| Marbled Salamander | |
|---|---|
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Division: | Chordata |
| Class: | Lissamphibia |
| Order: | Caudata |
| Family: | Ambystomatidae |
| Genus: | Ambystoma |
| Species: | A. opacum |
| Binomial name | |
| Ambystoma opacum Gravenhorst, 1807 |
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The Marbled Salamander (Ambystoma opacum) is a species of mole salamander found in the eastern United States.
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The Marbled Salamander is a stocky, boldly banded salamander. The bands of females tend to be gray, while those of males are more white. Adults can grow to about 11 cm, (4 inches), a bit small compared to other members of its genus. Like most of the Mole salamanders, it is secretive, spending most of its life under logs or in burrows. It is most frequently encountered when moving towards breeding ponds in the autumn.
Marbled Salamanders are found in the eastern United States, from southern New England to northern Florida, and west to Illinois and Texas. It has been found as far north as New Hampshire, though there have only been two reported sightings there. Its habitat is damp woodlands, forests, and places where the dirt is soft and wet. Seasonally flooded areas are essential for breeding, but the salamanders do not normally enter the water.
Adults spend most of their lives underground, and in deep leaf litter, but wander at night during the breeding season. Adults usually tend to come out more when rainy and/or snowy. Breeding takes place in fall, typically September to December. Females lay eggs in clusters of up to 120 under logs or in clumps of vegetation in low areas that are likely to flood during winter rains. They dig a small depression in soft dirt and lay the eggs in it. Eggs hatch the same fall or winter if rains come, but they may overwinter and hatch the following spring. The embryos hatch soon after the nest is inundated with the rising waters of the seasonal pool. The Marbled Salamander larvae gain a size advantage by feeding and growing for several months before the Jefferson Salamanders and Spotted Salamanders hatch later in the spring. Larvae typically mature in as little as two months in the southern part of their range, but take up to six months to mature in the northern part. Marbled Salamanders, like other members of this genus, are reported to have relatively long life spans, 8-10 years or more.
Adults take terrestrial invertebrates such as worms, insects, centipedes, and mollusks (snails, slugs). Larvae take small aquatic animals (zooplankton), but larger individuals will take eggs and larvae of other amphibians as well.