leucistic neotenic larva

[franceschino]

Hi all
I'm posting some pictures of my 9 months old salamandra larva. It's leucistic and neotenic, it shows no signs of wanting to morph and it belongs to the nominate subspecies.
ciao

 

[Kaysie]

What a cute little freak. Do you think the two are related? That is the leucistism causing the neoteny?

 

[coendeurloo]

The two (leucism and neoteny) are often related in other species, such as Mesotriton (Ichtyosaura?) alpestris.

 

[franceschino]

they are also both recessive and show up more often in inbred populations.

 

[tdimler]

Francesco,

Do you think you could induce it to morph with reduced water level and increased temperature?

 

[franceschino]

Hi Travis
salamandra larvae can't tollerate high temps (above 20-22°C) so I would probably kill it if I increased temps of the water. If it gets to adult size without morphing though I'm going to try giving it some tyroxine. Infact once it morphs it will be able to breed and who knows..maybe one day I'll have a leucistic strain of salamandras.

 

[tdimler]

Francesco,

I know that salamandra larva can't tolerate high temps...I was thinking if you were keeping it in the 13-15 range...that increasing it to 20-22 might trigger it to morph. It may just be me, but I think it would be healthier to morph at this size than adult....if it morphed at adult size it might have a harder time adapting to land...feeding, etc.

I would love to see it as a terrestrial adult..it would be stunning. Please keep me posted on the progress.

Travis

 

[franceschino]

updated pictures...

 

[Mark]

The caudal fin appears to have reduced slightly and it's lost much of it's larval spots. The colouring you'd expect on a new morph is starting to appear. I wonder what will happen...

Thanks for posting an update - show us more in a few months.

 

[bobberly1]

I would want to keep it neotonic, but apparently that's just the fishkeeper in me.

 

[Jennewt]

I would want to keep it neotonic, but apparently that's just the fishkeeper in me.

I think your idea is a little misguided, bobberly. It's not the keeper's choice whether the animal remains neotenic. It does, or it doesn't, according to its own biological program, and the keeper has to provide the habitat to accommodate it, whatever it does.

 

[lettgv]

I have two of these from my first breeding batch. They are five months old and of all in the litter only one has metamorphosed. Any ideas whether they will, or will they remain neotenic?
Thanks

 

[LeFarge]

any updates on these?

 

[Kaysie]

Francesco passed away a few years ago. I don't know what happened to his collection. Perhaps one of the European keepers has more information on that.