Life History: Amphiuma means

 

Last week during lab we were lucky enough to capture an Amphiuma means. These guys can be distinguished from other salamanders by their eel like appearance and they are often referred to as conger, lamper, or ditch eels. The best way to distinguish these guys from eels is that they have four reduced  limbs with two toes on each. Living in aquatic environments much like the swamp area in which we found one, these salamanders are harmless but are not afraid to deliver a bite. We observed their aggressive nature in the field. The specimen that we caught actively tried to lift his body out of the bucket he was in. Luckily, this Amphiuma means was not one of the big guys or he probably would have succeeded in lifting his self out of the bucket in more than one lab period. I did hear a rumor that he was able to outsmart the Thursday lab group and escape. These salamanders range in size from 14 1/2 inches or a little over a foot long to 30 inches which is about 2 and half feet long. I would judge that the one we captured was just a little over a foot long. It seems that there are not a lot of known facts about the life history of the Amphiuma means. We do know that adults have internal gills so I would say that the specimen we observed was an adult. Some other interesting facts about these salamanders are that although they are aquatic they can travel over land to get to a more suitable environment. They also produce a large amount of slime! While this slime is a little disgusting to most it allows them to stay moist during droughts. Because Amphiuma means are nocturnal creatures often living on the bottom of swamps and ditches, I think it was really amazing to actually see one! It's true that in lab we can describe this salamander and look at it in a jar but seeing it alive and in its natural habitat was awesome. After seeing it I know a little more about how its behavior especially its aggressive nature.