Breeding Marbled Salamanders

Although other salamander species in the mole salamander family breed in water the marbled salamander does not.

Breeding marbled salamanders.

Sporting white or gray bands across its body this secretive species is known to hide out beneath leaves and logs. Marbled salamanders are part of the mole salamander family which is a group of salamanders endemic to north america and the only genus in the. Like other ambystomatids these salamanders spend most of their time underground in burrows and are infrequently seen outside of the breeding season. Taylor and scott 1997 estimated 50 annual survival for adult marbled salamanders in south carolina.

Larval marbled salamanders are difficult to distinguish from other ambystoma salamanders of nh spotted blue spotted and jefferson salamanders. Breeding habitat marbled salamanders are one of two species of ambystoma that breed on land petranka 1998 and they are the only ambystoma species that exhibit parental care nussbaum 1985 1987. In this species breeding takes place in the autumn and on land near fishless woodland ponds or swamps. Like other mole salamanders marbled salamanders are predators of.

Due to the terrestrial reproductive habits of marbled salamanders breeding is restricted to fish free wetlands with seasonally fluctuating. The female stays with her developing eggs until rain fills the wetland and triggers. Family ambystomatidae are a medium sized chunky salamander reaching up to 4 25 inches in length 10 8 cm as adults they have a variable number of white bars on the body. The marbled salamander is a relatively common resident throughout north carolina.

It migrates to a pond before autumn rains begin. Each female lays her clutch of 30 to 100 eggs in a dry depression and the embryos begin to develop. However because marbled salamanders are the only fall breeder larvae encountered in vernal pool habitats in winter or early spring february april prior to other salamanders breeding are likely to. Females will lay about 30 100 eggs in a depression on land usually beneath a log or leaf litter.

There the animal begins to court and mate. Marbled salamanders appear to be characterized by lower annual survival and higher breeding probabilities than other ambystomatids. Fertilization is internal and each female may lay 50 200 eggs usually in small depressions under logs in leaf litter or under vegetation at the edge of the water. We estimated a similar annual.