gills shrink, and the axolotl matures into the tiger salamander. But if the 
creature is returned to deep water before the transformation is complete, 
the gills enlarge and the tiger salamander resumes its earlier form. Natives 
like to eat the axolotl either boiled or roasted. 
The marbled salamander is closely related to the “tiger.” 
Several members of the American salamander family have developed 
unique habits. The heavy-set, brownish-black Ambystoma talpoideum bur¬ 
rows rapidly into the earth like a mole, leaving ridges of turned-up soil 
behind it. 
NEWTS 
One of the most common of the American varieties is the crimson-colored 
spotted newt, which is known better in its larval than its adult stage. The 
young, known as red efts, are a brilliant coral color. For some years they 
are almost entirely terrestrial, returning to water only as they approach 
maturity. When fully grown this salamander is about three inches long. 
Its color is olive or yellow-green with black-bordered crimson spots lining 
each side. It thrives on snails and other tiny fresh-water invertebrates. 
“CONGO EELS” 
Another, the “blind-eel,” “Congo eel” or “Congo snake,” which is neither 
eel nor snake nor from the Congo, inhabits muddy waters from the Missis¬ 
sippi to South Carolina. In appearance and slipperiness it resembles the 
eel. Four hardly perceptible feet easily distinguish it, however, from the 
fish and from the two-footed siren. 
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