Ambystoma cingulatum

The following information pertains to the Ambystoma cingulatum-bishopi complex as a whole.

A black salamander with variable gray or grayish dorsal markings that may form a "frosted" or netlike pattern or narrow light rings. Belly is black with scattered or many small gray spots. Total length 9-13 cm (Conant and Collins 1991). Larvae are long and slender, with very slender legs and fragile tail fins; body is black to brown with white to yellow stripes (Ashton 1992).

A moderately-sized (up to 76 mm snout-vent length, 135 mm total length; Palis unpubl. data), slender salamander with a relatively small, pointed head and stout tail, weighing from 4.5 - 10.5 grams (adult male and gravid female, respectively (Palis unpubl. data)). The body is black to chocolate-black with fine, irregular, light gray lines that form a net-like or cross-banded pattern across the back. In some individuals the gray pigment is widely scattered and "lichen-like." Melanistic, uniformly black individuals are occasionally encountered (Carr 1940). The belly is black to chocolate-black with a scattering of gray spots or flecks.

The broad-headed, boldly striped pond-type larva can attain a snout-vent length of 47 mm and total length of 96 mm before metamorphosis (Palis unpubl. data). The striping pattern, from mid-dorsum down the sides, is as follows: pale tan mid-dorsal stripe, grayish-black dorsolateral stripe, pale cream mid-lateral stripe, blue-black lateral stripe, and pale yellow ventrolateral stripe. A black stripe extends from the snout, through the eyes, to the base of the gills. A second dark stripe, extending along the upper jaw, is typically present, as well.

Although sexual dimorphism is not pronounced, males can be distinguished from females during the breeding season by their slightly swollen cloaca (pers. obs.). In addition, mature gravid females are heavier and more robust than males at this time (pers. obs.).

Adults may be confused with the slimy salamander (Plethodon grobmani), small-mouthed salamander (Ambystoma texanum), or Mabee's salamander (Ambystoma mabeei). Slimy salamanders are readily distinguished by the presence of a small groove (nasolabial groove) from the nostril to upper lip (absent in all Ambystoma). Ambystoma texanum (smallmouth salamander) overlaps the range of Ambystoma cingulatum in extreme southwestern Alabama. Small-mouthed salamanders have a very short, rounded snout and, in Alabama, are brown or dark gray with lichen-like light blotches (Mount 1975). In South Carolina, Ambystoma cingulatum has been observed breeding in the same wetland as Ambystoma mabeei (Anderson and Williamson 1976). The body of Mabee's salamander is dark brown or black with pale specks that are concentrated along the sides.

Although the flatwoods salamander larval pattern is distinctive, two other Ambystoma larvae may appear similar to the untrained eye. Like Ambystoma cingulatum, Ambystoma mabeei larvae have a light mid-lateral stripe between two dark lateral stripes. However, unlike the continuous lateral stripes of Ambystoma cingulatum, those of Ambystoma mabeei are broken into blotches (Hardy and Olmon 1974). In addition, the stripe extending from the snout to the gills in Ambystoma mabeei is diffuse and indistinct, and the upper lip stripe is replaced by a series of spots (Hardy and Olmon 1974). Larval mole salamanders (Ambystoma talpoideum) may have an indistinct, light mid-lateral stripe, but are readily distinguished from Ambystoma cingulatum larvae by the presence of a dark mid-ventral stripe and dark dorsal crossbands (pers. obs.). The light mid-lateral stripe of larval Ambystoma cingulatum is retained by metamorphs through their first year (pers. obs.). It is best observed by shining a bright light through the body.

The following information pertains to the Ambystoma cingulatum-bishopi complex as a whole. Post-larval individuals inhabit mesic longleaf pine (Pinus palustris)-wiregrass (Aristida stricta) flatwoods and savannas. The terrestrial habitat is best described as a topographically flat or slightly rolling wiregrass-dominated grassland having little to no midstory and an open overstory of widely scattered longleaf pine. Low-growing shrubs, such as saw palmetto (Serenoa repens), gallberry (Ilex glabra) and blueberries (Vaccinium spp.), co-exist with grasses and forbs in the groundcover. Groundcover plant diversity is usually very high. The underlying soil is typically poorly drained sand that becomes seasonally inundated.

