Question: Why is my wild type axolotl losing his colour?

[JimBarnett]

Hi

Over the last few months my 3 year old wild type axolotl has been losing his colour and is now almost white, he still eats fine and his behaviour is still the same as its always been.
He is in a tank with a leucistic female who he has been sharing a tank with all his life, she is completely healthy and has never shown any signs of illness

Does anyone know whats happening to my axolotl?

Thanks

Jim

 

[Azhael]

I supose a degenerative condition that gradually eliminates pigmentation is possible in axolotls....never heard of it before though.
Could you post pictures?
If the animal is healthy and the only change has been the loss of coloration i wouldn´t worry, but it would be good to try and find out why the color change (if it´s genetical, that´s ok, but if it´s ambient induced, it could be serious).

 

[JimBarnett]

Heres some pictures of Inca, one before and two as it looks now

 

[Darkmaverick]

Axies can change colour in the following ways.

1 - Young/juvenile to adulthood. Light coloured axies can become more pigmented as they mature.

2 - Diet. Certain bright coloured food types (ie high carotene content) can lend a richer yellow or reddish hue. Effect wears off after a while if diet is changed.

3 - Recovery from trauma/ regeneration or previous wound site. Previously damaged skin tissue when repaired can take on a different colour due to varying amount of pigments on the new skin tissue.

4 - Infections. Parasites, fungus, bacteria and virus (epitheliotrophic) can all cause permanent pigementation changes especially when they specifically target certain layers of the skin. These tend to be patchy, irregular regions of discolouration opposed to a uniform generalised colour change.

5 - Certain systemic illnesses. Anaemia can create generalised pallor. Some toxicity and liver problems can cause a slight yellowing.

6 - Lighting. Same axie, different types of lighting, different hues.

7 - Water environment - Discoloured water (algae/tannins) can alll create a visual illusion to the axie appearing different. Unlikely to have permanent colour changes.

8 - Stage and rate of growth in life can also affect pigmentation. Very slow growth in early stage of life (perhaps due to cold environment) has anecdotally been reported to enhance subsequent migration of xantophores (yellow) and Iridophores (iridosphores).
Xanthophores tend to migrate towards each other and repel the Melanophores (brown/black pigmented cells).

9 - Some environmental factors such as nutrition, water quality etc. in the long run can subtly trigger the expression of genetic predispositions. Your wildtype may actually be a leucistic.

 

[Azhael]

Very, very weird....
It looks to me like a kind of caudate version of the human "vitiligo" Ô_o
Anyway, i ignore if it´s related to the coloration change, but your animal appears to have some problems. The front left leg appears to be infected. The animal also has a general look as if undergoing metamorphosis, particularly the head...it looks almost "terrestrial adult" like.

 

[Daniel]

I had an almost similar case, but that was not an "Axolotl" (A. mexicanum), but a F1 hybrid of A. mexicanum and A. tigrinum. In this case the animal seemed to have some kind of "second layer of skin" with a special coloration (greenish-brown). This "second layer" did not regenerate when the animal lost a leg, so this leg was white.
Meanwhile it is almost white while it was almost completely brown-green when younger.

Do you know the parents of the animal?

Axies can change colour in the following ways.

9 - Some environmental factors such as nutrition, water quality etc. in the long run can subtly trigger the expression of genetic predispositions. Your wildtype may actually be a leucistic.

Ray - would you be so kind to explain this to me? "Leucistic" (as far as I know) means that the migration of melanophores from the neural crest is suppressed from the beginning (larval stage), not that they may be retracted / diminish at some point in life. I have never seen a wildtype phenotype that actually was a leucistic genotype. BUT I have seen a leucistic that produced more and more melanophores while growing. But this pigments still concentrated around the (former) neural crest.

 

[Bellabelloo]

I remember a year or two back that a breeder in the Uk had one of his axoltl do this..I wonder if this one may have come from him. His eventually became completely white, even the gills. Do you know where this one came from? My concern from looking at the photos..and appologies for adding to your concerns, but your axolotl has a rather rotund stomach. I suspect that over time he has been ingesting the gravel/ stones from the substrate. It may be wise to remove it.

