Mole Salamander larvae pics (What species?)

caudatadude28

caudatadude28

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I found a egg mass and took a few of the eggs. I only have tigrinum, maculatum, and laterale in my area. They aren't macs because the eggs mass was clear and didnt hold it's shape out of water. I think they are laterale, but would like some more opinions. The shots are taken under different kinds of lighting. Sorry about the scratches in the pics.

caudatadude28-albums-ambystoma-picture9854-ambystoma-larvae.jpg


caudatadude28-albums-ambystoma-picture9855-ambystoma-larvae.jpg


caudatadude28-albums-ambystoma-picture9856-ambystoma-larvae.jpg
 
Geez, I've never tried to ID 'em that small. How many eggs were in the mass? A. laterale masses are supposed to be very small, fewer than a dozen ova, while tiger masses are often rather large, comparable in size and ovum count to A. maculatum masses.
 
I'm going to say Tiger salamanders.
 
Thanks for the replies. We will have to wait and see. THe eggs were on a piece of down log. There were 30-35 eggs. John, what characteristics say tigrinum to you? Just wondering.
 
I'm going to say A. tigrinum as well. The mottling in all the laterale larvae I have raised has been irregular with no clear pattern. The larvae in your pics seem to have their mottling arranged in a banding pattern. Give it 2 weeks and you'll know for sure which species it is.
 
If you found the egg mass under the surface of the water about 2-3ft attached to plants or twigs then I think you found a Tiger Salamander egg mass. If the eggs were delicate and separated easily from each other then its a good chance they it was a Tiger Salamander egg mass. Usually A. maculatums lay solid jelly egg masses that are very difficult to separate, not to mention the cloudy color of the egg mass. I know in your area you have A. laterale so there is a small chance it could be a Blue Spotted Salamander egg mass, but I'm leaning towards Tiger Salamander.
 
It was in about a foot of water attatched to the underside of large piece of bark(2'x4'). I am 100% positive they arent mac eggs. The eggs were attatched to the wood, not clustered together but they were in a egg membrane-if that makes sense. It was very difficult to remove the eggs from the wood.
 
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