Salamander Egg Sizes 73 



bulk of variation in egg size introduced at the intraclutch or 

 interclutch level, and is this related to habitat variability? 



MATERIALS AND METHODS 



Study Species 



Ambystoma maculatum (Shaw, 1802) in the southern Appalachian 

 Mountains usually breeds in mid-winter in temporary, seasonal pools 

 that result primarily from heavy rains. Larvae emerge from eggs in 

 early spring, and metamorphosis occurs 60-120 days later (Bishop 

 1941, Shoop 1974). The collection sites I used in this study dry 

 completely 1-6 months after the rains, and on occasion they dry too 

 early for any larvae to transform (R. C. Bruce, personal 

 communication). Populations of A. maculatum in eastern North 

 America are known to lay one mass of eggs per clutch (Wilbur 

 1977, Pfingsten and Downs 1989) or two or more masses per clutch 

 (Bishop 1941, Pfingsten and Downs 1989). "Masses" will be referred 

 to as "clusters" in this article. It is unknown if the clutch of a 

 female A. maculatum at this locality consists of one or multiple 

 clusters. Eggs of A. maculatum were collected in March 1988 from 

 four temporary pools located in Blue Valley on the escarpment of 

 the Blue Ridge Mountains, Macon County, North Carolina. 



Eurycea wilder ae Dunn, 1920, Desmognathus santeelah Tilley, 

 1981, and D. ochrophaeus Cope, 1859 lay eggs in and along 

 headwater streams. These sites represent permanent sources of water, 

 even during seasons of drought (W. Swank, Coweeta Hydrologic 

 Laboratory, personal communication). Fishes are uncommon in these 

 headwater streams. The permanence of these sources of water is evident 

 when one considers that several species of plethodontids have larval 

 periods in excess of 3 years, e.g., D. quadramaculatus (Holbrook, 

 1840) and Gyrinophilus porphyriticus (Green, 1827) (Bruce 1980, 

 1988a). Eurycea wilderae has a larval period of 1 or 2 years (Bruce 

 1988b). Females attach their eggs to the undersides of large rocks 

 where the clutch is exposed to running water. Eurycea wilderae 

 clutches were collected during February and March 1988 at Wolf 

 Creek on Cullowhee Mountain, in the Cowee Mountains, Jackson 

 County, North Carolina. Clutches were located by raking through 

 cobble of headwater seepages. 



Desmognathus ochrophaeus clutches were collected from various 

 headwater streams in the Balsam Mountains in Haywood and Jackson 

 counties, North Carolina. The Balsams are a southern extension of 

 the Great Smoky Mountains, Swain County, North Carolina where 

 the D. santeetlah clutches were collected. Desmognathus santeetlah 

 and D. ochrophaeus females brood the eggs under moss on logs and 



