Conservation: This individual was found during one of the Trent Herpetological Society’s salamander walks. One of the roads that the club walks on has salamanders getting stuck in traffic, unable to escape due to the curb. While club members helped move the salamanders out of harm’s way, data is also collected that will go towards convincing local authorities to implement slopes in the curb, allowing the salamanders safe passage back go their forest home. On top of this, the event was a great outreach opportunity, educating students on salamanders and encouraging a passion to help protect these little amphibians. Road mortality is a growing problem for salamanders who often succumb to road mortality on cool rainy nights when moving between their breeding and overwintering sites.
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Predator Defense: Blue-spotted salamanders have many defenses against predators, their primary defense is to avoid predators using their blue spots. These spots break up the salamander's outline while also mimicking the fungal spores and mycelium along with the slime molds that make their home beneath logs and rocks. If discovered, the Blue-Spotted Salamander will defend itself by sticking its tail in the air and waving the tip back and forth to distract predators from their vulnerable head. Blue-Spotted Salamanders are also able to produce a sticky, putrid tasting substance from the base of their tail if stressed. If these defenses fail, and a predator bites into their tail, their tail can drop and regrow as many times as needed provided there is enough food and energy to support this behaviour.
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Reproduction: In the spring, blue-spotted salamanders congregate in large numbers to small ponds free of any fish to breed. Sometimes, . Reproduction takes place internally although the male will deposit small packages of sperm, known as spermatophores, on leaves or branches underwater. The female will take these into her cloaca to fertilize her eggs. Eggs are laid either individually or in small masses attached to submerged vegetation. Blue-spotted salamanders in the Great Lakes area are part of the unisexual mole salamander complex where unisexual mole salamanders take the spermatophores from the blue-spotted salamanders and incorporate it into their offspring's DNA. One cannot accurately differentiate between these two animals without DNA testing. In areas like Southern Ontario, about 90% of blue-spotted salamanders are actually members of this hybrid complex.
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Sources:
"Blue-Spotted Salamander." Ontario Nature, 2021, ontarionature.org/programs/community-science/reptile-amphibian-atlas/blue-spotted-salamander/. Accessed 2 Nov. 2021. Hossie, Thomas J. "Declines in Blue-Spotted Salamanders on Pelee Island, ON Merit Formal Risk Assessment and Protection." Canadian Herpetological Society Conference, 6 Dec. 2020 Hossie, Thomas J. "Establishing Baseline Ecological Data." Trent University, 3 Mar. 2017, Peterborough, Canada |