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This salamander and the Jefferson Salamander are part of one of the most bizzare and
complex mysteries of amphibian biology. These two species are associated with hybrids, usually
female, with three sets of chromosomes (triploid) rather than the regular two (diploid). Under
certain circumstances, when hybrid females breed with male Blue-Spotted or Jefferson
Salamanders, sperm stimulates egg development but is not incorporated into the genetic
material of the egg. In such cases, the offspring is genetically identical to the mother.
Sometimes the sperm is incorporated into the egg, producing offpsring with four sets of
chromosomes (tetraploids). All these diploid, triploid and tetraploid salamanders look quite
similar. Biologists are still trying to understand this complicated system.
Description
The Blue-spotted Salamander is bluish black with large blue flecks and grows to only about 12
cm total length.
Confusing Species
The bluish colour of these species is very diagnostic. No other salamanders in eastern Canada
can be easily confused with the Jefferson complex.
Distribution
The Jefferson Salamander is limited to
southern Ontario, while the Blue-Spotted Salamander is more widespread, from southern Manitoba
to Nova Scotia and Labrador. Outside of Canada, they are found only as far south as Virginia.
Habitat These salamanders are found in a wide variety of woodland habitats:
deciduous, coniferous or mixed forests, as well as swamps. Breeding ponds can be permanent
swamps or temporary ponds, marshes or even roadside ditches.
Reproduction
Breeding occurs in the spring. Adults make their way to breeding ponds on warm rainy nights.
Females can lay up to 200 eggs either singly or in loose groups. The eggs hatch in about a
month's time and the larvae transform into salamanders in late summer.
Natural History
Outside of the breeding season, adults are completely terrestrial, often living underground in
burrows. Salamanders are carnivores eating a large variety of insects and other invertebrates
such as spiders and worms.
Conservation Concerns
The loss of wetlands and the destruction of forests threaten many salamanders. Many
salamanders are also killed on our roads every spring during their migration to the breeding
ponds. There is no evidence for decline in this species.
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