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Reproductive Biology of the Southern Dwarf Siren, Pseudobranchus Axanthus, in Southern Florida Zachary Cole Adcock University of South Florida, [email protected]

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Reproductive Biology of the Southern Dwarf Siren, Pseudobranchus Axanthus, in Southern Florida Zachary Cole Adcock University of South Florida, Adcock.Zach@Gmail.Com University of South Florida Scholar Commons Graduate Theses and Dissertations Graduate School January 2012 Reproductive Biology of the Southern Dwarf Siren, Pseudobranchus axanthus, in Southern Florida Zachary Cole Adcock University of South Florida, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd Part of the American Studies Commons, and the Biology Commons Scholar Commons Citation Adcock, Zachary Cole, "Reproductive Biology of the Southern Dwarf Siren, Pseudobranchus axanthus, in Southern Florida" (2012). Graduate Theses and Dissertations. http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/3941 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at Scholar Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Scholar Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Reproductive Biology of the Southern Dwarf Siren, Pseudobranchus axanthus, in Southern Florida by Zachary C. Adcock A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science Department of Integrative Biology College of Arts and Sciences University of South Florida Co-Major Professor: Earl D. McCoy, Ph.D. Co-Major Professor: Henry R. Mushinsky, Ph.D. Stephen M. Deban, Ph.D. Date of Approval: July 10, 2012 Keywords: aquatic salamander, life history, oviposition, clutch size, size at maturity Copyright © 2012, Zachary C. Adcock ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I thank my co-major professors, Henry Mushinsky and Earl McCoy, for their patience and guidance through a couple of thesis projects lasting several years. I also thank my committee member, Steve Deban, for providing excellent comments to improve this thesis document. I thank the National Museum of Natural History for loaning the specimens necessary to complete this project, specifically Roy McDiarmid and Steve Gotte for their assistance and hospitality. I thank Ronn Altig, Dave Sever, Stan Trauth, and Gordon Ultsch for reviewing and providing comments on my proposal. I thank Gui de Almeida for preparing the maps in this document. Thank you to my parents and Michelle Curtis for their constant love, support, and encouragement that fueled the completion of this work and to my four legged family members that were my steadfast companions during several all-nighters. A special thanks to Steve Godley who collected the specimens examined for this project and suggested sirenid reproductive biology as a topic for study. Further, I thank Steve for his assistance in all phases of this project, his expertise, and for facilitating my growth as a biologist. TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Tables. .................................................................................................................... iii List of Figures. ................................................................................................................... iv Abstract. ............................................................................................................................. vi Introduction. .........................................................................................................................1 Study Species ...........................................................................................................3 Reproductive Cycle ..................................................................................................4 Clutch Size ...............................................................................................................5 Developmental Time to Egg Hatching ....................................................................6 Age or Size at Sexual Maturity ................................................................................6 Materials and Methods. ........................................................................................................8 Collection Site ..........................................................................................................8 Collection Specifics .................................................................................................9 Subspecies Identification .......................................................................................10 Quantification of Reproductive Biology ................................................................10 Developmental Time to Egg Hatching ..................................................................13 Statistical Analyses ................................................................................................14 Results. ...............................................................................................................................16 Identification of Males, Females, and Juveniles ....................................................16 Subspecies Identification .......................................................................................16 General Morphology and Morphometrics .............................................................17 Ovary Morphology and Morphometrics ................................................................18 Female Reproductive Cycle ...................................................................................19 Clutch Size .............................................................................................................20 Developmental Time to Egg Hatching ..................................................................20 Female Size at Sexual Maturity .............................................................................20 Discussion ..........................................................................................................................22 Identification of Males, Females, and Juveniles ....................................................22 Subspecies Identification .......................................................................................22 General Morphology and Morphometrics .............................................................23 Ovary Morphology and Morphometrics ................................................................23 Female Reproductive Cycle ...................................................................................24 Clutch Size .............................................................................................................26 Developmental Time to Egg Hatching ..................................................................27 i Female Size at Sexual Maturity .............................................................................28 Variation in Reproductive Strategies of Sirenid Salamanders ...............................28 Conclusions ........................................................................................................................31 Pseudobranchus axanthus Reproductive Strategy.................................................31 Variation in Reproductive Strategies of Sirenid Salamanders ...............................32 Literature Cited ..................................................................................................................63 Appendices Appendix 1: National Museum of Natural History Loan Information. .................70 ii LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Distinguishing characteristics of Pseudobranchus axanthus axanthus and Pseudobranchus axanthus belli subspecies. .............................................33 Table 2: Description of size classes used to group Pseudobranchus axanthus ovarian oocytes and the corresponding follicular maturation stage class. .................................................................................................................34 Table 3: Comparison of ovary size and number of ovarian oocytes by ovary location (left vs. right) and ovary position (anterior vs. posterior). .................35 Table 4: Descriptive statistics for Rainey Slough Pseudobranchus axanthus oocyte counts. ..................................................................................................36 Table 5: Correlation of female Pseudobranchus axanthus snout-vent length (SVL) and mass to total number of oocytes per size class. .............................37 Table 6: Rainey Slough Pseudobranchus axanthus egg density. ..................................38 Table 7A: Mean number of oocytes per female Pseudobranchus axanthus at Rainey Slough for each month and season. .....................................................39 Table 7B: ANCOVA results comparing the mean number of oocytes per female between months, wet and dry seasons, and six-month seasons. ......................40 Table 8: Pseudobranchus axanthus potential clutch size. .............................................41 iii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Rainey Slough, Glades County, Florida location map. .................................42 Figure 2: Rainey Slough, Glades County, Florida habitat map. ...................................43 Figure 3: Aerial photo of Rainey Slough, County Road 731, and excavated canals (Glades County, Florida). ..................................................................44 Figure 4: Mean monthly temperature and mean monthly rainfall for Labelle, Glades County, Florida (1930-2011). ...........................................................45 Figure 5: Snout-vent length (mm) and collection month of Rainey Slough Pseudobranchus axanthus. ...........................................................................46 Figure 6: Pseudobranchus axanthus ovary with oocyte size classes
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