Amphiuma
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 Two-toed Amphiuma, Amphiuma means
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Amphiuma tridactylum |
Amphiuma is a genus of aquatic salamanders, the only extant genus within the family Amphiumidae. They are also known as "congo eels" or "congo snakes", which are zoologically incorrect designations.
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[edit] Description
Amphiumas have an elongated body, generally grey-black in color. They do have legs, but they are very small - while amphiumas can be up to 1 m long, their legs measure only up to about 2 cm. Therefore, they can resemble eels.
Larvae have external gills. After about four months these external gills disappear and the lungs begin to work. One pair of gill slits is retained and never disappears, so the metamorphosis remains incomplete.
[edit] Distribution
Amphiumas inhabit the southeastern part of the United States. They share much of the same distribution with the sirens, although they are not closely related.
In the past amphiumas have been further distributed. Fossils from the Pleistocene epoch show that they once were distributed in Europe as well.
[edit] Behavior
During the day amphiumas hide in vegetation, and at night they become active and go hunting. Their prey include frogs, snakes, fish, crustaceans, insects and even other amphiumas. They can be found in most wetlands in the coastal plain of the southeastern U.S., even ones which periodically dry, as they are able to aestivate in the moist mud below drained marshland and other ephemeral wetlands. Amphiuma are rarely encountered on land, but it is possible.
[edit] Species
There are three amphiuma species, distinguished by the number of toes:
- Three-toed Amphiuma (Amphiuma tridactylum)
- Two-toed Amphiuma (Amphiuma means)
- One-toed Amphiuma (Amphiuma pholeter)
