E. andersoni hatchlings

[TJ]

First hatchling arrived today

Paris, the reason I am keeping the two groups of eggs separately is that they are from two different CB females. About a dozen of each. Only one egg went bad. Success rate for raising them? It would depend on so many factors. I raised a larvae a couple of years ago with no problems. But the larvae morphed earlier than expected and I didn't have a secure lid on the tank, so you can guess what happened...

(Message edited by TJ on May 23, 2005)

 

[paris]

so....how many eggs you got to start and from how many females? what is the success rate for raising these guys?

so the fems are still laying or stopped-12 each is much lower than the 50-60 average? is this their first year? are they young?


(Message edited by TJ on May 23, 2005)

 

[TJ]

Paris, I really can't answer your questions about them because the parent newts are not mine to begin with

These eggs here are only a portion of their respective egg batches.

(Message edited by TJ on May 11, 2005)

 

[TJ]

I'm starting these guys out on freshly hatched brine shrimp.

<font size="-2">(hatchery tub and hatchling tub)</font>

(Message edited by TJ on May 12, 2005)

 

[ralf]

Heya Tim, still wasting your time watching those brine shrimp hatch? You should be out and about searching for those Japanese plethodontids!

 

[TJ]

Ah yes, the elusive Johnsonia japanais

I'll see if I can't get around to that sometime soon...

 

[TJ]

Goris has something very interesting to say:

"After spermatophore retrieval, the female leaves the water and deposits several dozen to 100 eggs on the bank or shore, tamping them into the mud or leaf litter with her snout. When the eggs hatch, the larvae remain inside the jelly envelope until a rainfall, when they wriggle and hop their way to the water."

Source: Guide to the Amphibians and Reptiles of Japan (Goris & Maeda 2004)

I have a lot of still unread info in Japanese on this species, but this is the first time I've read or heard of the larvae "hatching" but remaining inside the jelly. I suppose misting the eggs would have a similar effect as rain. I'll try to cross-check this information.

 

[ralf]

Not really caudate related, but misting respectively spraying is a common technique for hatching certain fish species with tiny and fragile larvae e.g. pikeperch.

 

[TJ]

Thanks for that interesting info Ralf.

My eggs are taking much longer than expected to hatch. Only 2 hatchlings so far, though the eggs remain viable.

Eggs from the same clutches that are in the hands of others have already hatched. I'm pretty sure this is temperature-related. I keep my room pretty cool for the sake of my Onychodactylus japonicus adult and my H. kimurae larvae.

I've been encouraged by the source of the eggs to mist them more frequently. Considering their advanced state of development, I'm worried the larvae may absorb their yolk sacs and lack nutrition if they remain inside much longer...

 

[carlos]

Hi Tim, I don't know does it work on E.andersoni, but in my experience in other species, if you found that the yolk sacs and they still not hatch, you may sprint water for few more time per day, than they will hatch very soon.

(Message edited by TJ on May 23, 2005)

 

[TJ]

Well, I find that despite my increased water sprinklings, I lost a couple of larvae in the unhatched eggs. So I opted to surgically release those larvae that had absorbed their yolk sacs while still in the eggs (5 of them so far). I also recovered 3 larvae that hatched on their own.

Vacated egg sac and a larvae in the process of hatching (naturally):

 

[carlos]

I'm sorry about I provided a bad idea
What a shame....

(Message edited by carloswan2000 on May 23, 2005)

 

[TJ]

Not a bad idea at all, Carlos!

And I'm still misting. As of now, I have over a dozen hatched larvae.
Found 5 naturally hatched ones today alone.

(Message edited by TJ on May 25, 2005)

 

[TJ]

It's really surprising to see how sharp-witted and quick these larvae are after hatching, especially when one thinks of how seemingly dull-witted and slow they become as adults

Catching them is no easy task -- much more difficult than say with Cynops ensicauda larvae.

 

[TJ]

(Message edited by TJ on May 26, 2005)

 

[TJ]

(Message edited by TJ on May 26, 2005)

 

[jesper]

Extremely nice to hear about and see this Tim, Keep it coming!

 

[TJ]

The larvae show varying degrees of darkness though it's just a matter of time before they all turn dark.

(Message edited by TJ on June 15, 2005)

 

[TJ]

 

[william]

i've just found this post, congrats! how many eggs did you have?