|
Blue-spotted Salamander (Ambystoma laterale)
 |
Photo courtesy Don Scallen
|
Introduction
The Blue-spotted Salamander is a cold tolerant species and is the smallest of the “mole” salamanders. The Blue-spotted Salamander hybridizes with Jefferson Salamander (Ambystoma jeffersonianum), and Small- mouthed Salamander (Ambystoma texanum). This salamander is an Obligate Vernal Pool Species.
| Description: |
- Medium sized salamander
- Black base colour, with blue spots and flecks on back, tail, legs, and head
- Spots may be absent
- Grey to black belly
- Prominent costal grooves
|
| Size: |
|
| Distribution: |
- Most of the Great Lakes Basin, extending north to the Quebec and Manitoba borders
|
| Abundance: |
- Widespread and locally common in southern and central Ontario
|
| Non- Breeding Habitat: |
- Moist to dry, bottomland to upland deciduous and coniferous forests
- Can be found in fields and backyards
- Forest floor under leaf litter, logs, and in rock crevices
- Uses burrows of other animals
|
| Breeding Habitat: |
- Vernal Pools or ephemeral wetlands adjacent to woodlands
|
| Timing of Breeding: |
- Late March to the mid-April. Before the ice is completely off the ponds
- One of earliest breeders
|
| Egg masses: |
- 1 to 12 eggs per lose mass, single female may lay from 35 to over 500 eggs
- Eggs are attached to vegetation and rocks
- Eggs hatch after 3 to 5 weeks
|
| Larvae: |
- Dark brown to olive, or grey with mottling on tail fins
- Usually belly unmarked
- External gills
|
| Juveniles: |
- 5.5 to 7.5 cm
- Dark grey with some blue flecks
|
| Migration: |
- Adults to breeding vernal pools and wetlands in late March to late April
- Breeding migration usually takes place on the first warm rainy nights of early spring.
- Juvenile migration late July to September
|
| Larvae Food: |
- Daphnia, copepods, insects (including mosquito larvae), tadpoles and smaller salamander larvae
|
| Larvae Predation: |
- Diving Beetles, Giant Water Bugs, Caddisfly larvae, and Dragonfly nymphs, fish, Eastern Newts, and the larvae of other Ambystoma salamanders
|
| Adult Food: |
- Worms, snails, slugs, insects, centipedes, spiders, and other invertebrates
|
| Adult Predation: |
- Snakes, turtles, herons, and raccoons
|
| Conservation Concerns: |
- Introduction of fish may affect the survival of larval salamanders
- Habitat loss and pesticide use may also reduce numbers in populations
- Sensitive to disturbance by logging or grazing
- Fatal encounters with automobiles during migration
|
References:
Harding, J.H., 1997. Amphibians and Reptiles of the Great Lakes Region. The University of Michigan Press. Ann Arbor
MacCulloch, R.D., 2002. The ROM Field Guide to the Amphibians and Reptiles of Ontario. Royal Ontario Museum and McClelland & Stewart Ltd. Toronto.
Natural Resources Canada-Great Lakes Forestry Centre. Salamanders of Ontario. http://www.glfc.cfs.nrcan.gc.ca/landscape/sal_e.html. Visited January 17, 2004 at 4:00 pm
Parmelee, J.R., M.G. Knutson, and J.E. Lyon. 2002. A Field Guide to Amphibian larvae and eggs of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa. U.S. Geological Survey, Biological Resources Division, Information, and Technology Report USGS/BRD/ITR-2002-0004, Washington, D.C. iv + 38 pp.
Toronto Zoo – Adopt-A-Pond Program. Guide to the Amphibian and Reptiles of Ontario – Blue-spotted Salamander. http://www.torontozoo.com/adoptapond/guide/bluespotted.html. Visited January 17, 2004 at 4:30 pm
|
