Marbled Salamander Juveniles

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.

Marbled salamander juveniles.

Like other mole salamanders marbled salamanders are predators of smaller creatures but though they are voracious predators of insects worms and slugs they along with their eggs and juvenile forms provide food for many other hungry animals. Although marbled salamanders also can occur in drier habitats maintaining cool moist microenvironments and sufficient leaf litter and woody debris on the forest floor is still important for providing cover and foraging habitat for juveniles and adults. Like many salamanders marbled salamanders have poison glands in their. A small stout bodied salamander this species is easily identified by its distinct black and white patterning across its entire body.

Juvenile marbled salamanders hatch early compared to most salamanders and gain a size advantage by feeding and growing for several months before the jefferson salamanders and spotted salamanders hatch later in the spring. The marbled salamander can be found from southern new hampshire to northern florida and west to southern illinois southeast oklahoma and east texas. Here are some highlights. It is a threatened species in michigan.

About another 15 months are needed for the juveniles to reach maturity. A long term study conducted at the savannah river ecological laboratory shows that fluctuations in amphibian populations including marbled salamanders can be a natural phenomenon. Like other ambystomatids these salamanders spend most of their time underground in burrows and are infrequently seen outside of the breeding season. Marbled salamanders ambystoma opacum urodela.

The body is black with light bands of varying widths running across the back. The marbled salamander is one of many amphibians found in the bottomland hardwood forests of mississippi. Adults can get around 4 inches on average. Juveniles 1 yr old experienced near zero annual survivorship in old field enclosures compared to 70 in forest enclosures rothermel 2003.

Larvae typically mature as quickly as two months in the southern part of their range but take up to six months to mature in. With proper care these salamanders can live 8 10 years in captivity. We have baby marbled salamanders for sale. Juvenile marbled salamanders experienced low first year survival 4 5 in old field terrestrial enclosures when compared to survival in forest enclosures 45.

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.