La. Lowcock et Jp. Bogart, ELECTROPHORETIC IDENTIFICATION OF THE MARBLED SALAMANDER, AMBYSTOMA-OPACUM, ON KELLEYS ISLAND, LAKE ERIE, Canadian field-naturalist, 106(2), 1992, pp. 196-199
Kelleys Island is the second largest island in the western Lake Erie a
rchipelago, an enigmatic biogeographic area in which all previously kn
own species of the salamander genus Ambystoma are involved in intraspe
cific unisexual hybrid complexes. This paper documents the occurrence
of A. opacum on Kelleys Island. Identification was made through electr
ophoretic comparison of tissue homogenates from unidentified larvae wi
th tissue extracts from individuals whose identity was known. This dem
onstrates the utility of molecular markers for rapid identification in
biological surveys without the need (time and expense) of raising ani
mals to metamorphosis. The occurrence of this species on Kelleys Islan
d is of both biogeographic and ecological interest.