Baby Necturus maculosus

[Neotenic_Jaymes]

I know some people that work with Mudpuppies that have never seen them this small. These 2 are less than 1.5 inches. Strong running stripes and bright peach colors, these 2 seem to be very new to the world. Seems like their hatching wasn't long ago. I'm sure that these 2 salamanders are spawn from this year. There is still a strong debate on exactly when N. maculosus lay eggs. Some people think they are laying right now in late fall early winter, others believe they lay in the spring. I've never heard an accurate answer.

 

[Greatwtehunter]

Wow, those are some stunnners! From looking at adult N. maculosus, it's hard to believe they start out looking like that.

 

[theloderma865]

I have found N. maculosus eggs in the spring (May) in East Tennessee. I would assume that all N. maculosus regardless of locale would breed in the spring.

 

[MartinS]

Wow, nice pictures. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Neotenic_Jaymes]

Thanks Martin. These guys are now with a local biologist that is doing research on them. They are in good hands. They will surely help him in his research. I'm just glad I can help.

 

[Caudae]

Those sure are tiny! The lines are quite interesting too

 

[Neotenic_Jaymes]

They loose the running stripes with age. I've seen some decently large ones out there with the running stripes but most big ones are more blotchy than anything else.

Thanks for watching!

 

[e23ho]

Having done an undergraduate thesis on these guys (not on their breeding however), I find this intriguing... Last spring I went out to release specimens I had 'taken' from the wild for a lab study (don't worry, purely observational) and I found these two mudpups - one smaller and younger than the other - both within a few meters of each other on the afternoon of 22 July 2011.

They seem to be at different stages of development but possibly from the same period of breeding - they are both much larger than yours and are about 2/3 - 3/4 full size. Just thought you might enjoy seeing the way the pattern slowly becomes spotty from distinct lines (sorry about the photo quality, it's hard to shoot through water at the peak of a summer's afternoon)!

 

[Neotenic_Jaymes]

Having done an undergraduate thesis on these guys (not on their breeding however), I find this intriguing... Last spring I went out to release specimens I had 'taken' from the wild for a lab study (don't worry, purely observational) and I found these two mudpups - one smaller and younger than the other - both within a few meters of each other on the afternoon of 22 July 2011.

They seem to be at different stages of development but possibly from the same period of breeding - they are both much larger than yours and are about 2/3 - 3/4 full size. Just thought you might enjoy seeing the way the pattern slowly becomes spotty from distinct lines (sorry about the photo quality, it's hard to shoot through water at the peak of a summer's afternoon)!

Awesome find! Its not uncommon for me to find them just meters away from each other in the right rock piles. I've seen up to 3 under the same rock before. Your lucky to still find them in July, I stop looking at the end of April.