C. ensicauda maximum length

The caresheet located at Caudate Culture mentions that the maximum lengths that have been documented for C.ensicauda are 12.7 cm (5.0 inches) for the male and 15.6 cm (6.1 inches) for the female. Well, I have a female C.e.popei here that's a whopping 18 cm (7.1 inches) when she's lined up perfectly straight. Truly splendid beast, she is!









(Message edited by TJ on July 22, 2004)

(Message edited by TJ on January 20, 2007)

The total lengths for this (sub)species were taken from THORN & RAFFAELLI (2001). We'll have to change that in the caresheet as soon as Jen returns. Do you give us your permission to use some of these pics for the cs at CC?

Tim, I don't think it counts if you do tail grafting! I'm just kidding. Splendid lady. Hope she doesn't scare the boys.

Ralf, you most certainly do have my permission

I don't yet have (and have not yet even seen) the book you mentioned:

Les Salamandres de l'Ancien Monde
Robert Thorn and Jean Raffa
2001

I might order away for it today though as it seems to be a "must" reference work, though regrettably it's not available in English.

To be fair, I've seen Japanese-language references to female C.ensicauda reaching as much as 179cm in length and I've seen ones in the wild as long as 170cm -- though I haven't documented it properly.

This being a long-lived species, the larger ones have steadily been disappearing in the wild due to over-collecting, especially in the southern part of Okinawa Island, where the average size is getting smaller and smaller with the passage of time.

Here is a pic showing a huge female (upper righthand corner) that we rescued from a drainage ditch and then released when I and the wife were in the north of the island last December. C.e.p adults in the north are said to be generally smaller than those in the south. I measured her (the newt, not the wife) but can't recall the figure and have since misplaced my notes



I'm still looking for a pic I have somewhere of an even longer one (though not longer than 18cm) that we found. It was really skinny though, probably due to internal parasites.

Kaysie, "Splendid" sends her greetings and thanks No tail-grafting involved, but I'd sure like to know how she got so big. She came to me "secondhand" through a third party so I have no background on her age, origin, former feeding regimen, etc.


(Message edited by TJ on July 23, 2004)

I have managed to track down some background info on her. I'm told she was not as large as she is now when her former owner began keeping her some 3-4 years ago, but he beefed her up by feeding her crickets and giant mealworms. Also, she was kept mostly on land with access to shallow water.

This concerns me a bit as I have added her to a tank in which the popei are kept mostly aquatic with access to land in the form of floats and islands. Plus, they are fed mainly bloodworm, with mysis shrimp served occasionally. Seeing as I just acquired her, it might be wise to move her to a transitional, land-dominant setup just to be on the safe side....

Hi Tim,

the largest C.e.p. female I know has a total length of approximately 20 cm. The largest male of approximately 15 cm. They are kept in captivity since many years.

Paul

Hiya Paul

Ah well, so much for entering the Guinness World Records

20cm? That's massive! And pretty hard to imagine though I don't dismiss the claim out of hand. By "know", do you mean this is something that you have heard from somebody or something you have actually seen with your own eyes? Is it documented? If not, it certainly should be. If you can, please try to acquire and post a pic that shows the measurement Also, do you happen to know how old the newt is, what its been fed all these years and/or how its been kept?

Hi Tim!

C.e. those are longer than 16 cm are very rarely, you know.

First, when I read it in:
WENNMACKER, F. & J. VAN DER ZEE (1993): Der Schwertschwanz-Molch (Cynops ensicauda) – DATZ April 1993 : 228-229
I did not believe.

But then I got the information from a Cynops friend, that he also keeps a female of this length.
I know this man since several years and he is very reliably. I did not see the animal myself.

I will ask him if he can make a photo, but don’t know if he is able to do.

Paul

Nice pics, Tim....so size matters eh?

It depends

Here's the missing pic of the longest I measured in Okinawa, which was 17cm.



She was subsequently released.

Hi all,

remembering this post when I saw a photo of a real large C.e. popei, kept by a German Cynops keeper. Look here:
http://amphibien-net.de/board/gallery2.php?g2_itemId=2025
And the discussion to it (in German):
http://www.amphibien-net.de/board/viewtopic.php?t=1683

Paul

Very cool, Paul.

A massive beast indeed!