Marbled Salamander Larvae

The larger larval marbled salamanders feed on spotted salamander larvae and wood frog tadpoles as well as zooplankton.

Marbled salamander larvae.

The female stays with her developing eggs until rain fills the wetland and triggers. Marbled salamanders range from the. Marbled salamanders breed in autumn unlike most other mole salamanders which breed in winter and migrate to wetlands during before a good rain to court and mate. They have a long dorsal fin from the tail to just behind the front arms.

This is opposite from other mole salamanders that breed during early spring. The marbled salamander mates and lays its eggs on land. The larvae of the marbled salamander are also quite voracious predators eating zooplankton upon hatching but adding more prey as they grow including aquatic insects isopods fairy shrimp snails worms and the larvae of other amphibians. Recently metamorphosed individuals are brown or gray with light speckles.

The marbled salamander ambystoma opacum also called the banded salamander is a member of the mole salamander family. All marbled salamanders have black undersides. These pools that dry up each summer and are refilled each winter are known as vernal pools. Marbled salamanders emerge from their underground homes in early fall to migrate to their breeding grounds.

The marbled salamander is typically found in floodplains and low lying fertile areas dominated by hardwood trees. Marbled salamanders like this pregnant female found at an attleboro tennis court often must cross through yards while migrating to their breeding sites during late summer nights. Larvae take small aquatic animals zooplankton but larger individuals will take eggs and larvae of other amphibians as well. However unlike most salamanders which lay their eggs in the winter or spring marbled salamanders lay their eggs in dried up pools in the fall.

A female marbled salamander guarding her clutch of eggs within a dry portion of a mendon swamp. The larvae are dark brown or black with bushy gills and light spots the form a line on each side. Marbled salamanders only eat live prey. Salamanders like all amphibians require water for reproduction.

As they grow larger they will eat tadpoles insects and other salamander larvae. A marbled salamander larva. Females will lay about 30 100 eggs in a depression on land usually beneath a log or leaf litter. They eat zooplankton mainly copepods and cladocerans when they first hatch but add other prey to their diet as they grow including larger crustaceans isopods fairy shrimp aquatic insects snails oligochaete worms and the.

A marbled salamander larva. Life cycle the marbled salamander breeds from september to october in the northern part of its range and from october to december in the southern part of its range. It gets its name from the white or silver bands that cover the black bodies of adult salamanders.