Range and Habitat: In Canada, Small-Mouthed Salamanders are only found on Pelee Island, in Lake Erie where they occupy woodlands and alvar habitat. Outside of Canada, they can be found from Michigan and Ohio, south along the western side of the Appalachian Mountains into Louisiana and Texas. Texas was where some of the first specimens were collected, lending it the species name of texanum in honour of the state.
Throughout their range, Small-Mouthed Salamanders are primarily found in forest habitat and temporary ponds. Being a species of mole salamander, Small-Mouthed Salamanders spend a great deal of time underground, emerging only when temperatures are within their level of comfort. This tends to be during spring and fall when temperatures are cool and damp. |
Breeding Behaviour: In the spring, small-mouthed salamanders congregate in large numbers to small ponds free of any fish to breed. Sometimes, Small-Mouthed Salamanders will also breed in shallow pools on alvars, the larva in these habitats do not tend to fair well as the water becomes warmer than the salamander's threshold and go through frequent drying cycles. 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. One female is able to lay up to 700 eggs which are laid in small masses and attached to submerged vegetation.
On Pelee Island, it has been found that Small-Mouthed Salamanders have a preference for natural breeding ponds as opposed to artificial ones, as they have a high site fidelity. Breeding ponds were also selected based on their proximity to deciduous forests and crayfish burrows. Crayfish burrows have been found to be used as daytime shelters by adult salamanders during their migration to and from their breeding ponds. |
Identification: The population on Pelee Island is manly made up of unisexual mole salamanders with different frequencies of blue-spotted salamander and small-mouthed salamander DNA. Here, identifying pure form small-mouthed salamanders can be aided by some physical traits. These can include a slight underbite, a distance of 3.1mm between the nostrils and 14-15 costal grooves down their sides. While physical traits can be used, they can often be inaccurate compared to DNA testing. Small-mouthed salamanders and unisexual mole salamanders with mainly small-mouthed DNA (TTL) tend to also have grey mottling rather than the blue spots of the blue-spotted salamanders.
Sources:
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 "Small-Mouthed Salamander." Ontario Nature, 2021, ontarionature.org/programs/community-science/reptile-amphibian-atlas/small-mouthed-salamander/. Accessed 2 Nov. 2021. Ward, Meghan. "Herpetology From Home #1." Trent Herpetology Society, 2 Dec. 2019, Peterborough, Canada |