Marbled Salamander Breeds

The marbled salamander ambystoma opacum is a species of mole salamander found in the eastern united states.

Marbled salamander breeds.

This is opposite from other mole salamanders that breed during early spring. Marbled salamanders breed in autumn unlike most other mole salamanders which breed in winter and migrate to wetlands during before a good rain to court and mate. Most michigan salamanders begin breeding in the spring months with a few exceptions. September is the peak breeding period in massachusetts for one of its most attractive yet unorthodox amphibian species the marbled salamander ambystoma opacum during rainy foggy or very humid nights adults emerge from underground burrows in the forest and migrate overland to swamps and vernal pools to breed and deposit eggs.

Unlike other mole salamanders which breed underwater during the spring the marbled salamander has a very unusual reproductive strategy. Marbled salamanders spend most of their lives in self excavated burrows or those dug by small mammals and are most commonly found in deciduous or mixed pine forests on sandy soil. The bands of females tend to be gray while those of males are more white. We were amazed to find so ma.

Petranka 1998 unlike most other mole salamanders this species does not breed in water. These include the marbled salamander and the mudpuppy which breed in the fall the four toed salamander that breeds in late summer and fall and the red backed salamander which breeds in the fall through winter and early spring in some places. The marbled salamander breeds from september to october in the northern part of its range and from october to december in the southern part of its range. The marbled salamander is a stocky boldly banded salamander.

Females will lay about 30 100 eggs in a depression on land usually beneath a log or leaf litter. Marbled salamanders emerge from their underground homes in early fall to migrate to their breeding grounds. Adult marbled salamanders breed only in dried up pools ponds and ditches and females lay their eggs under the leaves there. Instead of breeding ponds or other water sources in spring months ambystoma opacum is a fall breeder and breeds entirely on land.

The marbled salamander varies in length from 9 10 7 cm 3 5 4 2 in. The female lays 50 200 eggs one at a time in a depression under a log or in a clump of vegetation that will fill with water when it. The female stays with her developing eggs until rain fills the wetland and triggers. The larger larval marbled salamanders feed on spotted salamander larvae and wood frog tadpoles as well as zooplankton.

My friend chance and i decided to hike a new trail today and we found a vernal pool with 15 marbled salamanders many with eggs.