Tiger Salamander

Tiger salamanders are a group of salamanders that include multiple species including Ambystoma tigrinum, Ambystoma mavoritum, and Ambystoma californiense, and Ambystoma velasci. They are all a part of the genus Ambystoma which are mole salamanders. Tiger salamanders are mainly quadrupedal and terrestrial when they are adults. As adults they can grow to be 15-20cm on average with a record length of 13 inches.[1] The eastern tiger salamander(A. tigrium) can be distinguished by the olive or yellow markings along a black or yellow body.[1]

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Range/Habitat

The eastern tiger salamander is found from southern New York to Florida along the east coast.[2] The western range is from western Ohio to Minnesota and there is a range in Texas near the gulf coast.[2] The other species of tiger salamanders can be found throughout North America except New England and the west coast[3] with the exception of the California Tiger Salamander(A. californiense) which is found mostly in the Central Valley of California with isolated populations in Santa Barbara and Sonoma.[5] Tiger salamanders as a whole spend most of their adult life on land, however they need natural fishless pools and ponds to breed.[2] The salamanders can live in grasslands, parklands, sub-alpine meadows and semi-arid regions.[4] In New York the tiger salamanders are only confirmed to exist in Long Island and they live in sandy pine barrens. The salamanders live in sandy or friable soils and need the burrows of other animals to hibernated during the winter.[3]

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Role in the Food Web

Adult tiger salamanders consume small vertebrates and invertebrates.[2] The larvae of the tiger salamander mainly consumes aquatic invertebrates. However, the larvae of the tiger salamander have also been observed to consume fathead minnows and various tadpoles of diffrent species of frogs and toads including species such as bullfrogs and green frogs which are noxious to fish.[3] Cannibalism has also been observed in the larvae of the salamanders. The diet of adult tiger salamanders is mostly unknown as they rarely have food in their stomachs when digested, but they have been observed to consume various insects, mollusks, and annelids. [3] Field mice may also be taken.

Tiger salamanders may fall prey to various birds such as herons and egrets, large bullfrogs, and large fish.[5] Various large aquatic invertebrates and fish will prey upon the larvae and eggs of the salamanders, but the ponds used for breeding by the salamanders would have been selected to be fish-less. If the salamander does breed in a pond with fish it will move to deeper waters to avoid the predatory fish as opposed to its favored shallows.[3]

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Life Cycle

The breeding cycle of the salamanders begins as soon as there are permanent or semi-permanent ponds that have reached temperatures around 10 degrees Celsius. During breeding the male will deposit a sperm packet at the bottom of the lake and the female will pick it up with her cloaca and then lay the eggs either singly or in clusters of 100 to 5,000 depending on the size of the female and the geographic area.[4] Hatching time varies depending on temperature, but will likely take 2-3 weeks. [1] The development of the larvae normally takes 3-4 months, but depends on prey availability, temperature, and larval density. Upon exiting, the adults will spend most of their lives in burrows only leaving ti migrate or hunt during or around rainstorms.[4]

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Care in Captivity

Tiger salamanders are commonly kept as pets for either recreational or educational purposes or as research subjects. Salamanders, for the most part, are not considered good pets because of how delicate they are, how hard they are to feed, and how secretive they are.[6] This doesn't apply to tiger salamanders. They will accept food from their handlers and adapt well to captivity, unlike most salamanders.[6]