is an axolotl a water dog?

[Retuks]

cause the lfs has little "axolotl"s being sold in cups right above their "water dog" stock. which they are selling "water dogs" in...

am i missing something?

 

[micstarz]

Not really. Axolotls are the larvae of mexican tiger salamanders. They are very often neotenous. Water dogs are the larvae of some sort of american caudate and they will eventually morph into salamanders.

 

[Citrinellus]

As said above, they are both larval forms of salamanders. The axolotl is the larval form of the fire salamander as the waterdog is most likely the larval tiger salamander. The water dogs will certainly undergo the change and become salamanders as axolotls barley ever do.

 

[Retuks]

As said above, they are both larval forms of salamanders. The axolotl is the larval form of the fire salamander as the waterdog is most likely the larval tiger salamander. The water dogs will certainly undergo the change and become salamanders as axolotls barley ever do.

huh? really? i thought they had to morph as part of their life cycle. can they revert?

 

[micstarz]

No. Some animals can just live through their whole life without changing from their juvenile to adult form yet still reproduce. It's called neoteny.

 

[Natural_Born_Killer]

I saw these for the first time this weekend at my LFS... never realized how big they actually grow.

 

[coura]

Diferent species

 

[Noto]

Axolotl = Ambystoma mexicanum.
Waterdog = Ambystoma mavortium (usually).

A. mexicanum can metamorphose but almost never does unless extremely stressed or exposed to high concentrations of iodine. A. mavortium individuals may remain neotenous, but also metamorphose readily.

 

[Armand]

Actually "Axolotl" means "water dog" in nahuatl the language of the ancient mexicans...

Source: I am mexican, I live in Mexico City near by the Xochimilco lake where the Axolotls are indigenous to...

 

[coura]

Unfornatly from what I know they are criticaly endangered in the wild