Neotenic/gilled adult ribbed newts?

[ChristineB]

I just read an article by a forum member which says, "Neotenic adults (bearing gills and totally aquatic, but able to reproduce) have been found in the wild and reported by hobbyists and lab caretakers."

Is anyone selectively breeding for this trait? There is seriously a mint to be made selling gilled ribbed newts in the pet trade in areas where axolotls are not permitted. I would be very interested!

Ref: Pet Newts: Spanish Ribbed Newt Care and Breeding

 

[Otterwoman]

That is really interesting. I bet a neotenic ribbed newt would be cool, especially if it grew really big.

 

[caleb]

Here's a report of gilled adult Pleurodeles in the wild (there's a picture in the article):
http://digital.csic.es/bitstream/10261/56964/1/amphibia-reptilia.pdf2010.pdf

This is the only documented occurence I know of, it would be interesting to hear of others.

Neoteny in other European newts is not exactly permanent- neotenous animals will usually metamorphose quite readily, and strains known for their high occurence of neoteny (e.g. some southern populations of alpine newts) usually have some metamorphosed animals.

 

[elKendo97]

Photo: Juan Carlos Quintana Baldomero