MD montanus

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kevin h
Posts: 99
Joined: January 18th, 2015, 3:04 pm

MD montanus

Post by kevin h »

Hey everyone!

It's been a fat minute since I've posted on the forum but this story required to be told in detail. Too long for an Instagram post, but I might condense it and post it there as well. Anyways...

I recently moved to Maryland to work for USGS as part of their amphibian monitoring initiative. It's nothing super exciting, but it pays the bills. When I moved here though I made a mental list of targets to achieve in my seven-month stay. Some were lifers, some were species I’d only seen once or twice before and one was a species I’d seen several times but wanted to figure out in this new area.

Enter: the elusive Maryland Mud Salamander (Pseudotriton montanus). A species that can have a range of habitat preferences making it ubiquitous in some areas but rarer in others. Such is the case in Maryland. This made this species a fun but difficult one to target.

One afternoon I went to a site to check out Four-toed salamanders that my friend Justin had told me about. After finding my target I wandered further into the wetland till I came across a stream complex that reminded me a lot of coastal areas further south. There was loads of sphagnum and thick peat but also sweet bay magnolia. Something clicked in my primordial Herp brain and my southern instincts to dig through muck kicked in.

With one fell swoop of my leg I had a Pseudotriton larva in my hand, but not just any Pseudotriton, a mud! I texted Justin to see if he’d ever encountered them there and according to him it seemed I had discovered a new site for them. I had hoped that an adult lay not much further down the road but I was poorly mistaken. With nothing but bucket loads of larvae, I left that day vowing to return.

Weeks passed and I decided it was time to renew my montanus search, this time trying at a known site. Try as I might though I could not find habitat that fit the bill there. It was around maybe but in very small patches with not much cover. I decided to can this area and return to the one I had discovered a month prior. Low and behold larvae again immediately. Then the lowest point in our hero’s journey. I flip an unassuming log, not even seeded in the moss to see a hot dog-sized adult dive immediately into the mud. I dig but to no avail.

After I have a little cry in the swamp I pulled myself together and vowed to not rest until I got one, and more than that closer to where I lived.

Looking at the topography I found a bluff line that matched the seeps where I had flubbed the adult. Taking my neighbors to scope out the area it again wasn’t exactly right. That gut feeling I had earlier just wasn’t there. The habitat may have continued but we, unfortunately, had to turn back, but I had a plan for my return. To continue along the bluff line and not stop until I had one.

Fortunately, after a brief extended weekend trip to the Allegheny highlands, I was back and ready to get muddy. Walking along the bluff it didn’t take long before I again came across the sphagnum, skunk cabbage and sweet bay riddle wetland habitat. Again I dug for larvae and again I found one thus confirming my suspicions. I was hot on the trail when I flipped a log nestled in sphagnum to see the bright pink belly of an adult montanus poking out. I have never been so happy to find one.
DSC_3843 copy.jpg
Pennsylvania, you’re next.
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Jeff
Posts: 620
Joined: June 11th, 2010, 6:01 am
Location: Louisiana

Re: MD montanus

Post by Jeff »

Fantastic! Here in Louisiana they are still known from two sites that are similar to those you describe, minus the skunk cabbage.
I last saw one at a site in 2007, but much hard work since has failed to find another there.
The second site produces them on occasion, though it seems the harder you work for one, the less likely for success. Most are found under random debris right off the trail.
This links to a page that has photos of one from the second site, also found by a USGS AMI guy: http://louisianaherps.com/mud-salamande ... riton.html
Jeff
mark buck
Posts: 102
Joined: March 30th, 2015, 11:01 am
Location: Bakersfield, CA

Re: MD montanus

Post by mark buck »

Enjoyed the narrative and great photograph. Thanks for sharing!
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zeevng
Posts: 54
Joined: April 27th, 2013, 8:46 pm
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Re: MD montanus

Post by zeevng »

Cool post! Miss these narration style posts. Nice looking Salamander, too!
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