THE NESTS AND LARY/E OF NECTURUS. 199 



(Fig. 7), taken on August 20, 1906, agrees in its color and color 

 pattern with the 35-mm. larva; the yolk has been entirely ab- 

 sorbed. Another 55-mm. larva taken September 13, 1906, is in 

 the same condition. A 6o-mm. specimen taken August 19, 1910, 

 shows a slight loss in the distinctness of the stripes. 



The striped pattern characteristic of the larvae reaches its 

 culmination in specimens of about 55 mm. body length. From 

 this time on it gradually disappears, the light yellow stripes 

 being obscured by dark pigment; during the same period the 

 large black spots, which give the mottled appearance to the color 

 pattern of the adult, become established. With the attainment 

 of a body length of 15 cm. the larval color pattern is entirely 

 replaced by that of the adult. Several specimens with a body 

 length of 20 cm. were dissected and found to be sexually mature. 



Eycleshymer ('06), after describing the variation in color of 

 the adult, continues: "It is probable that these variations in 

 color are responsible for a number of specific names. As an 

 instance I might state that some years ago Dr. Gamier ('88) 

 described a small Necturus, taken from the Maitland and Luck- 

 .now Rivers in Ontario, to which he gave the name Menobranchus 

 lateralis, var. latastei. 'The coloration above was black, the 

 abdomen sooty and the gular fold white.' During the summer 

 of 1904 the writer was fortunate enough to secure tw r o young 

 animals which measured about 4 and 6 inches respectively. The 

 smaller corresponds closely to the description given by Dr. 

 Gamier and there is every reason for believing that the animal 

 in question is the young of Necturus maculosus. The older of 

 the two presents the general coloration of the adult. That 

 Necturus should undergo such striking changes in color may ap- 

 pear remarkable to one who has not studied the early stages but 

 when one has followed the changes in color pattern during growth 

 he finds that they are no less striking and remarkable than in 

 the birds/' 



While I do not doubt the evidence of great variability in 

 the color and color pattern during growth, furnished by those 1 



1 In a letter from Dr. Whitman to the writer, dated April 22, 1907, he says: 

 "I have reared Necturus from the egg, and I can assure you that now and then a 

 single dark brown individual is found among the striped ones. I raised one from the 

 egg, and have had two captured by net. They are rare, but are unquestionably 

 Necturus in the cases mentioned." 



