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Blood chemistry of reptiles; physiological and evolutionary aspects. In C. Gans and T. H. Parsons (eds.), Biology of the Reptilia, Vol. 3, pp. 1-72. Academic Press, New York. KNIGHT, A., L. D . DENSMORE III, AND E. D . RAEL. 1 9 9 2 . Molecular systematics of the Agkistrodon complex. In J. A. Campbell and E. D . Brodie, Jr. (eds.), Biology of the Pitvipers, pp. 4 9 - 6 9 . Selva, Tyler, Texas. PARKER, P. G., AND H. W. WHITEMAN. 1 9 9 3 . Genetic diversity in fragmented populations of Clemmys guttata and Chrysemys pitta marginata as shown by DNA fingerprinting. Copeia 1 9 9 3 : 8 4 1 - 8 4 6 . REINERT, H. K., AND L. M . BUSHAR. 1 9 9 1 . A safe and rapid method of blood collection from rattlesnakes. Herpetol. Rev. 2 2 : 5 1 - 5 2 . SooTER, C. A. 1955. Technique for bleeding snakes by cardiac puncture. Copeia 1 9 5 5 : 2 5 4 - 2 5 5 . DESSAUER, H. C. 1 9 7 0 .
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NATURAL HISTORY NOTES
Instructions for contributors to Natural History Notes appear in volume 27, number 2 (June 1996).
CAUDATA AMBYSTOMA OPACUM (Marbled Salamander). COMMUNAL NESTING. Communal nesting by marbled salamanders is infrequent and typically includes fewer than three females. Of 72 nests observed by Graham (1971. Ph.D. Diss., Rutgers Univ.), only nine (12.5%) were communal and included the clutches of two (N = 7), three (N = 1), and seven (N = 1) females; 16 (5.5%) of 292 nests observed by Petranka (1990. J. Herpetol. 24:229234) contained eggs of two females and three (1.0%) contained eggs of three females. I observed communal nesting by marbled salamanders on 6 and 12 October 1995 at a semi-permanent, 15 x 19 m, man-made pond in the Hoosier National Forest, Crawford County, Indiana, USA. The pond is within a second-growth pine-hardwood forest. Approximately 15% of the clay-mud base is sparsely covered with herbaceous vegetation; the remainder is bare mud sparsely covered with fallen leaves. When these observations were made, half the basin was covered with water, leaving a 2 m wide band of mud above the water level. Nests were considered communal if clutches in adjacent depressions constructed by females were indistinguishable, the number of eggs was two or more times greater than the average of single nests (mean = 1 1 0 eggs), or nests contained eggs in varying stages of development. Of 29 nests found, 12 (41.4%) were single-female nests containing 51-169 eggs, nine (31.0%) contained 163-319 eggs of two females, four (13.8%) contained 3 2 3 ^ 1 3 eggs of three females, one (3.4%) contained 514 eggs of four females, two (6.9%) contained 771 and 796 eggs of seven females, and one (3.4%) contained 1813 eggs of 16 females. Marbled salamanders typically nest beneath cover such as leaf litter, logs, roots, rocks, or vegetation (Graham, op. cit.; Jackson et al. 1989. Can J. Zool. 67:2277-2281; Noble and Brady 1933. Zoologica 11:89-132; Petranka, op. cit.), or in crayfish or small mammal tunnels (King 1935. Ohio J. Sci. 35:4-15). Nests are 134
generally concentrated in areas with high total cover (Jackson et al., op. cit.). The Crawford County pond is devoid of accumulated leaf litter from previous years except at the basin edge. Only four nests were found in this zone, the remainder were located at middle or lower elevations where leaf litter was absent when females oviposited. Females may have been forced to nest communally due to the paucity of cover. Most nests were partially or completely exposed until covered with freshly fallen leaves. Although females may have oviposited simultaneously in some nests, embryos in several communal nests ranged from Harrison stage 19 to 37 (Duellman and Trueb 1986. Biology of Amphibians. McGraw-Hill, New York, pp. 131-132), suggesting that later arriving females may have used eggs of preceding females as cover. Only three nests (10%), all communal, had a single female in attendance. Nest attendance, which increases embryo survival, is typically much higher than that observed at the Crawford County pond (e.g., 87.4%, Jackson et al., op. cit.; 75.5%, Petranka, op. cit.). Estimates of embryo mortality in five communal nests ranged from 0-90%. The largest communal nest was exposed to direct sunlight for one hour each morning. On 12 October, temperatures in this nest varied from 22°C at the bottom to 27°C at the top immediately after exposure to the sun, suggesting that high temperatures may have contributed to high (ca. 90%) embryo mortality (Anderson 1972. Herpetologica 28:126-130). I thank J. Sean Doody for commenting on the manuscript. Submitted by JOHN G. PALIS, Rural Route 1, Box 258, Tell City, Indiana 47586, USA. AMPHIUMA ra/DACryLt/M (Three-toed Amphiuma). COLORATION. A mottled Amphiuma tridactylutn was brought to Northeast Louisiana University Museum of Zoology by an anonymous person during summer 1988. The specimen (NLU 70638) measured 34 cm SVL, pigmentation varied from dark brown to black circular blotches of assorted sizes with a leucistic body color (Fig. 1). The origin of the specimen is unknown, however it is believed to have been collected in Louisiana.
FIG. 1. Adult mottled (left) and albino (right) Amphiuma tridactylum from Louisiana.
A second specimen, an albino, was collected 20 July 1992 in a ditch approximately 8 rd km S of Thibodaux, in Lafourche Parish, Louisiana, USA, by Terry P. Guidroz. This specimen (NLU 70488), 243 cm SVL, lacks all pigmentation except for the coloration of its blood vessels and pink eyes (Fig. 1).
Herpetological Review 27(3), 1996
