# A super blue auratus?



## moothefrog (May 16, 2008)

What is a super blue auratus?I have some blue and black auratus,are those super blues?Or are the blue and bronze?Could I see a pic?


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## KeroKero (Jun 13, 2004)

Super blue auratus are a bloodline of Turquoise auratus that were selected out for their stronger blue coloration and stronger bronze coloration when they were originally imported. Their babies range from mostly green, turquoise, to the powdery blue. Blue and Bronzes again are just a line of frogs where the bluest were bred to the bluest but they produce a range of colors because they are actually Turquoises.

Blue and black auratus are completely different populations, the old line always has the black coloration not bronze, and there are new ones from what may be a different population being imported now as well.


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## -=Adam=- (Feb 18, 2004)

Despite what we as a hobby think we know about the Super Blue auratus morph, the case is certainly not closed on whether they truly are a variation found within another population (such as turquoise and black). I have been breeding the Super Blue for a few years and everyone that I sell to I make the strong recommendation not to mix them with other auratus morphs until we have more conclusive evidence than our speculation that they are not in fact an independent population is verified. I my opinion it is better to be careful and treat them as a separate population/morph than to muddy up their bloodlines only to find out otherwise at some point in the future.

The original founding stock came in through SNDF in 2002-2003 during the most recent period of mass Panamanian auratus imports. As Corey alluded to, there were a very few number of individuals that had the appearance of what we are calling "Super Blue" and were paired together as similar appearing animals, and thus entered the hobby. SNDF has requested multiple times from the Panamanian exporters to try to find out more information about this frog, and help us to figure out whether they are spectacular variations within a green and black/bronze population, or are indeed a separate population. Until (if) we get a response, I believe we should err on the conservative side and maintain them as a separate population. This one of very few cases in our hobby in which the question of whether or not an animal is indeed a distinct variation/population/morph can potentially be answered by the source (Panamanian exporter).

As to the question of what aspects make an auratus a 'Super Blue' auratus,
- The lineage must descend from the original SNDF imports, and specifically the offspring that were all (uniformly) sold as Super Blue 
- Super Blue froglets begin as a blue and black, and the black lightens to a bronze color with adulthood.
- Super Blues are, in general, much more bold than the notoriously shy blue and black auratus
- In my experience (>100 froglets) the coloration is ~90% blue and bronze (variation in blue can be seen in some of the pictures below) and ~5% turquoise and bronze and about ~5% other (some have come out as color mutants in which the blue portion of the pattern is darkened)

Here are some photos of Super Blue auratus at various stages to further describe their coloration changes:

Recently morphed froglet, blue with black:









Four to five month old froglets with the black portion of the pattern beginning to lighten to bronze:









And finally an adult Super Blue, displaying the blue and fully bronze color pattern:

















Blue and Bronze is also another name (or description) for the Super Blue. But again, there is no definitive way to determine what you have unless you know the lineage. 

This is of course my two cents, but I hope it helps to clear things up. Thanks,

-=Adam=-


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## SMenigoz (Feb 17, 2004)

Are these Super Blue auratus the same as Sean Stewart sells as "Highland Auratus"? I have a group of the "Highlands" and see similar coloration as the adult Adam posted.
Scott


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## skylsdale (Sep 16, 2007)

Scott, as far as I know these are two completely seperate and distinct populations. Also, after doing some digging, we came to realize that the 'highland bronze' are not in fact from a highland location/elevation. In the European hobby, auratus of this morph are usually referred to as Panamaspecial, Birkhahn, or simply Bronce. There are also two lines: the Birkhan line and the Wassmann line. They original 8 animals (and to my knowledge, the only animals) were collected back in 1987 and brought back to Europe (they also exhibited quite a bit of variation, from a greenish to turqoise to blue along with the bronze). Sean acquired his animals from a German breeder in 1997, and they are of the Wassmann line. The original collection location has been kept a secret by the original collector, but from what I've been told, they are a truly distinct population in the wild.

I agree with you in that there seems to be some similarities between the two morphs...but as Adam said, until we find out more information, it's obvisouly best to captively manage them as seperate populations.


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## SMenigoz (Feb 17, 2004)

Thanks Ron, for the very enlightening explanation.
Scott


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## skylsdale (Sep 16, 2007)

No problem, Scott...just sharing what I know so we can know as much about these as possible.

Also, these 'highlands' we have acquired from Sean were originally collected from the province of Cocle, somewhere around 400-600 meters asl (how this might compare to any information SNDF is able to get from the importer will help clear things up, in the rare possibility that some collectors managed to wander into this same locale and collect these same frogs).

And the fact that the frogs we have are of the "Wassmann line" doesn't really mean much: Birkahn and Wassmann seperated the original group of 8 between themselves, each taking 4 frogs. "Lines" in this case just means breeding lines: Wassman and Birkhan have actually exchanged animals between themselves to help refresh their bloodlines.


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## nburns (May 3, 2005)

Great info. I have a breeding trio of the Highland Auratus as well and I am very interested by this information. I can't wait to see what comes out of ASN on these guys. Skylsdale, thanks for all of that great info, I wondered if there was any connection between the highland and the Wassmann line.

Nate


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