# Tarapoto came ootw black?



## kgb (Aug 2, 2011)

Anyone know if this is normal? I had two tarapoto tads, one came out full color and the other is now crawling out, no tail left, almost black. You can see the pattern very faint. Will it color up or remain dark. thanks


----------



## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

Sounds like he is melanistic. More dark pigment than normal. He may stay that dark. Amelanistic would be reduced dark pigment. I had a couple of my Green Sirensis come out amelanistic. The black parts were more of a grayish pink. Mine stayed that way. Doesn't mean anything is really wrong with him BUT it is important not to try a purposely breed for that trait. i.e. Don't cross him back to another amelanistic tarapoto.


----------



## kgb (Aug 2, 2011)




----------



## ZookeeperDoug (Jun 5, 2011)

Looks amelanistic to me. I think Doug is right that this is a genetic trait. A unique little frog to be sure.


----------



## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

He looks pretty cool! He looks just like the other melanistic Tarapoto that I've seen.


----------



## Wyoming frogger (Dec 18, 2009)

I had a banded Intermedius come out of the water like that. But I don't think he made it. Haven't seen him in about 4 months. All of the siblings survived though. He was a little smaller than the rest.


----------



## frugs (Oct 27, 2007)

First melanistic Tarapoto I have seen pretty cool.


----------



## kgb (Aug 2, 2011)

Awesome, thanks for the replies!! Ill keep the thread updated as he retains or gains color.


----------



## InnoEcto (Jun 28, 2009)

Pretty cool. There are actually a few of these melanistic tarapotos floating around. The line that Patrick Nabors works with produces them from time to time. Check out Patrick's site, he has a picture or two on there. What is cool about these guys, is that in a lot of lighting conditions they appear to be a black frog, but brighter light reveals a faint pattern. Kind of like black jaguars.


----------



## kgb (Aug 2, 2011)

InnoEcto said:


> Pretty cool. There are actually a few of these melanistic tarapotos floating around. The line that Patrick Nabors works with produces them from time to time. Check out Patrick's site, he has a picture or two on there. What is cool about these guys, is that in a lot of lighting conditions they appear to be a black frog, but brighter light reveals a faint pattern. Kind of like black jaguars.


Yes, it still has a pattern you can see faintly. Very cool!


----------



## kgb (Aug 2, 2011)

Fuzzy, but you get the idea


----------



## james67 (Jun 28, 2008)

its relatively common in tor line tarapota. this is a genetic trait and IME seems to occur most frequently in male frogs. these have no reason not turn out to be healthy adults

its not unreasonable to use this frog for breeding purposes, but ONLY in rotation with other frogs to eliminate a truly unbalanced ratio of this gene's presence in the hobby. 

james


----------



## kgb (Aug 2, 2011)

james67 said:


> its relatively common in tor line tarapota. this is a genetic trait and IME seems to occur most frequently in male frogs. these have no reason not turn out to be healthy adults
> 
> its not unreasonable to use this frog for breeding purposes, but ONLY in rotation with other frogs to eliminate a truly unbalanced ratio of this gene's presence in the hobby.
> 
> james


So its not that special  I was excited like it was some rarity but guess NBD


----------



## james67 (Jun 28, 2008)

i didnt mean to be a buzzkill. i would guess that there are less than 100 in collections in the 
US (purely a guess based on how many ive heard of from other members with them) so they are still pretty rare. 

james


----------



## EricM (Feb 15, 2004)

The founder stock of this line was pretty small as were most of the "imported" frogs that came into the hobby over the last few decades. Like James mentioned the melanistic trait is pretty common in this line, I see it in about 5% of the froglets that morph out, they seem to be weaker than the normal colored ones and I've had few to live past a year. If the founding stock was larger it would probably be a rare sight to see and more "special".

Good luck with them they are really nice frogs
Eric


----------



## kgb (Aug 2, 2011)

Updated pic, seems to be healthy. Definitely smaller than his sibling


----------



## flapjax3000 (Jul 4, 2009)

I have kept a few of these myself and all were strong, healthy frogs. I thought they were really cool to have, except trying to find them sometimes. The black color made it a bit harder to spot them.


----------



## kgb (Aug 2, 2011)

Mine is very bold, always out and about.


----------



## Newt1 (Feb 25, 2007)

I like thing that are different so I like your froglet
Newt1


----------



## kgb (Aug 2, 2011)

Newt1 said:


> I like thing that are different so I like your froglet
> Newt1


Me Too!!!


----------

