Question: Question about morphing

Just out of curiosity - Does anyone know (none of my axl's are showing any signs of morphing or anything) after just listening to the Axolotl Song again for the umpteenth time on Youtube with a work colleague and hearing the line "... I took a salamandy mate" we were wondering can morphed axolotls actually breed? If so, can they only do it with other morphed axolotls? Or do they then become compatible with Mexican/Tiger salamaders Any ideas anyone?

My understanding is that few people have tried. In the early days in captivity the morphed ones were not bred from and this probably removed traits which were permissive of morphing.

The morph would have to go aquatic. My guess is they would most likely successfully breed with an ordinary axolotl. Tiger salamanders are anyway hard to breed in captivity. If the morphing was artificially induced then even if you succeeded you would end up with ordinary larvae.

That suggests that the axolotls we keep as pets have become very distinct from wild axlotls indeed. Would you go as far as to hazard that they have been selectively bred into a separate species? I've always fancied the idea that although axoltols are critically endangered in the wild and may at some point become extinct, at least if some of their habitat could at some point be restored there would be no shortage of stock to reintroduce them again. But after reading this I'm not so sure that would work.

I'm confused...what does breeding morphed axolotls have to do with re-introducing axies to the wild? Morphing axolotls are not the norm in the wild either...Axolotls are naturally neotenic.

This article from 1911 suggests a morphed axolotl bred in 1876. 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Axolotl - Wikisource

The laboratory axolotl has probably drifted quite a lot from the few wild survivors and conserving the true wild species is far better than hoping for a re-introduction. The artificial introduction of the albino gene has also added a dash of tiger DNA and the transgenic GFP ones will have a jellyfish gene and a promoter, often viral and derived from cytomegalovirus.

dragonlady said:

I'm confused...what does breeding morphed axolotls have to do with re-introducing axies to the wild? Morphing axolotls are not the norm in the wild either...Axolotls are naturally neotenic.

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Sorry my mind is drifting all over the place. My second question had nothing to do with the first other than that the initial reply suggested that pet axolotls are genetically quite different from their wild cousins and I was wondering if they might no longer be viable in the wild due to their differences.

oceanblue said:

The laboratory axolotl has probably drifted quite a lot from the few wild survivors and conserving the true wild species is far better than hoping for a re-introduction. The artificial introduction of the albino gene has also added a dash of tiger DNA and the transgenic GFP ones will have a jellyfish gene and a promoter, often viral and derived from cytomegalovirus.

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Thanks!

But there is a shortage of axolotls.
What we keep are largely of no value whatsoever for the species. Captive axolotl bloodlines are contaminated with A.tigrinum, plus the accumulation of mutations has made them invalid.
Those who do not have an introgression of A.tigrinum in their lineage, are still not suitable for a reintroduction because of the mutations or the lack of especific captive conditions (to ensure they don´t carry anything potentially dangerous). It doesn´t make them a different species though, those are still axolotls, just not suitable to be set free.
Those who do have a genetic introgression are not a different species either, they are just an hybrid, and i´d say those are the majority of captive axolotls, certainly all golden albinos and their siblings.

As for morphed axolotls breeding i don´t see it happening. For starters, many live short lives. Even if healthy (or as healthy as such an aberrant can be), they are still Ambystoma and unlikely to breed in captivity. They would probably be just as difficult as A.tigrinum or more.
If they were to breed then i suposse they would be able to breed both with other morphed axolotls and with regular ones, plus obviously, with other ambystomatids.