C. cyanurus morphs

[TJ]

3 newly surfaced morphs:

This brings the total to about 25 now. About 40 larvae are in an advanced stage of development, so I've been getting morphs daily.

Since about a month ago, I've also suffered some morph losses: 4-5 escapees, 4 bloats, 2 mysterious deaths.

 

[edward]

The same odd colored cyanurus larva, bigger still. Not the best picture but you get the idea.

 

[TJ]

An amazing beast, Ed, and it'd be even more amazing if it remains gilled

 

[jennifer]

That's an amazing one, Ed. Here are some others that are perhaps less odd, but looking quite nice. These guys morphed a couple of months ago I think. Cyanurus have got to be the easiest juveniles to raise.

 

[william]

great shots guys! I don't go in for albinos as a rule, but that one is fantastic Ed!

 

[edward]

Thanks,

Jen they are really easy to raise, which is why when I was talking to Henk at that IAD I was shocked to hear that this species is/was considered difficult in Europe and that a lot of the metamorphs do not survive. Your metamorphs should be breeding size in about 6 months.

The animal in the above picture is now about twice the size of a typical metamorph and is looking like it will remain gilled. I suspect that when it matures, it may develop normal pigmentation but I am waiting to see....
It looks like it began developing normal pigment patterns (hence the dots but something prevented the pigment cells from dispersing properly).

It is also unusual as it is not an albino (look at the eyes)...

Ed

 

[paul]

Hi Ed!

I am sure, those "European"-cyanurus, breed in Chemnitz and from Fleck, are not the same (sub)species.

Paul

 

[TJ]

(the black one is not cyanurus, the others are)

(Message edited by TJ on May 09, 2006)

 

[edward]

Hi Paul,

Why do you think that they are different?

Ed

 

[ralf]

Hi Ed,
I have seen, kept and raised different groups of newts that were supposed to be "cyanurus" including so-called Fleck/Chemnitz animals. From personal experience with these groups I can confirm Paul's statement. The "European" cyanurus were some of the hardest newts for me to raise so far. I didn't have any problems raising other types of cyanurus using the "Kowalski-method" in a mainly aquatic setup, however.

The Fleck/Chemnitz animals show a lot less variation in phenotype than other animals labelled "cyanurus". They are uniformly dark with a distinct belly pattern and seem to reach a larger size. They seem to mature significantly later than other varieties (>2 years). Breeding respectively egg-deposition in my Fleck/Chemnitz-group only takes place in late spring when temperatures have significantly risen.
Of course, these statements are based on my personal experience and only small groups of animals.
I will post some comparison shots in the photo section later.

 

[paul]

Hi Ed,
like Ralf wrote, they look very different to your cyanurus, and breeding and rising juvenile is different too.
All Chemnist cyanurus I saw are very dark and large. My female has a length of 12 cm.
Here a photo I already posted in an other part - my female with a spermatophor:

More photos you find here:
http://de.geocities.com/archiv_cynops/cyanurus/yunnanensis/Galerie-PB/Galerie.htm

I have a second Yunan group since some weeks.
They are from QianMain, southwest YuNan, near WuDen.
Very different to my other - especially the female often very light coloured, with blue shine, orange dorsal line, and often dorso laterale orange spots:

More photos here:
http://de.geocities.com/archiv_cynops/cyanurus/qian_main/cynops_cyanurus-qian_main.html

Paul

 

[edward]

Interesting. I wonder if there was some hybridization in the past.... (and we should call it the Sparreboom method as that is where I got the idea....)

Ed

(Message edited by Ed on May 11, 2006)

 

[paul]

Ed, I fear yes! This would explain a lot.

Paul

 

[paul]

A question!
When I see Tim's cyanurus and the USA-cyanurus female, they seem too be brown.
Is this right or an effect of the photo.
I newer saw such brow cyanurus.
My from Chemnitz are black, the QianMain-cyanurus are gray/blue.

Paul

 

[edward]

The ones I have change thier pigmentation levels from time to time. They do range from light brown to a dark brown.

Ed

 

[joseph]

Tim: Is that a C. orientalis morph? Doesn't look like either ensicauda or phyrrogaster. These cyanurus sure are weird lookers.

 

[TJ]

Paul, mine have exhibited a full range of colors. They don't seem to have ever gotten as brown or tan as they were when I first got them though. These days, they're usually grey. By the way, those babies pictured above can also become quite dark. My plan for this weekend is to set about "aquaticizing" them

Joseph, I'm not sure but I think it's a C. pyrrhogaster morph. Either that or ensicauda, but definitely not orientalis as while mine laid eggs some months ago, the eggs were mostly eaten and I never saw any larvae.

 

[TJ]

A couple of my aquatic morphs are now exhibiting some very nice coloration -- golden -- and with nice spots too. It's not a camera effect either.

 

[TJ]

 

[danny]

Very nice newt indeed!