Streamside Salamander

Description:

Unlike all the other members of the genus Ambystoma, Streamside Salamanders breed in shallow ephemeral streams, as their name implies. They are visually indistinguishable from the closely related Smallmouth Salamander (Ambystoma texanum), so the best way to tell them apart is by geographic area and habitat type, with Smallmouths breeding in ephemeral ponds typical of the Ambystomids. Streamsides are limited to Southeastern Indiana and adjacent Ohio and Kentucky (with a few disjunct populations in West Virginia and Tennessee) while Smallmouths may be found all over the East-Central US.