Features: The Small-mouthed Salamander (Ambystoma texanum) is a medium-sized, dark-bodied salamander with pale gray "lichen-shaped" patches on its tail and sides. This secretive salamander belongs to the "Mole Salamander" family. During the non-breeding season it spends its life underground in leaf litter or soil, or in the burrows of other animals. It emerges for a brief period in early spring to breed in permanent or temporary pools.

Status: Endangered Provincially and Nationally

Range: The range of the Small-mouthed Salamander extends from the southwestern corner of Lake Erie, west to Iowa, and south through the midwestern United States to the Gulf Coast. It has a very limited range in Canada, occurring only in flooded mixed deciduous woods on Pelee Island, Ontario. In its United States range, it is found in a variety of moist environments, including riparian areas, swamp woodlands, hardwood forest, tall grass prairie, and even land under cultivation. In Canada, it only occurs at four sites on Pelee Island, where it lives in flooded, mixed-decidous woods. Range Maps

Threats: The cutting of trees, clearing of logs, and drainage of wooded wetlands are the main threats to the Small-mouthed Salamander. In particular, the opening of the canopy can cause the breeding ponds to dry too quickly in late spring, and the larvae are stranded before they have transformed. The removal of rotting logs threatens salamanders because old logs provide shelter and food.

Protection: Under Ontario's Endangered Species Act, 2007 regulations, the Small-mouthed Salamander is protected from being killed, harmed, and possessed. Habitat is protected in two Provincial Nature Reserves, one of which includes part of the largest population of Smallmouth Salamanders on Pelee Island. Other publicly or privately owned conservation lands on the island protect additional habitat.

Text Sources: Bogart and Licht 2004; Bogart and Licht 1991; Behler 1979; Conant 1975

Last Modified Date: October 2008