One-toed amphiuma

Amphiuma pholeter

TAXONOMY

Amphiuma pholeter Neill, 1964, 4.5 mi (7.2 km) east-northeast of Rosewood, Levy County, Florida, United States.

OTHER COMMON NAMES

None known.

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

This is the smallest species of the Amphiumidae; adults reach only 8.5–13 in (22–33 cm) in total length. Each foot has a single toe. The entire body is dark reddish brown or gray to grayish brown with no notable contrast between dorsum and venter. The head is cylindrical, and the snout is not depressed.

DISTRIBUTION

The species has a narrow range in the coastal plain of southeastern Mississippi through the Florida panhandle and the northern part of the Florida peninsula to the extreme southern portion of Georgia in the United States.

HABITAT

Amphiuma pholeter lives primarily in the liquid muck of swampy streams and the swamps of smaller alluvial streams.

BEHAVIOR

Little is known, but one might expect the species to behave similarly to the two larger species. This species is more likely to be an air breather, because of the anaerobic conditions of its mucky habitat.

FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET

Presumably, the diet is like that of other amphiumas, but its small size apparently limits its diet to small clams, earthworms, larval aquatic insects, and small beetles.

REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY

Courtship apparently takes place in winter or spring, and the eggs are probably laid in June and July, with hatching in late summer or early fall. Because of the anaerobic habitat, the young may emerge from the eggs fully metamorphosed. Hatchlings reared in the laboratory reach adult size in about two years.

CONSERVATION STATUS

The limited geographic distribution and relative rarity justify a need for protection. Georgia has placed the species under protection. Sediments from runoff in the course of home and road construction tend to destroy the muck habitats. Collecting also may be a detriment to the species.

SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS

None known.