Truemors
Marbled Salamander (Ambystoma opacum) 
This is a juvenile that we found under a log in Kentucky. They’re related to the Spotted Salamanders and the Stream Side Salamanders. This particular species can also be found in East Texas.
Fast Fact: Like other Mole Salamanders it is very secretive, spending most of its life under logs or in burrows. It is usually encountered while they are moving towards breeding ponds in the fall. Salamanders have a wide variety of different habitat preferences. Some live on land in damp places, entering the water to breed. Some live in trees and others spend their entire lives under the water.
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at 11:59 on February 11th, 2009
The two images of salamanders were photographed by Paul Crump, a member of our Conservation Department during a one week trip across the central and south eastern US, visiting national forests and state and national parks in Virginia, Georgia, Kentucky and North and South Carolina with friend and colleague Tim Hermann, a reptile keeper at the Toledo Zoo.
“This was the experience of a lifetime,” said Crump, the Houston Zoo’s Amphibian Conservation Manager. “Coming as I do from England where there are maybe three newts in the whole country, and living in Texas where there may be 15 species of salamanders, this was an incredible trip. The diversity of the species was just phenomenal. We probably saw a thousand salamanders, individual specimens, in the course of just seven days,” added Crump.
“Salamanders are important to life on Earth from two different perspectives,” said Crump. “For one, they make up a very crucial part of the ecosystems in which they occur. They make up a massive proportion of the biomass, they play key roles in food chains, and because of their ecothermic and bi-phasic biology they play integral roles in nutrient cycles,” he added. “Secondly, but probably more importantly, salamanders in the eastern United States are a biodiversity treasure. No other region in the world has the diversity of species and for that reason alone they are deserving of our care and protection.
at 13:34 on March 10th, 2009
I have a marbled salamander in a terrarium in my house (we thought it was a tadpole but found out it's a salamander). While in the water, we fed it triop food. Now that it's completely terrestrial, I've been putting grubs, beetles, those roll-up beetles etc in it's habitat but wondering if it'll eat these. It's only been out of the water about a week and i don't know if it's eating anything! It stays under the humus most of the time. Any ideas?