Description

The species (which has frequently been placed in Bathysiredon or Siredon) is a neotenic salamander resembling the Mexican axolotl (A. mexicanum). This animal is tan to brown and homogenous in coloration. Distinct features include a flat, wide head, caudal fins, and few rakers on the third gill arch’s anterior surface (the exact amount is disputed). The salamander can also be identified by perennibranchiate (lifelong), hyperfilamentous gills and diminutive, webbed toes with the fourth digit possessing three phalanges (Brandon, 1992, Smith, 1948). A sexually mature specimen measures, from snout to vent, over 122 mm; there is no body length difference between the sexes. Of preserved specimens, total size ranges from 128-282 mm (Brandon, 1970).

References

Brandon, R.A. 1970. Size range maturity, and reproduction of Ambystoma (bathysiredon) dumerilii (Dugès), a paedogenetic Mexican salamander endemic to Lake Pátzcuaro, Michoacán. Copeia 1970: 385-388.

Brandon, R.A. 1976. Spontaneous and induced metamorphosis of Ambystoma dumerilii (Dugès), a paedogenetic Mexican salamander, under laboratory conditions. Herpetologica 32: 429-438.

Brandon, R.A. 1977. Interspecific hybridization among Mexican and United States salamanders of the genus Ambystoma under laboratory conditions. Herpetologica 33: 133-152

Brandon, R.A. 1992. Ambystoma dumerilii. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles 532: 1-3.

Poly, W.J. 2003. Argulus ambystoma, a new species parasitic on the salamander Ambystoma duerilii from Mexico (Crustacea: Branchiura: Argulidae). Ohio Journal of Science 103: 52-61

Smith, H.M. Taylor, E. 1948. An Annotated Checklist and Key to the Amphibia of Mexico. Smithsonian Institution Bulletin 194: 1-118