Slash pine flatwoods is often cited as the preferred terrestrial habitat of the flatwoods salamander (e.g., Conant and Collins 1991). This may be the result of an error made by Martof (1968) in which he referred to longleaf pine as slash pine (Pinus elliottii). In addition, slash pine now dominates or co-occurs with longleaf pine in many pine flatwoods communities as a result of fire suppression and preferential harvest of longleaf pine (Avers and Bracy 1975). Historically, however, fire-tolerant longleaf pine dominated the flatwoods, whereas slash pine was confined principally to wetlands (Harper 1914, Avers and Bracy 1975). Post-larval individuals are fossorial (live underground) and occupy burrows (Goin 1950, Neill 1951, Mount 1975, Ashton 1992). Presumably, they remain underground during the lightning-season (May through September). Adults are rarely encountered under cover objects at or near breeding sites (J. Palis, pers. obs.).

Breeding occurs in acidic (pH 3.6-5.6 (Palis, unpubl. data)), tannin-stained ephemeral wetlands (swamps or graminoid-dominated depressions) that range in size from 0.02 to 9.5 ha, and are usually not more than 0.5 m deep (Palis, unpubl. data). The overstory is typically dominated by pond cypress (Taxodium ascendens), blackgum (Nyssa sylvatica var. biflora) and slash pine, but can also include red maple (Acer rubrum), sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua), sweetbay (Magnolia virginiana), and loblolly bay (Gordonia lasianthus). Canopy coverage ranges from near zero to almost 100% (Palis, unpubl. data). The midstory, which is often very dense, is most often composed of young of the aforementioned species, myrtle-leaved holly (Ilex myrtifolia), Chapman's St. John's-wort (Hypericum chapmanii), sandweed (Hypericum fasciculatum), titi (Cyrilla racemiflora), storax (Styrax americana), popash (Fraxinus caroliniana), sweet pepperbush (Clethra alnifolia), fetterbush (Lyonia lucida), vine-wicky (Pieris phillyreifolia), and bamboo-vine (Smilax laurifolia). Depending on closure of the canopy and midstory, the herbaceous groundcover of breeding sites can range from about 5% to nearly 100% (Palis, unpubl. data). The groundcover is dominated by graminaceous species, including beakrushes (Rhynchospora spp.), sedges (Carex spp.), panic grasses (Panicum spp.), bluestems (Andropogon spp.), jointtails (Manisurus spp.), three-awned grass (Aristida affinis), plumegrass (Erianthus giganteus), nutrush (Sclera baldwinii) and yellow-eyed grasses (Xyris spp.). The floor of breeding sites is riddled with the burrows of crayfish (genus Procambarus). Breeding sites are typically encircled by a wiregrass-dominated graminaceous ecotone. Breeding sites can include roadside ditches (Anderson and Williamson 1976; Palis, pers. obs.) and borrow pits (D. Stevenson, pers. comm.). Breeding sites often harbor fishes, the most typical species include pygmy sunfishes (Elassoma spp.), mosquitofish (Gambusia holbrookii), and banded sunfish (Enneacanthus obesus) (Palis, unpubl. data). Favorable breeding habitat lacks large predatory fishes.

Before breeding sites fill with water, eggs are deposited singly or in small groups on the ground beneath leaf litter, under logs and Sphagnum mats, at the base of grasses, shrubs or trees, or at the entrance to crayfish burrows (Anderson and Williamson 1976). In wetlands that fill incrementally, eggs are deposited amid graminaceous vegetation at the edge (J. Palis, pers. obs.). Egg deposition in shallow water also has been reported (Ashton 1992). Larvae hide amid inundated graminaceous vegetation by day, but will enter the water column at night (J. Palis, pers. obs.).

The following information pertains to the Ambystoma cingulatum-bishopi complex as a whole.

Movements to breeding ponds occur usually between early October and January during rainy evenings when the barometric pressure is falling (Ashton 1992). In Florida, salamanders that entered and exited the breeding site only once remained in the basin an average of 38 days (range 3-117 days) (Palis 1997). Individual females lay up to 225 eggs (Ashton 1992) singly or in small clusters, with larger individuals producing more eggs than smaller ones (Anderson and Williamson 1976). Eggs are laid terrestrially before depressions fill with water; The eggs develop to hatching size within three weeks, but do not hatch until inundated (Anderson and Williamson 1976). The larval period lasts three to four months (11-18 weeks) (Means 1986, Palis and Jensen 1995). Metamorphs emigrate from their natal ponds during the months of March and April (J. Palis, pers. obs.). In captivity, adult size can be reached within one year (Means 1972). Preliminary field data, however, suggest that full size is not attained until the third or fourth year in the wild (Palis, unpubl. data). Although not much bigger than metamorphs, males attain sexual maturity in their first year (Palis 1997). Females, however, do not sexually mature until at least two years old (Palis and Jensen 1995, Palis 1997). Generation length is presumed to be about 8 years.