Ambystoma talpoideum?

Last week I received some eggs from South Carolina that were identified by the seller as Ambystoma talpoideum. He was quite helpful and told me that he is not an expert on salamanders but that he could tell these were distinctly different from Ambystoma maculatum eggs he found in the same area. Photo 1 is of these egg sacks. Petranka (based mainly on Semlitsch's papers) says that Atlantic Coast populations of A. talpoideum lay eggs singly, although I've found slightly contradictory notes in one of Semlitsch's papers. Also, Petranka states that two researchers identified some egg masses they found in South Carolina as being A. talpoideum, but Petranka says that these are "more than likely" A. tigrinum. The seller of the eggs believed there are only Spotted and Mole salamanders in the area where these were collected.

Photo 2 is a 1 day old hatchling from these eggs. I've included a scale and quotes from Petranka describing the hatchlings of the possible contenders (with the exception of A. tigrinum, which I think we can rule out).

Opinions? Any experts? Obviously I'd like them to be talpoideum but we don't always get what we want .

Just to clarify, the contenders are Ambystoma maculatum, Ambystoma talpoideum and Ambystoma mabeei. Descriptions from Petranka of the hatchling larvae of these three species are included in photo 2 (click it to enlarge to readable size). If your window is too small, the text in the larva photo may not be legible - in this case when you have clicked the thumbnail image to enlarge it, right click (on a PC) and select open in new window or new tab and it should help.

I've added a poll to this thread.

Ok my vote goes to talpoideum. The size of the larvae fits, the size of the egg masses fit, the coloration fits, and the range fits. But thats just my $.02 worth.

Later,
Justin

They're maculatum - they've got those black tail tips.

My vote went to talpoideum, but i'll side with you John since you're actually able to look at them. Post some more pics as they get larger.

Alex

Yeah, those maculatum egg masses are pretty distinctive...

I think i know the person you got them from.

It was "Mark Thames" and I got them in response to an advert on kingsnake (that'll teach me - last time I order from a kingsnake vendor).

I like to Google the names of Kingsnake vendors before I purchase from them. You'd be surprised what pops up when you Google those guys selling all of the w.c. stuff.

michael said:

You'd be surprised what pops up when you Google those guys selling all of the w.c. stuff.

Click to expand...

True, but there are also some pretty grimey people on there selling c.b. animals too. It's basically an online exotic meat market.

I may not be of great reputation, but I recently got some Ambystoma maculatum And those eggs look Quite similar in the way they were developing, of course mine were tinted green from Pediastrum Boryanum, but that is exactly how I got them, a little while ago now, as they are really close to hatching. But then again I haven't really looked at any others... My guess is the Spotted Salamander.
Could you get some more pictures up of them developing?
Thanks,
Orange Juice

OJ, this thread is almost 2 years old. Those animals have long-since gone through metamorphosis.