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University of California Publications in Zoology [Vol. 27 
The eggs of Ambystoma calif orniense are surrounded by three coats 
of jelly, a soft thick-walled outer coat and two thin, shell-like inner 
coats, seemingly of slightly greater density, close about the vitelline 
capsule (fig. U). The dimensions of these parts, in millimeters, are 
as follows: 
Vitelline 
capsule 
Inner 
jelly coat 
Middle 
jelly coat 
Outer 
jelly coat 
Minimum 
3.62 
4.25 
4.74 
8.50 
Maximum 
5.93 
6.36 
6.93 
12.10 
Average of 10 
4.57 
5.12 
5.65 
9.87 
Eggs in early stages of development would probably measure some- 
what less than the foregoing. No cells of green algae were seen within 
the vitelline capsules of these eggs (compare with account of Dicamp- 
todon ensatus, p. 83). 
Present information indicates that the eggs of the California Tiger 
Salamander differ from those of the eastern form (true tigrinum) 
both in form and manner of deposition. Eggs of a number of the sala- 
manders of eastern North America have been described and figured in 
detail, but no one seems to have described carefully the eggs of this 
widely distributed species. B. G. Smith (1907, p. 385), in describing 
the egg masses of Ambystoma punctatum, a common eastern species, 
gives a few suggesions as to the form of eggs of tigrinum. He says: 
The eggs [of A. punctatum ] with their individual gelatinous envelopes, occur 
in compact bunches, surrounded by a very thick jelly mass. The entire structure 
is usually of an oval shape, often nearly as large as one’s fist. The eggs of 
A. tigrinum are more loosely aggregated in a thinner jelly mass, and the cluster 
resembles a bunch of grapes. The clusters of eggs of A. punctatum are as a rule 
larger than those of A. tigrinum, and the number of eggs in a bunch is usually 
greater. 
Later (B. G. Smith, 1911, p. 19) two masses of tigrinum are men- 
tioned containing 53 and 75 eggs respectively. On the other hand, 
Garman, writing in 1890 (p. 190), stated that tigrinum then bred in 
“thousands” in temporary pools on the Illinois prairies as soon as the 
snow disappeared in the spring and that “the eggs are [were] laid 
in large masses attached to dead vegetation . 7 7 
Engelhardt (1916, pp. 48-51) has described the eggs and larvae 
of Ambystoma tigrinum as seen near Syosset, Long Island, New York 
(in the spring of 1916?). The basis of identification is not clearly 
stated. The egg masses were found “at the depth of a foot or more” 
below the surface, attached to the stalks of dead plants. He says : 
