First of all, Happy 2013 Herping Season everyone! The search for amphibians began for me last weekend, when I went out for Blue-spotted Salamanders.
After about five minutes, I found two specimens under logs right next to each other, and a third under a log close by. It was pointed out to me that these specimens most likely have jeffersonianum influence, but they lean more towards laterale.
Blue-spotted Salamander ~ Ambystoma laterale
The rest of the stuff I find before summer will probably be crammed into an end-of-spring post, so stayed tuned for that! Happy Herping.
In Search of Blue-spotted Salamanders
Moderator: Scott Waters
Re: In Search of Blue-spotted Salamanders
Nice, is this Illinois? Here's some I found last year.
Love those little guys!
Bart
Love those little guys!
Bart
Re: In Search of Blue-spotted Salamanders
Thanks, and nice picture. Actually, thses were from NJ, where the beauties are endangered unfortunately.
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Re: In Search of Blue-spotted Salamanders
gorgeous laterales
- Rich in Reptiles
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Re: In Search of Blue-spotted Salamanders
Really awesome finds! Thanks for sharing their beauty.
Re: In Search of Blue-spotted Salamanders
Cool, its still a bit too early here. Nice finds, those are a staple around here and are the most commonly encountered salamanders atleast for me. I didn't realize they were considered endangered in any part of their range.
- Mike VanValen
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Re: In Search of Blue-spotted Salamanders
This just reminded me I have a new spot to check out for these.
The blue-spotted complex is of special concern in Connecticut. They are in small pockets throughout the state.Antonsrkn wrote:Cool, its still a bit too early here. Nice finds, those are a staple around here and are the most commonly encountered salamanders atleast for me. I didn't realize they were considered endangered in any part of their range.
- Andy Avram
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Re: In Search of Blue-spotted Salamanders
Very cool salamander. I have only seen one I would call pure and it was pretty far north in Quebec.
Andy
It is all that edge of range listing. In Ohio they are only know from three counties, but we are also ground zero for the hybrid swarms, so there may be more pure Blue-spotted out there. Regardless they are listed as Endangered in Ohio.Antonsrkn wrote:Cool, its still a bit too early here. Nice finds, those are a staple around here and are the most commonly encountered salamanders atleast for me. I didn't realize they were considered endangered in any part of their range.
Andy
Re: In Search of Blue-spotted Salamanders
Interesting, I checked out the range map provided by IUCN...
http://maps.iucnredlist.org/map.html?id=59060
Some gaps in it, wonder if that is due to a high percentage of them being "impure" hybrids there or if they're just working with dated/inaccurate records. For example I'm pretty sure I remember finding them in Ontario which doesn't have any shading at all.
http://maps.iucnredlist.org/map.html?id=59060
Some gaps in it, wonder if that is due to a high percentage of them being "impure" hybrids there or if they're just working with dated/inaccurate records. For example I'm pretty sure I remember finding them in Ontario which doesn't have any shading at all.
Re: In Search of Blue-spotted Salamanders
That map is strange. They are all over the unshaded part of Ontario but if you find one who knows which "version" it is. It makes submitting findings practically useless and the maps we have even more useless. In Ontario there are 4 titles for 2 species... and they practically all look the same. How is anybody supposed to submit the proper thing? I'm just waiting for somebody to split up Jeffersons into more groups. That will be fun!Antonsrkn wrote:Interesting, I checked out the range map provided by IUCN...
http://maps.iucnredlist.org/map.html?id=59060
Some gaps in it, wonder if that is due to a high percentage of them being "impure" hybrids there or if they're just working with dated/inaccurate records. For example I'm pretty sure I remember finding them in Ontario which doesn't have any shading at all.
- Kevin McRae
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Re: In Search of Blue-spotted Salamanders
Beautiful photos!
That map is indeed strange. They are very common throughout Eastern Manitoba as well which that map does not indicate. Also, I've found them across New Brunswick as well which is also missing on the map.
That map is indeed strange. They are very common throughout Eastern Manitoba as well which that map does not indicate. Also, I've found them across New Brunswick as well which is also missing on the map.
Re: In Search of Blue-spotted Salamanders
Thank you everyone! I was unaware of the range and status of these guys outside of the northeast, thanks for the info and map on that too.