Parts 7 to hatching: <i>Tylototriton verrucosus</i> embryo series

[john]

I know it's been a few days, but here are the remainder of the photos to hatching.

Two photos from Day 7:

Two photos from Day 8:

Hatching commenced on the evening of Day 8 and finished yesterday (Day 11). Here is a photo of a larva taken today:

The next photo is of a larva exhibiting "hypo-melanistic" traits (reduced dark pigment):

Sadly, not all larvae develop correctly. Here is one that has reached hatching but is obviously deformed and it's also haemorrhaging:

 

[andrew]

A fantastic series of pictures John, i've really enjoyed watching this development!

 

[benjamin]

Great series.

 

[jesper]

Fantastic photos John. Looking forward to having tylos breed an lay for me too

I was thinking about that last shot, do you think this is a inbreeding result or have the number of deformed larvae been "normal"?

 

[john]

Jesper: Compared to axolotls there aren't many deformed embryos. I would say less than 7 or 8 out of a few hundred. Some don't develop though. The parents animals are closely related, however. I think that with such a large number of eggs, a few deformed embryos is probably normal.

 

[john]

Well, my little hypomelanistic died last night. I'm quite disappointed. The cause of death isn't clear, because the larva lives in a breeding trap within a tank with many other larvae. They are all fine. I had noticed that the hypomelanistic hasn't been eating well, if at all. Oh well, there's always next time...