I would first like to say tht the following is based on my experience and is not genetics "law" because noone understands all the genetic posibilities
The cells that produce pigment are called chromatophores. There are 3 types in reptiles, Melanophores,Xanthophores and Iridophores. Melanophores produce the dark pigments(blacks and browns). The Xanthophores produce the colored pigments, yellows,oranges,reds and everything inbetween. The iridphores actually do not produce pigment persay but are actually platelet like structures that reflect and/or defract light. These are usually responsible for the whites and the iridescents in reptiles.
That being said I will try to explain hypomelanism. Hypomelanism is defined as "having less than normal melanin" The cells producing this color are present but do not function properly. This definition leaves much room for interpitation. You have to take into account that dragons all have he ability to lighten or darken to some degree. On top of that some animals are also naturally lighter than others. Hypomelanism is a genetic mutation which is usually recessive,dominant or co-dominant, in dragons it's recessive. This is why I say just because an animal is light does not mean it is hypo. If at any time an animal diplays normal amounts of melanin it connot be considered hypo because hypos cannot show this color normaly. In my experiece when breeding two light animals with black claws, they do not necessarly pass thier "lightness" to thier offspring. Some will be light and some wont(a hereditary trait). When breeding 2 animals with clear claws you will get all offspring with clear claws(a recssive trait). Hypomelanism also does not effect any other colors. You can have hypo animals in white,yellow, orange,red or anything inbetween. These animals are also harder to breed because thier beards usually do not get black and the females dont respond accordingly.
The translucents are technically hypoiristic. The definition is "having less than normal iridophores", the white. I am one of the original producers of these animals and can say this is also a recessive trait. All the animals you may have seen so far with this trait have been produced by breeding het to het.
"Leucistic" dragons DO NOT EXIST!! True leucistic animals are missing the chromatophores completely. They do not have the ability to produce any skin pigment at all. Leucistic animals are PURE white with either blue, black or dark brown eyes, blue being the predominant eye color. I have seen many so called leucistic animals and have noticed that most are simply light animals with very little color(red,orange,yellow)leaving the animal predominately a light cream or white color. Some have had clear claws, they would be hypo. I believe these are also the same as the "snows". However I have seen some animals that actually are colored white, not just missing the melanin or light in color. These animals also had some yellow and orange in the head so they definately were not leucistic. I believe they are "Hyperiristic" (having excessive white). This may or may not be recessive.
And last but not least...To my knowledge the bright colors(red,oranges an yellows)produced by the xanthophores are for the most part hereditary. This would explain the difficulty in reproducng the intense colors desired by most people. When breeding for these colors I generaly get a few that resemble each parent and the rest are a nice mix of color from both parents. If they were recessive or dominant we would see many more animals with these colors around. I am not saying that its not possible to have a geneic mutation with these cells that may produce more or less intense colors. I have a pair of hypo yellows that last year consisantly produced about 95% offsping that turned out to be as bright or brighter than the parents. These may be hyperxanthic. Only time will tell.
wheeew... hope this wasnt to confusing LOL
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Paul Morlock
of CaptiveCreations and
Retail Sales Rep. for Sandfire Dragon Ranch
Stacey
