The salamander is one of the most fascinating creatures in a world full of fascinating creatures , Like its distant relative the salamander, it is a completely aquatic salamander with gills and a tail fin.
It is born, lives a long life , and finally dies in the water.
Unlike the axolotl, the axolotl or cave salamander is endemic to an area called the Dinaric Karst found in former Yugoslavia and Italy.
– Appearance –
In line with its scientific name, olm has a long and curved body, like a non-pigmented snake, with wrinkles on the edges of skeletal muscles .
It has a short, flat tail and a fin that helps the animal swim. The olm appears to be evolving out of its limbs, as they are very small and have lost their digits.
For example, animals have three fingers on their front legs, while most salamanders have four. It has fewer fingers on its hind legs.
it has only two, while the other newt has five. Its skin is thin and white, and its internal organs can be seen from its abdomen.
The skin is also protected by a layer of mucus. The furry gills are red.
olm's head is very long in proportion to its body. It has a blunt nose and a small mouth with small teeth.
Young adult OLMs can be distinguished from older OLMs, because they may have yellow or red spots on their bodies, and their eyes are easier to see.
As they grow, their eyes will deteriorate. Females are larger than males, but it's difficult to tell the sex unless you flip them over. The male's cloaca is larger.
– Diet –
olm primarily eats insects and insect larvae , but it will eat any prey it can grab and hold on to.
It also eats very small fish, snails and other mollusks , worms and eggs. It also eats crumbs. Although its teeth are small, the cave salamander does not chew but instead swallows its prey whole.
It would eat large amounts of food if it could, and be able to store food to the point where it could go years without eating.
olm One adaptation developed in response to food shortages is to reduce their ability to metabolize . It can even start feeding on its own tissue.
Olms are also seen cannibalizing each other from time to time.
Habitat -
Cave salamanders are found in water caves in the Dinaric Alps near the Adriatic Sea , usually at the entrances of limestone caves.
Seawater is rich in oxygen and has a slightly acidic pH, keeping the temperature between 41 and 59 degrees Fahrenheit.
Subspecies P. anguinus parkelj or black olm lives in warmer waters.
Water temperature also determines how the axolotl is born and how quickly the larvae grow.
Reproduction and Life Cycle–
Olms have only been seen in captivity. They only reproduce every 12.5 years, and both sexes do not reach reproductive maturity until around 14 years of age.
During the male claims the territory and defends it while waiting for the female to pass by.
The sexes can now be distinguished because the male's cloaca is swollen , there are lines on the tail, the fins are slightly curled, and the skin color is brighter.
When females enter the male's territory, they perform a courtship ritual, which ends with the male placing a packet of sperm, which the female takes into the cloaca and stores the sperm in the spermatheca.
The sperm then fertilizes her egg . Females mate with only one male, but males mate with more than one female.
Then, the female olm establishes her own territory away from the male. She carries the fertilized eggs for two to three days and then begins placing them under rocks.
She can lay eggs for up to 25 days. There are usually 5 to 70 eggs . They start out at about 0.16 to 0.2 inches and then expand to 0.31 to 0.35 inches as they absorb water.
Females guard them to 6 months . The temperature of the water plays an important role in determining when the eggs will hatch.
Eggs in cooler temperatures hatch later than eggs in warmer temperatures.
When the eggs hatch, the larvae are approximately .8 inches long and are independent.
olm Tadpoles do not undergo metamorphosis, but are smaller versions of their parents .
