Species Profile of the Long-Toed Salamander

(Ambystoma macrodactylum)

by Ken Steffenson

Observations in the West Hylebos Wetlands

I have never had the pleasure of seeing a long-toed salamander in the wetlands — or any salamander for that matter. Since they are “mole” salamanders, it seems about the only way to see them is to go about pulling up rotting logs, digging in the mud around pools of standing water, and such. I, and hopefully you also, avoid that type of behavior while walking the boardwalk through Federal Way’s best nature preserve.

However, the Friend’s expert amphibian spotters have recently surveyed and found seven egg masses from long-toed salamanders, so the species seems to be alive and well in the wetlands (see story on page 7).

Appearance

As the name implies, these salamanders have long, non-webbed toes on slender limbs (four on front legs, 5 on rear). The body averages 4 to 6.5 inches in length. They have a prominent yellow to green dorsal stripe (usually olive green in the western subspecies), and the body is dark to black with the sides flecked with spots of white, silver, or gold. The subspecies listed below are usually separated by different patterns and colors of the dorsal strip, but evidently there is considerable overlap in the patterns where subspecies meet.

Classification and Close Relatives

Kingdom: Animalia; Phylum: Chordata; Subphylum: Vertebrata (vertebrates); Class: Amphibia; Subclass: Lissamphibia; Order: Caudata (salamanders); Family: Ambystomatidae (mole salamanders); Genus: Ambystoma; Species: macrodactylum.
Five subspecies are recognized, each showing slight variation based on its range: western long-toed salamander (Ambystoma m. macrodactylum); central long-toed salamander (A. m. columbianum); Santa Cruz long-toed salamander (A. m. croceum), which is listed as endangered; eastern long-toed salamander (A. m. krausei); and the southern long-toed salamander (A. m. sigillatum).

Ecological Lifestyle

These are secretive, burrowing salamanders that are rarely seen except in the spring when they are near the surface or breeding in ponds. They take refuge under rotting logs, loose bark, large rocks, and other cover that provide a high humidity refuge.

Adults are terrestrial and, when sexually mature, breed and deposit eggs either singly or in masses, generally 50, within still bodies of fish-free water. Numbers of eggs per cluch have been recorded up to 411.
Eggs are usually deposited a two or three feet away from the shore and tend to be well submerged along any suitable substrate, thus protected from potential late frosts.

One fascinating fact about these salamanders is the ability to delay metamorphosis, which enables them to breed in ponds that are smaller, lower in nutrients, colder, or at higher elevations than would otherwise be ideal. They also generally have larger home ranges than other members of their order.

Friends' member Ken Steffenson is the Publications and Website Director for the Washington Toxics Coalition.