Triturus larvae's behaviour

[francesco]

i've noticed a strange phenomenon while observing Triturus carnifex larvae at their earlier stage of development:
every now and then, one of them is laying down on its side, or even overturned, being completly still. this last a few minutes, then the larva's up again on its standard position.
is there anyone who can explain this behaviour?
i can't understand if it's just accidental or it's depending on some environmental goads.

 

[leonardo]

I've noticed the same thing in my carnifex larvae, I think it's a normal and casual behaviour...but I'd like to see if someone here knows specific reasons for this phenomenon!
bye
Leo

 

[chris]

My alpine larvae do this aswell - it happens particularly after they wriggle a short distance then stop
Chris

 

[caleb]

I've also seen this in Triturus larvae.

I thought that they were trying to find something to hang on to- if they stop on a vertical surface, they'll hang down from it. If you give them lots of plants to hang from, they might not do this so much.

Pat Wisniewski wrote an article a long while ago about Euproctus asper larvae- he found that they grew much better if they had a gravel substrate, so they were never laying directly on a flat surface.