Strange Cynops from Japanese Pet Site - possibly wolterstorffi?

[neel]

While I was posting, I thought I'd post these photos that I ran across. I'll attach the photos, but also include a link to a blog post about them from the animal dealer who had them. I'm not going to speculate about the reputability of the dealer, but the photos were very interesting to me:

http://peponi.exblog.jp/6026107/

Perhaps someone who can translate properly can add more context.

I had never seen anything like them before, and the only thing that I ran across that reminded me of them was an "illustration" of a C. wolterstorffi from livingunderworld.org on their cynops page:

http://www.livingunderworld.org/cau...orffi/cynops_wolterstorffi_illustration_2.gif

I haven't seen any other Cynops (which I assume that animal is) with red coloration on their backs as well as bellies. That doesn't mean there aren't mutations out there that might cause this in common species though...

Anyways, I just thought I'd share my curiosity. I won't be finding a bigfoot carcass in my backyard anytime soon, but it would be interesting if this was indeed a specimen thought to be extinct.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,
-Neel

 

[Azhael]

That´s Cynops pyrrhogaster. It´s a colour variation, a very rare one.....mind you i´d love to see one of those.....trully stunning.

 

[neel]

Ahah... Thanks for the experience. I couldn't get a good feel for the features of the animal, and I haven't seen C. pyroghaster in person since they were common in N.A. pet stores when I was a kid (15+ years ago). I guess in a way it's good that they're not wolterstorffi, as I'd guess the dealer might sell every WC individual he could get his hands on if they were...

Not that I have an enormous amount of spare time, but I wasted a couple hours browsing animal exporters in Asia when I found those pictures. I turned up one more slightly interesting thing. The following site refers to "Cynops ophricas" which has to be Cynops orphicus:

Link Removed

(scroll down to Amphibians)

I recall reading about them being close to extinct in the wild. The only source I could find on that was a Caudata thread though:

http://www.caudata.org/forum/showthread.php?t=41389

If I wanted to be inflamatory, I could turn this into a discussion around "get from the wild while they're still there, for captive breeding" vs. "discourage any WC animals". I'd rather not go there, PLEASE (begging)!

I was curious about the state of captive breeding programs for this species though. The outlook for most wild populations in China seems grim. With swimming being so big at the Olympics, maybe water quality will improve

Anyways, thanks again for the feedback.

Regards,
-Neel

 

[wouter]

You can find more info about it in this thread;

http://www.caudata.org/forum/showthread.php?t=41157&highlight=pyrrhogaster

This is a really beautiful mutation... The male you have on your pictures is probably in breeding dress, that causes the blueish colours.

As far as I know C. wolterstorffi is really extinct! Chances of a individual turning up in a petshop are extremely small. It also says on the pet shop site btw that its C. pyrrhogaster.

 

[spendday]

that is a seroiusly good looking FBN. seems to be less knobbily than other C pyrrhogaster ive seen.