Axolotl color variation

[lalokera]

Hello, i was just curious as in how is it that there are different colors in axolotls.
i read in on a website that its because they are hybrid mixed with ambystoma tigrinum.
is this true? also do axolotls every loose the gills?

 

[auntiejude]

Axolotls very rarely morph into terrestrial salamanders, they are neotenic and stay aquatic unless treated with hormones to make them morph.

It is true that many generations ago a tiger salamander was used to intorduce the albino genes into the species, but our 'pet' axolotls are only very distantly related to these.

There are 5 main colours of axolotl: wildtype (green/brown), albino (pink/yellow with pale eyes), leucisitc (pink with black eyes), melanoid (grey/black) and copper (red-brown/orange). There is a very good section on axolotl.org, and I wrote an explanation for a Facebook group here.

 

[lalokera]

:O thanks alot than probably people in mexico confuse the axolotl with some other salamander i think it might be the ambystoma velasci, because i went to pet shops and they tried to sell me a salamander that sort of looked like an axolotl but didnt have the gills and was verry thin. and also if i have a wild type axolotl can he produce other types ? or will he always produce wild types?....thanks

 

[gregory741]

if you have a wild type Its offspring's can have all different coloring