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Ambystoma maculatum
Spotted salamanders lay their eggs in masses and surround the mass with a gel matrix to protect them. The gel may be opaque or clear (as it is in this case). This egg mass contains larvae that are very close to hatching out. The greenish tinge around some of the eggs is from symbiotic algae which help provide oxygen to the growing larvae. Spotted salamanders are considered vernal pools obligates and will generally only lay eggs in fish-free environments.
Spotted on Apr 12, 2013
Submitted on Apr 12, 2013
7 Comments
Wow drP that's really interesting!! I'll have to forward that to my partner who has worked alot with the symbiotic relationship of symbiodinium and coral.
I'm glad you found it. Just in case anyone else is interested, here's the original article:http://www.pnas.org/content/108/16/6497.full?sid=9b58cabb-b6a9-4fa8-a3ea-467fe17542cd
As an aside, I like that the "Oophila" alga looks to be a species of Chlamydomonas--that was the organism I worked with back in the day.
Hi drP,
I hadn't seen the paper you were referring to, but I've just looked it up - fascinating stuff! Thanks for drawing my attention to it. :-)
Great spotting!
Fun fact: while it's been known for a century that the algae grow in association with the eggs (ectosymbiotic mutualism), it's only very recently been discovered that some of the algae cells actually live inside the cells of the embryos and young juveniles. First ever known case of a vertebrate with an endosymbiotic eukaryotic alga.
What a huge egg mass! I used to check vernal pools in hopes of finding an albino larva but no luck.
Thanks for the really interesting information!