 

[AshleeRW]

I have a similar situation that started last January. I have a male wild type named Abe and he is about 5 years old. Last winter he began to loose his color and his dark black gills became red. He eats fine and is his typically, wiggly, self so the members of this board told me not to worry about him. He is still doing well, still losing his color, and has recently developed a "film" over his eyes. I'm wondering if this is some sort of genetic condition (as Abe also does not regenerate properly either)?.

I hope your axie is ok! Just wanted to let you know that you're not the only one!

(the first 2 pics are Abe before ... the third pic is Abe recently)

 

[Darkmaverick]

In many non pathogenic depigmentation illnesses across many species, there is a certain element of autoimmunity whereby the body recognises the own cells and destroys them. Autoimmunity is largely genetic based but is triggered by environmental factors. In this scenario, cells with pigment or cells that produce pigment are preferentially destroyed at a faster rate than being replenished, leading to generalised patchy colour loss.

The trigger for autoimmunity can be anything from 'atopy', an allergic molecule in the environment or even food, to also a possibility that the axie may have a subclinical viral infection. Transient self limiting viral infections with spontaneous resolution may still be sufficient to trigger an autoimmunity developing. Certain medications and even temperature changes can also cause this in some animals and humans. Although in mammals and humans, patchy hair loss often accompanies (alopecia areata).

There is some clinical evidence that viruses such as epstein barr and papillomaviruses can cause pigmentation problems. Some of these viruses can also alter genes, especially those that incorporate part of their genetic material in the host genome during the replication proceess (ie retroviruses). Sometimes, this can cause a shift mutation or even a single point mutation (SNPs) in the host that can lead to different proteins being produced or even truncated such that it cannot even be produced. If the genes encoding colour expression is affected, this can lead to depigmentation.

The good news is, this is often only a cosmetic issue and should not cause other problems that affect the quality of life.

 

[JimBarnett]

Thanks everyone,

I got my pair from the local pet shop for my birthday three years ago and i didn't see the parents, the wild type one has always looked different from the white one in terms of its head shape, i read that this was a sign that they are different sexes but i dont think either has fully matured as a male

a while ago the white one (who is dominant) bit the wild type's leg off at the joint and it regrew as the picture shows - since then it hasn't seemed to be a problem for it

they have been kept together in the same conditions all their lives and have been hand fed on blood worms with the occational cricket and waxworm etc.

the white one has never shown any problems

(i will sort out the gravel as soon as possible)

 

[blueberlin]

I know two people here who have similar cases (Daniel being one of them). In both cases, the axolotl was decended from a recent cross-breeding of an axolotl with a tiger salamander. AshleeRW's comment that her axolotl does not regenerate as quickly would support such a mix. In neither case is the depigmentation problematic for the affected animal.

I have not seen or heard of this happening to a normal (note I don't say "pure") axolotl. I have asked in the German forum where I am also active to see if anyone else has different experience and will post here should someone write something new.

Hope this helps,

-Eva

 

[AshleeRW]

Although the hypothesis that these two (including my Abe) my not be true axolotls is a good idea, I can assure you that Abe is in fact an axie. He was received as an egg from the Indiana Axolotl Colony as a research animal at a University here in New York. He (and his brothers/sisters) underwent ~6mons of research on regeneration properties before they were released as pets. Abe was the only one in his group that didn't regenerate properly and that may be the result of a denervation experiment.

In Abe's case I believe him to be a genetic mutant ... but that's what makes him special!

 

[swalter]

We also have an axolotl who is "changing" color. He is a wild type who used to be quite dark and he's developing light splotches all over his body which makes the dark original color stand out more. I've been wondering whether this could be a fungus. We changed the water a couple of weeks ago but nothing changed yet. He eats and acts normal and doesn't show any signs of sickness other than the splotchy skin.
He has a female tank mate -- should we separate them for a while?

In many non pathogenic depigmentation illnesses across many species, there is a certain element of autoimmunity whereby the body recognises the own cells and destroys them. Autoimmunity is largely genetic based but is triggered by environmental factors. In this scenario, cells with pigment or cells that produce pigment are preferentially destroyed at a faster rate than being replenished, leading to generalised patchy colour loss.

The trigger for autoimmunity can be anything from 'atopy', an allergic molecule in the environment or even food, to also a possibility that the axie may have a subclinical viral infection. Transient self limiting viral infections with spontaneous resolution may still be sufficient to trigger an autoimmunity developing. Certain medications and even temperature changes can also cause this in some animals and humans. Although in mammals and humans, patchy hair loss often accompanies (alopecia areata).

There is some clinical evidence that viruses such as epstein barr and papillomaviruses can cause pigmentation problems. Some of these viruses can also alter genes, especially those that incorporate part of their genetic material in the host genome during the replication proceess (ie retroviruses). Sometimes, this can cause a shift mutation or even a single point mutation (SNPs) in the host that can lead to different proteins being produced or even truncated such that it cannot even be produced. If the genes encoding colour expression is affected, this can lead to depigmentation.

The good news is, this is often only a cosmetic issue and should not cause other problems that affect the quality of life.

 

[Munchausen]

Mine did the same thing. He was a wild type that was three years old, and then one day he looked like a leper with his skin peeling off. I was so worried I joined this forum community. He turned pure white, but he is still alive. I have heard that gold fish will turn white if they don't get any sunlight. When goldfish are outside, they are a bright coppery red color, so maybe axolotls do the same thing.

 

[Darkmaverick]

Swalter - If your axie shows no other signs of illness or stress. I would not be too worried. It would likely be a benign depigmentation problem. Do you see any fluffy cottony material on the skin or gills? Is there skin peeling/shedding? Do you see lumps and bumps developing? If you don't see any of those and your axie is feeding well, no further action needs to be taken.

Munchausen - If your axie skin is peeling off on top of colour change, there must be something not right with the tank environment. Did you check water parameters, temperature etc? Are there any other axies housed together? Are they affected?
Diet plays a part in colour intensity. Some food sources with a rich yellow or red pigment can gradually increase the colour intensity in axies. However, unless your axie has been living in the deep underwater caverns that has absolutely no light for ages, direct sunlight exposure has little bearing on colour intensity. In fact, direct sunlight exposure is best avoided. Shade should always be provided.

 

[swalter]

Thanks for the answer Darkmaverick! No, I haven't seen anything fluffy, peeling, or bumpy on him - except for the wart over his eye, but he's had that for the last 4 years! We actually thought that maybe he's just getting old. He is one of the original axies at the college that we got over 5 years ago I believe.How long do they usually live? My six "babies" at home here are fine - Freckles turned out to be a female and is getting fat. :happy: (you told me in March to fridge her because she was "floating")
We will do a swab for fungus tomorrow--just to be sure. Since we're in the biolab anyway, may as well use the tools!
Thanks again,
Sabine

 

[Darkmaverick]

If you are culturing and isolating fungus, remember to use sabouraud, potato dextrose, and/or malt extract agar. The usual blood agar or other agars for bacteria won't work.

Good idea to also do a quick methyl blue stain or silver stain and look under the microscope for fungal elements..

 

[swalter]

We used TSA (trypticase soy agar) (that's all they have in the lab) and nothing fungus like grew--just normal water bacteria. My husband said that if our guy had a fungus, by now he would be some fuzzy dude! He's still around, eating normal and getting lighter in color each day. He's not as "big" as the female, but I'm wondering if that's not normal, too. My six axies at home grow the same way -- the guys are skinny and the gals look quite pudgy. I'll keep watching him.

 

[Darkmaverick]

Yes thats normal. Male axies tend to have a slimmer body profile compared to the axie ladies.

 

[JimBarnett]

Hi

its been a while now since my axolotl started losing its colour and he is now completely white with non-pigmented gills, but otherwise seemingly perfectly happy

i've had a look on the internet and nowhere seems to have reported anything like this scientifically, but i did manage to find this link
Pigment loss
from the Axolotl colonies in the US, so it has been observed but they don't seem to know whats happening either

Interestingly my axolotl had its tail tip and leg bitten off by its tank mate (they are now separated) and both parts are regenerating with full pigmentation.

Jim