Photo: Help with an ID?

[amberangeloni]

Can anyone tell me what type of salamander larvae this is? Every spring the creek near my parents' house in the Ozarks, Arkansas, is just full of them. They're not big, about 3/4 of an inch long, and I've found tiger and spotted adult salamanders in the area so I thought it might be one of those. If you can identify it, can someone tell me what would be involved in trying to raise one from larval to adult? I've kept an adult spotted and an adult tiger before and fed it frozen bloodworms and/or earthworms but I'm not sure what would be required to raise these in their larval state. I returned this one to the spring right after I shot the photos, but I am curious.

 

[Kaysie]

It's not an ambystomatid. It's probably a Eurycea.

 

[amberangeloni]

Sorry, newbie here. I googled both-- there's not much info on what exactly a Eurycea is but it is a spring with a lot of watercress and access to underground caverns, so that matches. Is there any way to tell the species without raising one?

 

[FRANCOIS]

Genus Plethodon would be my guess...

 

[Kaysie]

Plethodon species have terrestrial development. In your area, I would guess it's either a dark-sided salamander, or an oklahoma salamander.

 

[amberangeloni]

Well crud now I kind of want to raise one just to see what it turns into. I'm afraid I would kill it with my ignorance though. Also I'm a navy wife and we move a lot, and I've heard you can't return them to the wild once you've kept them in captivity.

 

[FRANCOIS]

Plethodon species have terrestrial development. In your area, I would guess it's either a dark-sided salamander, or an oklahoma salamander.

Gotta love this blog, I just learned something I did not know ;-) Thanks!

 

[Kaysie]

Amber, it's true: once you've taken something into captivity, you cannot return it.

But I bet if you looked around that stream, under rocks and under logs in/near the water, you'll find adults. They're especially prevalent in the spring/fall/winter, when it's cooler.