Tremblay's Salamander

Taxobox
name = Tremblay's Salamander


image_caption =
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Lissamphibia
ordo = Caudata
familia = Ambystomidae
genus = Ambystoma
species = "A. tremblayi"
species_authority = Tremblay, ???
subdivision_ranks = Subspecies
subdivision =

Tremblay's Salamander is a member of the Ambystomidae. Reaching between 3 3/4-6 3/8" (9.3-16 cm), the salamander is long and slender with many bluish-white markings. It is dark gray to gray-black and the area around the vent is black. Tremblay's Salamander is a hybrid species of the Jefferson Salamander ("A. jeffersonianum") and Blue-spotted Salamanders ("A. laterale"). This hybridization created two all female species- the Tremblay's and Silvery Salamanders. These genetic curiosities possess three sets of chromosomes instead of the normal two.

Behaviour

Tremblay's Salamanders breed with male Blue-Spotted Salamanders from March to April. Eggs are laid singly or in small masses of 6-10 eggs on debris at pond bottom. The males chromosome contributed only stimulates the egg's development; its genetic material is ignored. It is not often observed and its diet and lifestyle are unknown.

Habitat & Range

These salamanders live on the bottom of deciduous forests from northern Wisconsin, northern Indiana, northern Ohio, and southern Michigan east through southern Quebec to the New England coastal plain.

ee also

* Silvery Salamander
* Jefferson Salamander
* Blue-spotted Salamander

References

* National Audubon Society Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians