Cynops cyanurus larvae (Part 1)

[jennifer]

I raised C.c. and I think they are difficult in the early stages. The odd thing with mine was that it took WEEKS for them to use up their yolk and begin to eat! Mine were fed daphnia and it's possible they were eating a few without my knowing it. If I had to guess, I'd suspect you had problems due to too much food, not due to not enough. Once they started eating enough to see them feed, I had no trouble with them.

 

[TJ]

Terry, sounds like you have quite a selection to offer your animals! By the way, part of the reason I opted for this soil is that it's nonreflective, making it a good substrate to use for taking photos of animals. It's supposed to help stabilize water quality. and also make the water clear by absorbing/removing color. I wonder if this means it would deal with the bogwood-leaked tannic acid that stains the water yellow-brown in some of my tanks...

Jen, that's nice to hear. The one in the last 3 larvae pics I posted was clearly seen eating. I got one action shot in which its throat is bulged.

Mark, cool to have your very own source of bugs. I'm unaware of any place here that sells daphnia that's not the frozen type, which I kinda doubt larvae would eat. I'll look into culturing daphnia, though I heard it's a messy, smelly process.. I hadn't considered chopping up frozen bloodworm before. Thanks for the idea! Live tubifex, by the way, is very easy to come by here.

Ed, good info there. Will look into the idea of introducing snails. Once an egg develops fuzz, would you say it's already a goner or have you managed ever to get rid of the fungus while preserving the egg somehow?

 

[joseph]

Tim: Great photos of the developing larvae! From what I can see the stripes either dissapear as the larvae get older or they are not clearly visible in the side view.

If you use greenwater or other indoor methods daphnia should not smell too bad. I haven't had luck maintaining a daphnia culture constantly but admittantly have not tried very hard.

Do you have microworms over where you are? Used sparingly my C. o will eat them. They can become smelly if you wait too long before subculturing them.

And a shot into the blue has anyone heard of "Microfex" worms? 2 people on aquabid are selling them. They are small aquatic worms which sound like they would be perfect for caudate larvae. One of the people is charging an arm and a leg for them though!


Not that it is important but crystal red shrimp and red cherry shrimp are two different things. The first is an artificially bred from of the bumblebee shrimp and is red w varyin degrees of white, the second(cherry red) is a red form of a different species of shrimp.

(Message edited by fishkeeper on November 24, 2005)

 

[terry]

Tim, I have had some experience with asellus as they keep the tank clean and eat any fungal growth. I do not suppose that you could get asellus in Japan? ( no I think not)

Tubifex and bloodworms are the staple diet of most caudates kept in asia. The thing about tubifex is that they are readily available and can be fed as tiny balls. Daphnia, when they are available, are kept in cool surroundings. I have a colony in a tank upon my balcony. I have not noticed any smell coming from them though. The colony needs adding up every now and then though.

Joseph, thanks for clearing up the differences between the different shrimp. I spent an evening browsing through the websites and read up on them. Interesting little crusteceans. Its no wonder that they are popular amongst some aquarium hobbyists!.

 

[edward]

Hi Tim,
Typically when an egg develops fungus its the result of it being infertile or deceased. I have had good eggs develop next to eggs that developed fungus.
I'll have to check out the microex worms to see what they are selling.
Ed

 

[justin]

On a side not, do any of you notice C. cyanurus larvae changing color slightly? This morning one of the biggest I have (from Ed) was very pale compared to how it was yesterday. Its gills are shrinking now a bit and it has grown considerable since I got it from Ed some two weeks or so ago, so that could have something to do with it. I have it in a tub with several plants, 3 other larvae, and they are well fed constantly with blackworms. There is lighting over the table where I keep all my newts, two screw-in low watt, daylight deluxe compact fluorescent bulbs. I include this information in the event that some environmental cue is relevant. I have some pictures that I will post soon-- including a very light younger larvae that is pretty light, though not white like its sibling.
j

 

[jennifer]

C. cyanurus at all ages are prone to color shifts. I have no idea why, but they can be light, dark, or anything in between, and they can change quite dramatically. To some extent, mine seemed to shift to blend in with their background - dark when they were in a black container, light when they were in a clear container.

 

[TJ]

One can see a balancer extending from underneath the eye of this larva:

 

[TJ]

 

[terry]

Hello Tim,

I am seriously thinking of moving my larvae to a glass tank at one point so I could take clearer photos of the larvae. Your photos shows them clearly! Was a flash involved? Maybe that was it for in your photos I could even see the tail fin!

Very nice photos of the larva with balancers. Did your larvae react well to this setup with new soil? Does it really benefit it's occupants as it claims to do? Please let me know!

 

[TJ]

Heya Terry,

That's no glass tank. Yes, I used a flash. Seems the only way to get clear pics of something so small without using a tripod. Larvae seem to be doing well, but there's nothing to suggest it has anything to do with the substrate

I like it though as it hardly reflects light.

<font size="-2">(eggs on the left, larvae on the right)</font>

(Message edited by TJ on November 30, 2005)

 

[TJ]

This thread is continued at "Cynops cyanurus larvae (Part 2)" located at:

http://www.caudata.org/forum/messages/13/49219.html?1133547556