A really strange creature

I just finished my Frog and Reptile workshop in Kansas City this past weekend. For the first time, we had a very unusual creature - an axolotl. I know this looks like AI, but it's real. This is a paedomorphic salamander, meaning it doesn't undergo metamorphosis into the terrestrial adult form. It lives its life in an aquatic environment. They are native to Mexico, and due to pollution and environmental degradation, this amphibian is almost extinct in the wild. However, they are bred for the pet trade, and in the US there are literally millions of them. This is one of the few examples where the hand of man has actually saved a species. I photographed this guy in a small aquarium, and then in Photoshop I eliminated lots of distracting elements and made the background black. For the lighting, I used a ring flash held to the side to create dimensional illumination. This is a juvenile axolotl so it was pretty small. My camera settings were 1/100, f/32, and 1250 ISO, and I used a 50mm macro lens for the shot.