Herpetological Review, 2009, 40(2), 169–170. © 2009 by Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles A Safe and Efficient Technique for Handling Siren spp. and Amphiuma spp. in the Field DONALD J. BROWN* and MICHAEL R. J. FORSTNER Department of Biology, Texas State University-San Marcos 601 University Drive, San Marcos, Texas 78666, USA e-mail (MRJF):
[email protected] FIG. 1. Siren texana being restrained for measurements using a snake Corresponding author; e-mail:
[email protected] tube. Siren spp. and Amphiuma spp. are large eel-like salamanders sary data on a given individual in under ten minutes. A potential distributed throughout the coastal plain of the southeastern United drawback of this method is that the salamanders will never be States (Conant and Collins 1998). Much has been reported on perfectly linear due to the necessity of having enough space to capture methods for these species. Common methods include min- facilitate movement into the tube. However, once an individual is now and crayfish traps (Sorensen 2004), hoop nets (Snodgrass et placed in a given tube, a smaller tube can be inserted at the anterior al. 1999), dip nets (Fauth and Resetarits 1991), and baited hooks end and the salamander can be coerced into it by touching its tail, (Hanlin 1978). Recently, a trap capable of sampling these species resulting in a tighter fit and more accurate measurements. The at depths up to 70 cm was developed (Luhring and Jennison 2008). handling method we used was effective for collecting standard Because of their slippery skin and irritable nature, Siren spp.