Ambystoma mabeei Bishop (Caudata: Ambystomatidae): 
An Addition to the Salamander Fauna 
of Virginia 
Joseph C. Mitchell 
Graduate Program in Ecology, 
University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37916 1 
AND 
S. Blair Hedges 
Department of Biology, 
George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia 22030 
ABSTRACT. — Ambystoma mabeei from Southampton County and Suf- 
folk, Virginia extend the known range of the species 46 km (28.6 mi.) 
northward from North Carolina. Juveniles of this uncommon species 
are described for the first time. An updated distribution map is 
included. 
Species with restricted ranges are of special interest to the 
biogeographer and ecologist. Their distributions, if accurately defined, 
may provide clues to their environmental tolerance limits. One such 
species is the salamander Ambystoma mabeei, known only from the 
Coastal Plain of North Carolina and South Carolina (Hardy and Ander- 
son 1970). This note reports specimens from two additional localities that 
significantly extend the known range of this species northward. All 
specimens are in the collection of the National Museum of Natural 
History (USNM). 
On 29 April 1979 an adult female A. mabeei (USNM 212212) and 
two recently metamorphosed juveniles (USNM 212213-14) were col- 
lected by Joseph C. Mitchell and Wendy H. Mitchell 7 km (4.3 mi.) 
northwest of Courtland, Southampton County, Virginia. On 17 May 
1979 three other recently metamorphosed juveniles (USNM 212215-17) 
were collected at the same locality. On 16 June 1979 S. Blair Hedges 
found a juvenile (USNM 211210) 5 km (3. 1 mi.) south of Suffolk, City of 
Suffolk (formerly Nansemond County), Virginia. These specimens repre- 
sent the northernmost localities known and the first records of the species 
for Virginia. The previous northernmost site is 46 km (28.6 mi.) to the 
south in Perquimans County, North Carolina (Palmer et al. 1974). Figure 
1 shows the updated range and all known localities of A. mabeei. 
The adult female from Southampton County, Virginia has the 
following characteristics: snout-vent length (SVL; to posterior margin of 
vent) 54.3 mm; total length (TL) 93.1 mm; costal grooves 13R/13L. The 
dorsum in life was black with scattered white flecks (most concentrated 
'Mailing address: 1716 Rockwood Road, Richmond, Virginia 23226. 
Brimleyana No. 3: 119-121 July 1980. 
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