Wow!,........those are outstanding mandarin morphs for sure!. Thanks for the link there!

Although the "anery" morph there is actually an axanthic mutation since there is no yellow pigment whatsoever. The greek word "xanthos" literally meaning yellow, and axanthic = complete lack of yellow.

To confuse the terms a bit more, erythrophores can also be responsible for both yellow and reds however, depending on many factors like the animals predisposition for carotenoid retension within the pigment cells. If it were missing ONLY red pigment it would be considered anerythristic (lack of erythrin).

For some reason, many folks in the hobby seem to associate any snake that looks similar to an anerythristic cornsnake as being truly anerythristic, when this isn't the case at all with many other types of snakes. It all depends on what their colors would normally be. The anery corn is indeed anerythristic, but still displays yellows, therefore it is indeed anerythristic and not axanthic.

A pure black and white Desert kingsnake(L.g.splendida) would be a perfect textbook example of an axanthic animal since it's normal coloration does not involve any red whatsoever, and only yellows besides the normal dark melanin pigment all display.


~Doug
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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

my website -Serpentine Specialties

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