OUTDOOR CORNER: MISSOURI HAS ITS OWN VERSION OF A SWAMP CREATURE

Certainly this one is made up! The animal is so unusual there is no way something like that could be living in Missouri. Right?

A three-foot long, aquatic, blind salamander that has pointed, curved teeth, a nasty bite, virtually no legs, and electro sensors on its head has got to be total fiction!

Put like that you may expect this is some myth created to keep children out of the water. However, the creature of discussion is real! But fear is not what you should revere this animal with. Instead, amazement should fill your thoughts!

Scientists call this Amphiuma tridactvlum. Which translated means `Amphiuma with three fingers.' The common name is Three-toed Amphiuma.

The problem with the name is that scientific and common name means the same thing. Thus if you are clueless what Amphiuma is, you are not helped out by the common name. The only thing easy to figure out is that it must have three toes. Three species of Amphiuma exist and each is told by its toes. A one, two and three toed Amphiuma can be found in the swamps of the southeastern United States. Three toed Amphiumas are the only species found in Missouri

Amphiuma are salamanders and thus are amphibians, which need water to reproduce and go through metamorphosis to become an adult. Their skin is moist and has a layer of mucus for protection. This salamander seldom leaves the water because it needs to keep its skin moist in order to stay healthy. They live in slow moving swamp waters of ditches, sloughs and oxbows.

Amphiuma leave the water only to lay their eggs under logs or in large rotting stumps. The 200 or so eggs are in strands that are connected much like sausage links. When the salamanders hatch they have a set of feathery external gills for breathing. Their legs even at birth are little more than decorations. They will remain a larvae from fall until the spring or summer. Adults lack a tail fin and can grow to a length of three feet.

Males and females are strikingly similar in appearance and in contrast to their Amphibian cousins, the frogs, Amphiuma cannot make any sounds. Males tend to be a bit smaller than the females. Both are very active on dark nights that are devoid of the moon's glow. Amphiuma are also very active during rainy stormy periods, when moisture is abundant and food is moving around as if waiting to be eaten.

Amphiuma eyesight is very poor, but they have electrosensors all over the head to detect the electric field given off by all predators and prey alike. Fish, crayfish, and aquatic insects, are food items for a hungry Amphiuma. Recurved teeth make for excellent feeding tools and a darned good defense from predators. Amphiuma are not easy prey. Mud Snakes (Farancia abacura) are finicky eaters that eat only two salamanders, one of which is the Three-toed Amphiuma, the other is the Siren (Siren intermedia).

In this struggle for life it is difficult to determine who is the predator and who is the prey. Some mud snakes are attacked and eaten by Amphiuma even though any self respecting mud snake wants things the other way around. When an Amphiuma bites, it rotates in the water to maximize damage done to the predator or the prey.

You may be wondering why such a fascinating and bizarre animal is so rarely seen in the state. First off, all Amphiuma are very shy and hard to find. They are occasionally caught by fishermen, who often mistake them for eels. However, eels are fish and lack lungs and legs. Sometimes Amphiuma are called 'Congo eels' due to their resemblance to them.

Second, Amphiuma are restricted to swamp-like areas which are rare in Missouri. If the area is converted to some other land use the Amphiuma will eventually disappear. Amphiuma were once very common in the southeastern part of the state. Due to loss of habitat and fowling of the remaining habitat, the animals have become less abundant.

I have found that most people are not interested in animals unless they are cute and fuzzy. That is too bad. Some of life's most intriguing creatures, like Amphiuma, are not cute and are not fuzzy. They are unique and wonderful part of this state's diversity of life. They may sound like an interesting myth but I assure you they are very real and worthy of conservation. They are not a threat to people and they are very intriguing animals. Count yourself lucky to ever catch a glimpse of one of these enigmas of nature!

A.J. Hendershott is an education consultant with the Missouri Department of Conservation.