Marbled Salamander Salamanders Arkansas

The marbled salamander ambystoma opacum also called the banded salamander is a member of the mole salamander family.

Marbled salamander salamanders arkansas.

Desmognathus dusky salamanders eurycea brook salamanders hemidactylium four toed salamanders and plethodon woodland. The marbled salamander is typically found in floodplains and low lying fertile areas dominated by hardwood trees. The marbled salamander is a stocky boldly banded salamander. Marbled salamanders grow to about 3 5 4 25 in 9 10 7 cm in size and are stout bodied and chubby in appearance.

Herps of arkansas frogs and salamanders alligator lizards snakes and turtles. A small stout bodied salamander measuring 3 4 5 inches with distinct light crossbands across a dark back. Like most of the mole salamanders it is secretive spending most of its life under logs or in burrows. Marbled salamander in boone county.

The mission of this website is to distribute and share knowledge regarding the naturally occurring reptiles and amphibians of arkansas. 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. Like other mole salamanders marbled salamanders are predators of smaller creatures but though they are voracious predators of insects worms and slugs they along with their eggs and juvenile forms provide food for many other hungry animals. This species is sexually dimorphic males tend to have white crossbands and females tend to have gray silvery crossbands.

Larvae are easily confused with spotted blue spotted and jefferson salamanders. Sporting white or gray bands across its body this secretive species is known to hide out beneath leaves and logs. Adults are easily distinguished from other species. The bands are variable in size and shape and may be incomplete.

They typically grow to about 4 inches long. The bands of females tend to be gray while those of males are more white. Marbled salamanders are black with white splotches and bands giving them a marbled appearance. Adults can grow to about 11 cm 4 in small compared to other members of its genus.

They can live between11 14 years if properly cared for. Color a midnight blue with bold broad silvery white crossbands often forming the appearance of inverse circles. Plethodontidae lungless salamanders genera. The marbled salamander is a relatively common resident throughout north carolina.

It gets its name from the white or silver bands that cover the black bodies of adult salamanders.