Strange colouring?

[anne-marie]

Hi there. I have a question on the genetics of my brown melanoid axolotl which is pictured in the forefront of this pic.

Over time, he has gradually developed yellow undertones and reflective, yellowish patches on his body. As in my "Extended Family" post in the pictures section, Quetzal was the father of my larvaes and I got a few yellow larvae (one of which is pictured here, with his mum, Tonantzin), which leads me to think that over time, a yellow genetic tendency is being expressed in a dark melanoid type. Is this possible? He was a dark colour when I got him all those years ago.

I also read somewhere that yellowing of skin is a sign of a disorder but I'm not sure of what, or if this is the case in this instance? I tend to think not, because he is otherwise healthy. Help??

 

[heather]

maybe Quetzal is an axanthic axolotl??

 

[joan]

Axanthic animals have no yellow. I recently had a larva that passed that I suspect was axanthic due to his pale blue coloration. Axanthics develop pale yellowness due to riboflavins, but I suspect this would not be strong enough to cause big or bright patches. Regardless, he's very interesting! If you breed his offspring back with him, you should be able to determine the major color genetics.

(Message edited by Joan on April 14, 2005)

 

[anne-marie]

I was re-reading the axolotl genetic pages and now I am hopelessly confused??? Breeding him back with an offspring is a good idea but it ain't gonna happen - I've been down that road and I don't want to re-visit anytime soon! I find it interesting that when he and Tonantzin, the white axy in the pic bred, I got all types of colours, apart from jet black. This makes me think again about how there must be yellow in there somewhere. Actually I'm wondering if anybody else has a similar coloured axy, or has seen one before?