The one-toed

amphiuma ''Amphiuma'' is a genus of aquatic salamanders from the United States, the only extant genus within the family Amphiumidae . They are colloquially known as amphiumas. They are also known to fishermen as "conger eels" or "Congo snakes", which are ...

(''Amphiuma pholeter'') is an aquatic, eel-like

salamander Salamanders are a group of amphibians typically characterized by their lizard-like appearance, with slender bodies, blunt snouts, short limbs projecting at right angles to the body, and the presence of a tail in both larvae and adults. All ten ...

native to the southeastern United States. It was unknown to science until 1950, when it was collected by herpetologist W. T. Neill. It is rarely observed in the wild, and much about the species remains uncertain.

Description

The 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, one-toed amphiumas are the same color on both the dorsum (back) and the venter (belly). It can also be distinguished by its cone-shaped head and toe number—one-toed amphiumas have 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).

Distribution

One-toed amphiumas are generally known only to occur in parts of the

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

panhandle, extreme southern

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, and southern

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

Behavior

One-toed amphiumas are active mostly at night, when they forage for invertebrate prey. Their habits are similar to that of the other members of its genus, preferring slow moving or stagnant, shallow water with either muddy bottoms or areas with weedy vegetation. They have 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, one-toed amphiumas eat small, aquatic invertebrates such as

crayfish Crayfish are freshwater crustaceans belonging to the clade Astacidea, which also contains lobsters. In some locations, they are also known as crawfish, craydids, crawdaddies, crawdads, freshwater lobsters, mountain lobsters, rock lobsters, mu ...

annelid worms The annelids (Annelida , from Latin ', "little ring"), also known as the segmented worms, are a large phylum, with over 22,000 extant taxon, extant species including ragworms, earthworms, and leeches. The species exist in and have adapted to v ...

, insect

larva A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. The ...

e, and occasionally

fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of li ...

or amphibian

e. Its breeding habits are largely unknown and eggs and hatchlings have never been observed.Means, D.B. 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.

References

*Mount, Robert H. 1975. ''The Reptiles and Amphibians of Alabama''. The University of Alabama Press: Tuscaloosa, Alabama. *National Audubon Society Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians {{Taxonbar, from=Q492121 Salamandroidea Fauna of the Southeastern United States Amphibians described in 1950 Amphibians of the United States