Animal
Eastern tiger salamander
Ambystoma tigrinum
A large mole salamander (7–13 inches), the largest terrestrial salamander in North America. On the Delmarva Peninsula, the species is a Delmarva-bay obligate breeder — adults migrate to seasonal freshwater pools in late winter to lay eggs, and depend on the predictable annual flooding of these endemic wetlands. State-listed endangered in Delaware. Adults spend most of the year underground in burrows; the breeding migration is one of the peninsula's hidden ecological events.
Scientific
The Eastern tiger salamander (Ambystoma tigrinum) is a member of the mole salamander family (Ambystomatidae) — large, stocky, terrestrial salamanders that spend most of their adult lives in burrows and emerge primarily for breeding migrations. Adults are 7–13 inches long, dark with yellow/olive blotchy markings (the “tiger” pattern). Among the largest terrestrial salamanders in North America.
The species’ adult life cycle is largely subterranean: tiger salamanders live in underground burrows (often appropriating those of small mammals), feeding on earthworms, insects, and other invertebrates. They emerge above ground primarily during late-winter rainstorms to migrate to breeding ponds.
Delmarva-bay obligate breeding
On the [[delmarva-peninsula|Delmarva Peninsula]], Eastern tiger salamanders depend on [[delmarva-bay|Delmarva bays]] — the seasonal freshwater pools endemic to the peninsula — for breeding. The bays’ predictable late-winter flooding, fish-free conditions (fish predate larval salamanders), and slow summer dry-down provide the exact hydrology the species requires.
This dependence makes the species a [[delmarva-peninsula|Delmarva]]-bay obligate: where the bays are drained or hydrologically altered, populations disappear. [[harrington-delaware|Delaware]]‘s Eastern tiger salamander populations are state-listed endangered, and the species is a focal indicator for Delmarva-bay conservation efforts.
Conservation
Threats: loss of [[delmarva-bay|Delmarva bays]] (most peninsula bays were ditched and drained between 1900 and 1970), road mortality during breeding migrations, and habitat fragmentation between adult-burrow habitat and breeding pools.
Conservation work — by [[delaware-wild-lands|Delaware Wild Lands]], The Nature Conservancy, and state agencies — focuses on hydrological restoration of bays and protection of intact breeding sites.
See also
Auto-generated from this entry’s typed relations: frontmatter, grouped by relation type so the editorial signal isn’t flattened.
- Member of: [[animal]]
- Contained by: [[delmarva-bay]] · [[delmarva-peninsula]]
Sources
- [[harrington-delaware|Delaware]] Division of Fish & Wildlife — state-endangered species accounts
- USGS species profile
Rooted in life.
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Scientific
substrate of
- Delmarva Bay Eastern tiger salamanders are Delmarva-bay obligate breeders
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