16 Ray E. Ashton, Jr. and Alvin L. Braswell 



One purpose was to develop methods of following movements, determin- 

 ing home range, and studying other behavior using radioactive tagging 

 and tracking techniques. Three adults (two females and a male) were 

 trapped in wire and plastic mesh minnow traps at that time, and each 

 was tagged with two 60 Co (35-50 mc) wires injected into the tail muscles 

 using methods described by Barbour et al. (1969). 



We initially used a Thyac III Model 491 survey meter and scintillation 

 probe to locate animals, but monitoring proved difficult until a more sen- 

 sitive submersible Model 498 probe was obtained later in the study. The 

 tagged salamanders, which we had not located for three months, were 

 easily detected with this instrument. The nest was discovered in July 1978 

 while we were checking the location of the tagged male. Three larvae 

 were collected as they hatched from eggs, and four others were captured 

 by dip netting within 5 m of the nest site. 



Larvae were preserved in 8 percent buffered formalin within one hour 

 after capture, and measurements, color observations and photographs 

 made within two hours after preservation. Measurements, made with an 

 ocular micrometer, are reported as snout-vent length (SV), measured 

 midventrally from tip of snout to vent pore; total length (TL); head 

 length (HL), from tip of snout to gular fold; head width (HW), at 

 posterior edge of eye socket; and tail width (TW), at widest point. 



All specimens obtained in this study are deposited in the lower ver- 

 tebrate collections of the North Carolina State Museum of Natural 

 History (NCSM). Additional post-hatchling larvae and subadults from 

 various localities in both drainages were loaned by Duke University. 



RESULTS 



Nest. — On 2 July 1978 a nest and attending male (NCSM 19826; 

 147.6 mm SV) were found under a flat, granite rock (36 X 27 X 5.5 cm) 

 in 1.2 m of water near midstream, approximately 2 m from shore. The 

 underlying substrate was sand and fine gravel. Thirty-five egg capsules, 

 8-9 mm in diameter and each attached by a blunt stalk, were in an area of 

 about 60 cm 2 on the underside of the rock. The rock's entire undersurface 

 was devoid of sessile and other invertebrates and debris. A depression in 

 the substrate, slightly larger than the nest area and about 40 mm deep, 

 apparently had been made and maintained by the male. The depression 

 narrowed and opened at the downstream edge of the rock, the upper edge 

 of which was embedded in the substrate. Water flow at the time was slow, 

 but this area is exposed to strong currents during flooding. 



The male made no attempt to leave the nest until the rock was 

 removed. It was collected, preserved within two hours of capture, and 

 autopsied to verify sex and to determine general condition and any ob- 



