Are Those Toes?

On a trip into the wilderness at the Dixie Plantation, our class came across a Two-Toed Amphiuma, or Amphiuma means. A classmate found the specimen in a trap set in the swampy area on the plantation and we observed the amphiuma in a bucket with water and petted the amphibian. Quenby Kiesler is the student in our class who first predicted that the specimen caught would be an A. means and as our class looked at the animal, we saw that there were two toes on the limbs, which were small and useless. It also had four limbs, while Sirens have two front limbs only. The swampy area that the amphiuma was caught was watery and about a foot deep, depending on where a person was standing. The amphiuma caught was a little short of a foot and was very slim so it was most likely a juvenile since the species can reach 30 inches, but then this may have been a small specimen.

The species is paedomorphic and aquatic, evident by the fact that there are external gills which are larval traits retained in adult form because aquatic environments better sustained the species. The environment, the swampy water, was quite aquatic and could sustain aquatic life, as long as the water contains enough water for to sustain aerobic metabolism, which most animals rely on for energy. The water was more open then other swamps that I have observed, but there were trees lining the banks of the swampy area. --------(Joshua Dillon, SC)