Salamanders are amazing creatures. They are very secretive and often quite small. I performed my undergraduate research in biology on salamanders, so the Order Urodela holds a special place in my heart and mind!
While I was in Louisiana from 2014-2016 I saw amphiuma, newts, marbled salamanders, and sirens. All without trying very hard!
This is a pretty bad picture of a Three-Toed Amphiuma, Amphiuma tridactylum. This picture was taken at the Joyce WMA at night, which explains the poor picture quality. They spook very easily, so it was hard to get close enough to get a good picture. They spend their days burrowed in the mud in the swamps, so we had to go at night to find this one peeking its head out, looking for prey!
Also at Joyce WMA I netted tons of larval Eastern Newts, Notophthalmus viridscens. Here are some out of the water. Don't worry, I submerged them quickly after this photo! Note the globs behind their heads, obscuring their forelimbs. These are their gills, which they use to breathe, similar to how fish respire.
This next picture is of the newts in clear water. Now you can see their fluffy gills floating, capturing all that delicious oxygen-rich water!
These next two picture are of the newts after they've metamorphosed. Note how they've lost their gills. Metamorphosis is a huge restructuring at the cellular level!
Next up is the Marbled Salamander, Ambystoma opacum. This is one of the cutest 'manders I've ever seen!
Ambystoma opacum, Marbled Salamander. One of my fellow graduate students found this lovely female under a huge rock!
Last up: sirens! No, not the sirens of the Homerian type, but of the salamander type. This is a video of a Lesser Siren, Siren intermedia. It was swimming so fast I couldn't get a good picture.
Sirens never lose their gills, unlike most other salamanders. They are fully aquatic species their whole lives and are often mistaken for eels. In fact, they're called "ditch eels" in Louisiana.
You can check out the other parts of my Louisiana Herps series:
PART I
PART II
PART III
I hope you enjoyed these pictures! As always, I'm
