<i>Hynobius boulengeri</i> (egg sacs, larvae)

[TJ]

A friend recently gave me a couple of egg sacs:

(Message edited by tj on May 27, 2006)

 

[TJ]

 

[TJ]

 

[TJ]

 

[TJ]

 

[TJ]

I've had to perform three "surgical" removals on this egg sac so far (two today), and today I'm happy to report it's completely free of duds for the first time.

<font size="-2">(taken after the first dud of the two excised)</font>

<font size="-2">

</font>
(after the second and last)

 

[yago]

Lovely shoots Tim

and lovely specie.
I have realized on personal experience how much aggressive could be hynobidae... so keep it in mind as those tiny animals start to grow...
(I still owe you the video...I haven't forgot it

which I intend to edit on summer so as soon as I finnish it I will mail it to you so u'll be the first one to view.
Sorry for the delay but I am overwhelmed by work

I have seen only one of the 4 tapes

Best greetings
Yago

 

[TJ]

Hi Yago.

It's nice to be raising these as I hadn't seen photos of egg sacs of this species before, nor have I yet seen photos of boulengeri larvae (granted I haven't looked hard for them), They're kept in the vegetable compartment of our kitchen fridge (the wife's making a special exception since they were a gift from a friend

). He collected them on Shikoku Island and said they were in a pretty precarious situation. Of the 3 people that got a couple sacs each, I'm the only one left with a viable egg sac so the pressure's on me to "produce"

Are you keeping this species now?

Yeah, the larvae can be aggressive, if that's what you mean. I've found H. retardatus and H. tokyoensis to be especially so. But not after they morph, in my experience. As long as they're well fed, they're fine. Same goes for the larvae. I keep them so stuffed with food that there's virtually no cannibalism. Having the larvae tank well planted also helps.

Take your time with the tapes. No hurry at all. I also have to get around to burning those Andrias and other photos onto a CD to send to you.

 

[TJ]

 

[TJ]

Three of them "hatched" today (though it'd be more correct to say they "fell" out if the disintegrating egg sac as I was doing my twice daily chilled water change).

I'm a bit worried the one in the first picture left the sac prematurely.

 

[TJ]

Apparent problem with the one on the far right.

 

[danny]

Tim, Can the larvae still grow and mature outside of the egg sack or do they have to reach a certain stage before they leave? Is there a point in their development where they CANT survive and a point where they CAN live outside the egg sack after leaving early?

 

[TJ]

Hi Danny. Good questions, which I wish I had good answers too

. I think some of mine left the sac prematurely, given their relatively undeveloped appearance. The fact that none of them have since died and have instead developed out of the sac certainly shows that beyond a certain stage, they can survive. I don't know where the cutoff line is though. I'm now wondering when they will become upright, lose their yolk sacs and start eating.