Basic Facts

Size:  10-14 cm

Description: Adult colouration is black to bluish black with a dark underside and intense white or bluish flecks covering the sides and underside. The toes of this salamander are relatively long and there are 13 to 15 costal grooves.

Distribution: This salamander can be found in eastern Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia. It occurs the farthest north of all the eastern North American salamanders.

Feeding

larva: carnivorous
adult: carnivorous
food: Larvae feed on aquatic invertebrates and are sometimes cannibalistic. Adults eat a variety of invertebrates including aquatic insects, slugs, earthworms, snails and beetles.

Habitat

egg: aquatic
larva: aquatic
adult: terrestrial



Blue-spotted salamander
Ambystoma laterale

Adult
image
John Mitchell


Life history

Breeding season: This salamander breeds in the early spring. Adults migrate to and from breeding sites from early April to the middle of May. Courtship involves the male approaching a female, nudging her cloaca, climbing on her back and rubbing his chin on her snout. The male will then dismount, deposit a sperm capsule, and lead the female over the spermatophore. The female then picks it up with her cloaca and internal fertilization occurs.

Egg habitat: Eggs are laid in woodland ponds and ditches. They are deposited singly or in little groups on the bottom of the pond. Breeding ponds are usually shallow, sometimes temporary and near or within woods. They usually do not contain fish.

Clutch size: 70 - 500 eggs are laid.

Description: Eggs take a month to hatch and larvae metamorphose into terrestrial juveniles in late July through to September. There is some evidence that certain populations may overwinter as larvae. The Blue-spotted salamander is part of a breeding complex involving triploid female salamanders (three sets of chromosomes) that carry genetic components derived from this species, Jefferson salamander, and/or Smallmouth salamander. Blue-spotted salamanders are diploid and have two sets of chromosomes. Female triploids lay eggs that develop after penetration of sperm provided by a male salamander of one of the other species but do not incorporate the sperm's genetic information.

Adult habitat: Blue-spotted salamanders can be found in forests and open areas such as bogs and damp areas that have some shade. They are usually under rocks, logs or along ditches and small streams. Overwintering sites are terrestrial in deep leaf litter and crevices between rocks and boulders.

Conservation

In the spring there is a high risk of road mortality for this species. If terrestrial overwintering habitats and breeding ponds are separated by roads, many individuals may die as they move between sites.