills... so I highly doubt that it is C. wolterstorffi....

I have a different unrelated group of C. cyanurus from which I am going to rear the offspring the same way to see if it husbandry related..


Ed

 

[Jiang]

回复: odd neotonic cyanurus

I have some adult cynops cyanurus.

 

[Logan]

Ed were you able to breed this odd individual? If not did your group produce any more neotenic offspring? Neoteny is once of the most amazing adaptations in the amphibian world and I always like hearing as much as I can.
Logan

 

[Lusiwarrior]

Hello everybody,

I've seen this discussion! lol It really is amazing the variety of specimens that we found in this kind of newts. I may be a blunder to say but I think this is due to the ease with which they mutually and also the various experiments and crosses were made with them over time!
It is likely until the Ed can give rise to a new specie from its wonderful, I say, specimen.

cheers

 

[Jennewt]

As I recall, the parents of this newt were wild-caught, so it's not a result of inbreeding. I think it's just a random mutant. Have you guys seen the old thread about the neotenic Cynops ensicauda?
http://www.caudata.org/forum/f1173-...ts-cynops/41007-paedomorphic-c-ensicauda.html
It also seemed to be an unlikely mutant. In both cases, the newt has other "odd" characteristics, besides just the neoteny. I don't think neoteny is a normal variation for Cynops (although some of the cyanurus do keep their gills for an unusually long time).

 

[FrogEyes]

Given that H.cyanurus, H.chenggongensis, and H.wolterstorffi are apparently all closely related, from a very small geographic range, and of undetermined relationship [that is, they might all be variants of H.wolterstorffi, or multiple very localized species may be masked as H."cyanurus"], neoteny is not surprising.

To achieve it in the product of WC parents, along with obviously abnormal coloring IS surprising.

On the other hand, I have found four albinos in two species in the wild over the last three seasons. As well; Ichthyosaura, Notophthalmus, Taricha, Ambystoma, Dicamptodon, Paramesotriton, Eurycea, and more, all have species, subspecies, or local populations which are neotenic or paedomorphic. Certainly neoteny is far from unusual in salamanders. Albinism may occur more often than expected, and in salamanders it may not be as maladaptive as people tend to think.

 

[caleb]

To achieve it in the product of WC parents, along with obviously abnormal coloring IS surprising.

Not really so surprising- abnormal pigmentation and neoteny are often associated, as they're both related to pituitary gland function. There are loads of published photos of light-coloured neotenous smooth newts (T./L. vulgaris), for instance.

I have read a suggestion that where the two are combined, it's more likely to be the result of pituitary gland damage than a genetic condition. Not sure if this has been substantiated.

I've had a few captive normal-coloured neotenous newts, and all have eventually metamorphosed; presumably an animal with gland damage will be unable to metamorphose whatever its environmental conditions.