ITALIAN ALPINE NEWT EGGS - ICTHYOSAURA ALPESTRIS APUANUS

My friend Stave thought these would lay eggs this time of the year whereas I did not. All the previous times I have kept apuanus they have always spawned (laid eggs) in Spring the same time all other temperate species spawn. However I have always suspected that there will be little pockets of these types with small degrees of variability.

Also added to this was that years ago the old Euproctus found on Sardinia and Corsica were thought to be found at high elevations only and few in number. Until that is they discovered there were thousands of them in  a lake on a Trout farm at much lower elevations than expected!

Despite popular opinion I LIKE being surprised in this way and it is one of the many reasons I have been fascinated by the world of animals since I was about 4 years of age!

Well first I started spotting all these tiny balls I first thought were eggs which turned out not to be. Then a few days later I am looking in and the previously spotted dark eggs were now looking very pale and I though 'oh look now they look even more like eggs....oooh now ait a minute they ARE eggs!!'

LMAO!!

I should point out that as well as laying them during a completely unexpected time of year they have also not laid a great many, in fact I would not be surprised if there were no more than about 15 eggs?! Also these seem to me laid over a long period of time thus far so it could well be that more turn up. They are also quite small too and the jelly capsule very thin to what I have experienced in the past.

First up the balls that were NOT Newt eggs and I also have them in my outdoor pond on the weed that has no amphibians in it! Lol. That was how I realized ultimately they were NOT Newt Eggs!

Then no more than a week later I look into the small aquarium they live in and notice that the round balls now look very pale and think how weird it is these NON-NEWT EGGS are now confusing me even more! Until I look closer and spot a thin layer of clear jelly and then realise that these ARE INDEED Newt Eggs!

NORTH ITALIAN ALPINE NEWT - ICHTYOSAURA ALPESTRIS APUANUS

There are at least ten types of Alpine Newt to my knowledge and I have only seen a handful of these, though more than most.

Their Latin name is Ichtyosaura (REALLY STUPID NAME) alpestris and of the subspecies I have seen are alpestris, cyreni, apuanus, lacusnigri (guessing), veluchiensis (guessing), montenegrinus (neotenic with gills) and inexpectatus.

Now I would have thought that if they have changed the name, everyone hates it as do I and its utterrly wrong as it means  Fish Lizard and I think Prehistoric Lizard, that they would have therefore split up the susbpecies into separate species?! Not to bright then ione that did this and should nt be re-classifying animals in my oipnion. What makes it worse is that there was briefly another name of Mesotriton which made more sens but was more FRENCH than LATIN, with TRITON being French for newt. Good job they did not name toads as CRAPAUD is French for Toad! LMAO!

There are a few I have not seen and I would like to see veluchiensis and lacusnigri again to confirm two unusual females I had as a teenager.

Now apart from the absolutely tiny montenegrinus I had many moons ago the smallest and by far the prettiest (that I am currently aware of) of these blue, silver, yellow and orange newts is apuanus from North Italy. It is unique in such a way that I can recognise the species by seeing a lone female at a glance in a glass tank! Indeed I did just that when these guys turned up and I was NOT expecting it if I am honest!

I owe the man that brought them in and the man they came from a debt of thanks.

Now here are some pictures and I must warn you that despite what you may think about them the males are not in breeding condition and so not fully coloured up, not even close and not by a long shot. Check back in February for those photos, lol.

Meanwhile here are the said photos and next Spring I intend to do a great deal more with these guys and their other subspecies!!

MALES...

 IN breeding that silver band with black dots gets brighter and covers lips, mouth and eyes. Down side it has a metallic turquoise stripe as its BORDER! LOL.

You can see a duller turquoise stripe in the following picture.

 Some blue remains on the tail but in breeding is much brighter and covers entire back.

NOTE VESTIGES OF A YELLOW CREST...

 FEMALES...

Even the females have a subtle but quite unique pattern along with quite smooth skin.

Neotenic Alpine Newt Messotriton alpestris

A life long favourite, though not in this odd and rare form, is the Alpine Newt.

This one, like the Axolotl, stays in larval form and keeps the gills and this particular indivudual escaped and gre to adulthood in my pond many years ago, though technically it was my grandmothers pond, despite the fact I built it?!

LMAO!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/89426160@N05/8216814903/