Differences in color pattern of N. kaiseri

A good friend of mine brought his newts here so I could babysit them while he went on a vacation, among the species he brought was a Neurergus kaiseri group. They are about the same size, yet the difference in color pattern is striking.

On the left is one of my group, on the right that of my friend:




Belly of my N. kaiseri:


And that of the friends N. kaiseri:

Hi Coen,

there is a realm of possibility that there are more subspecies in this genus.

Greetings Ingo V.

I got animals some years ago with a white colouration that I would tell "medium". Last year I got adults with bigger white areas that are aditionally 1-2 cm bigger in length of body. My first animals were adult before catching and did not grow more so I think the different populations have colour and size differences. But I do not believe in subspecific differences.

Within my offspring N. kaiseri this year (from the new group with bigger white parts) I encountered a variaty of colouration, some have only small white spots, some bigger but this might change until they reach maturity.

The pinkish to orange colour on belly, especially the dorsal line can be influenced in brightness by feeding them animals that contain carotinoids. I tried that with a group of offspring and they developed brighter orange because of feeding them with red daphnia. This colouration seems to fade again since they stay on land and feed on mineral powdered crickets.

Interesting point but I wouldn't read too much into it - look at the variations in Cynops ensicauda popei, for example.

Could it possibly be a mere age difference? The white parts in my animals still expands at the age of 9 years.

I'm not sure how significant the difference is as the colour pattern on these animals changes significantly as they age, the adults having less spots and more blocks of black and white, so I think that the spotted animals are slightly less mature (although they are a similar age) to the others?

They are the same age...only time and further monitoring/breeding will tell if this is a real difference or just a random pattern in every group of newly bred kaiseri. I should add that the pattern is pretty much the same in all the animals of my group and that of my friend, so it is a consistent pattern in these individual CB groups. I've gotten this info from my friend who mailed the breeder:

"the first three months we just fed them enchytraen, than earthworms, when they metamorphised, I feed them earthworms and little crickets. The eggs were layed in April, 1 - 6th 2007, they developed and at 20 - 25 th they "hatched". They metamorphised at the End of May."

It's an interesting observation, Coen. Are there differences in the coloration of the adults that produced these two batches of offspring?

WC animals have come into the pet trade, but we really don't know exactly where they came from. It wouldn't surprise me if there were geographic variations. N. strauchii have a geographical gradient in coloration, with animals in the west having the fewest spots, and animals in the east having the most spots (even within the ranges of the two subspecies).

Let's hope that Iran will be a peaceful place one day, so more serious studies can take place there.

The adults of my group are Alans' animals, I'm sure we've all seen those . Those animals do have the pattern that is normally regarded as an 'adult pattern', with the white spots merged together.

The red - orange coloration differences are due to food, the others are variety within the species I think.

The first N kaiserii I saw/kept now over 6 years ago didn't even have orange on the back , but more pink. The belly on the other hand was then as orange as of Coen's animal. I have also been surprised by the lack of orange color in the last imports I was send pictures of....