The one-toed amphiuma (Amphiuma pholeter) is a species of aquatic, eel-like salamander in the family Amphiumidae. The species is native to the southeastern United States. It was unknown to science until 1950, when it was collected by herpetologist Wilfred T. Neill, who described it as a new species in 1964. It is rarely observed in the wild, and much about the species remains uncertain.
| One-toed amphiuma | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Amphibia |
| Order: | Urodela |
| Family: | Amphiumidae |
| Genus: | Amphiuma |
| Species: | A. pholeter
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| Binomial name | |
| Amphiuma pholeter Neill, 1964
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Description
editThe one-toed amphiuma is considered aquatic, and ranges in coloration from gray-black to purplish-brown. Unlike the other two Amphiuma species which have distinctively lighter undersides, the one-toed amphiuma is the same color on both the dorsum (back) and the venter (belly). It can also be distinguished by its cone-shaped head and number of toes. The one-toed amphiuma has one toe on each foot as opposed to the two or three exhibited by other Amphiuma species. It is the smallest species in the genus Amphiuma with the average adult size being 8.5 inches (220 mm).
Geographic range
editThe one-toed amphiuma is known only to occur in parts of the Florida panhandle, extreme southern Georgia, and southern Alabama.
Behavior
editThe one-toed amphiuma is active mostly at night, when it forages for invertebrate prey. Its habits are similar to those of the other members of its genus, preferring slow moving or stagnant, shallow water with either muddy bottoms or areas with weedy vegetation. It has a special affinity for the semi-fluid mud deposits that accumulate in the swampy floodplains of rivers and streams or along the edges of coastal spring-fed rivers. Like all amphiumas, the one-toed amphiuma eats small, aquatic invertebrates such as crayfish, annelid worms, insect larvae, and occasionally fish or amphibian larvae. Its breeding habits are largely unknown and eggs and hatchlings have never been observed.[2]
References
edit- ^ Hammerson, Geoffrey; Jackson, Dale (2004). "Amphiuma pholeter ". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2004: e.T59075A11879577. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2004.RLTS.T59075A11879577.en. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
- ^ Means DB (1996). "Amphiuma pholeter Neill". pp. 622.1–622.2. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles. Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles, St. Louis, Missouri.
Further reading
edit- Behler JL, King FW (1979). The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Reptiles and Amphibians. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. 743 pp. ISBN 0-394-50824-6. (Amphiuma pholeter, p. 286).
- Mount RH (1975). The Reptiles and Amphibians of Alabama. Tuscaloosa, Alabama: University of Alabama Press. 360 pp.
- Neill WT (1964). "A New Species of Salamander, Genus Amphiuma, from Florida". Herpetologica 20 (1): 62–66. (Amphiuma pholeter, new species).