RANDOM NOTES ON NATURAL HISTORY, 



69 



Reptiles and Batrachians of Rhode Island. 



BY HERMON C. BUMPUS. 



Number XXII. 



5. Amhly stoma opacum Baird, {Sala- 

 mandra opacum Gravenhorst, Salamandra 

 fasciata Green). 



The Marbled or Opaque Salmander 

 strongly resembles in outward appearance 

 its larger congener, the Violet Colored Sala- 

 mander. The two species, though the 

 ground color of each is black, need never 

 be confused, since the present form has the 

 limbs comparatively feeble, allowing the 

 animal to crawl but slowly ; the head is 

 less expanded laterally, and the bod^' is 

 well rounded, cylindrical, and terminated 

 by a short tapering tail. The markings are 

 also quite characteristic, being of a pale 

 brown or greenish-blue shade, and appearing 

 not as rounded spots but as transverse 

 bands. These are often of considerable 

 width as they leave the flanks, but become 

 narrower as they reach the dorsal line. 

 The eleven costal folds, the peculiar plaited 

 tongue, and the ossified tarsus and fish-like 

 vertebrifi obtain of course in this species, 

 as in the previous, being generic peculiarities. 



The Marbled Salamander is often to be \ 

 met with in wells, several specimens in the 

 museum of Brown University havilig been 

 found in drinking water. It is probable, 

 however, that the animals were thus cap- | 

 tured through accident, since the short, 

 rounded tail and small, unwebbed feet do 

 not well indicate an aquatic life. Their 

 motions, moreover, when in the water, are 

 slow and awkward, it apparently being 

 an eflTort to keep the body right side up. It 

 is probable that, while crawling on the damp 

 and moss-grown stones of the curb, the un- 

 fortunate animals not infrequently lose their 

 hold and only reach terra Jirma by making 

 the passage of the pump. 



In confinement they make perhaps a more 

 strange than interesting pet. A box partly 

 filled with some damp moss, such as grows 

 in cranberry swamps. Sphagnum^ will well 

 please them, and so long as small insects 

 and moisture is supplied, they will thrive. 

 The length of five inches is seldom exceeded. 



It is quite possible that in the wanderings 



of some person interested in herpetology 

 there may be found within the limits of our 

 state, the so-called Tiger Salamander or 

 Amhly stoma tigrinum ; though Mr. Alien 

 sa3's that there is no positive evidence of lis 

 capture east of New York, Holbrook con- 

 sidered the evidence sufficient to include 

 Massachusetts in its habitat. It is probable, 

 however, that confusion has arisen from the 

 strong though superficial resemblance that 

 the present species bears to A. punctatum. 

 Confusion ought not to arise, however, since 

 the species are quite distinct. The ground 

 color of A. tigrinvm is above, brown rather 

 than black, below cinereous, the 3'ellow spots 

 are more numerous and smaller, and the size 

 is often much more than that of either of the 

 species hitherto mentioned, the length at 

 times being over ten inches. The animal 

 is said to like best the decaying logs of 

 damp woods. 



Pleurocera neglectum, Anthony. 



FOR RANDOM NOTES. 



While collecting recently in the Little 

 Muddy Creek, I found some shells of inter- 

 est, that I consider to be the above speci- 

 mens. When taken from the water they 

 are covered with a ferruginous deposit, 

 which being removed shows a polished and 

 bright banded surface that is pleasing to the 

 eye. 



They do not agree with Mr. Anthony's 

 description in regard to the bands. He 

 sa^'s : "Sometimes the last whorl is encir- 

 cled b}' two dark brown bands, of which the 

 uppermost is also visible throughout the 

 upper whorls." 



These usuall}- have three distinct bands 

 on the last whorl, and two are visible on 

 the next three or four preceding whorls ; 

 they vary from narrow and faint lines to 

 broad and dark ones ; some specimens are 

 without bands, and the apex is eroded on 

 nearly every shell. The species is abun- 

 dant at the above localitv, but not common 

 in this vicinit}'. A. A. Hinklky. 



Du Bois, III. 



[The specimens received with the above 

 article were Pleurocera neglectum, Anthony. 



Ed.] 



