Marbled Salamander Breeding

Seasonally flooded areas are essential for breeding but the salamanders do not normally enter the water.

Marbled salamander breeding.

Sporting white or gray bands across its body this secretive species is known to hide out beneath leaves and logs. The female stays with her developing eggs until rain fills the wetland and triggers. Marbled salamanders are part of the mole salamander family which is a group of salamanders endemic to north america and the only genus in the. The larger larval marbled salamanders feed on spotted salamander larvae and wood frog tadpoles as well as zooplankton.

Although other salamander species in the mole salamander family breed in water the marbled salamander does not. The marbled salamander is the state salamander of north carolina. Fertilization is internal and each female may lay 50 200 eggs usually in small depressions under logs in leaf litter or under vegetation at the edge of the water. This is opposite from other mole salamanders that breed during early spring.

It migrates to a pond before autumn rains begin. Most michigan salamanders begin breeding in the spring months with a few exceptions. There the animal begins to court and mate. In this species breeding takes place in the autumn and on land near fishless woodland ponds or swamps.

Like other mole salamanders marbled salamanders are predators of. Marbled salamanders are found in the eastern united states. These include the marbled salamander and the mudpuppy which breed in the fall the four toed salamander that breeds in late summer and fall and the red backed salamander which breeds in the fall through winter and early spring in some places. Marbled salamanders mate on land after which the female curls about her 30 100 eggs for 3 4 months in the wild captive breeding is rare until spring rains wash the eggs into temporary ponds.

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. Breeding season breeding starts in the late summer in the northern part of the range and extends into november in the southern part. Range number of offspring 50 to 100. Like many salamanders marbled salamanders have poison glands to deter predators.

Marbled salamanders emerge from their underground homes in early fall to migrate to their breeding grounds. The marbled salamander is a relatively common resident throughout north carolina. Marbled salamanders breed once per year. Each female lays her clutch of 30 to 100 eggs in a dry depression and the embryos begin to develop.