Marbled Salamander Defense

This secretive salamander spends most of its time under rocks logs or forest debris preferring forested areas.

Marbled salamander defense.

Marbled salamanders are late summer to early fall breeders. Like most of the mole salamanders it is secretive spending most of its life under logs or in burrows. Marbled salamanders and the department of defense the marbled salamander ambystoma opacum is one of the more commonly found mole salamanders on military installations. Marbled salamander in boone county.

The diet of adult marbled salamanders includes earthworms insects crickets ants snails and slugs. How to setup a simple but effective terrarium for a marbled salamander or any salamander that requires cool temperatures and moist conditions. It may also occur in open sandy woods and on rocky dry hillsides. Orifice past the hind legs of a salamander costal grooves.

Adults can grow to about 11 cm 4 in small compared to other members of its genus. Dorsal or back side of the salamander. Fore limb usually possess 4 toes. The body is black with light bands of varying widths running across the back.

Marbled salamanders grow to about 3 5 4 25 in 9 10 7 cm in size and are stout bodied and chubby in appearance. The deep spaces between the ribs for blood vessels and nerves. Skin glands on neck back and shoulder which secretes neurotoxin for defense mechanism. They can be identified by their black dark brown body including its venter with light white silvery crossbands on the dorsum.

The marbled salamander is one of many amphibians found in the bottomland hardwood forests of mississippi. The latin word opacum means shaded dark obscure or dim and refers to the adult dorsal color pattern. Both males and females typically migrate to the area surrounding a dry vernal pool in september and october. The bands of females tend to be gray while those of males are more white.

Muscular tail used for swimming. 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. A small stout bodied salamander this species is easily identified by its distinct black and white patterning across its entire body. The marbled salamander varies in length from 9 10 7 cm 3 5 4 2 in.

Defense mechanisms like all salamanders the marbled salamander has the ability to remove its tail with an ability called autotomy. This species is sexually dimorphic males tend to have white crossbands and females tend to have gray silvery crossbands. The marbled salamander is a stocky boldly banded salamander. This and many other amphibians require small fishless woodland.