Search tool	Example of search string in box	What that means to the database
* = "wildcard". Allows a partial letter string to be entered and implies either no or various extension on this letter string	Hyl*	Will find all uses of "Hyl . . ." anywhere in a record: e.g., Hylarana, Hyla, Hylidae, Hylinae, Hylaedactyla.
* = "wildcard". Allows a partial letter string to be entered and implies either no or various extension on this letter string	*Hyla	Will find all uses of ". . . hyla" anywhere in a record: e.g., Hyla, Hylidae, Plectrohyla, Ptychadena hylaea, Adenomera hylaedactyla
	Hyla	Will find all records that contain stand-alone uses of Hyla: e.g., Hyla, Hyla arenicolor
Strings of words without quotation marks	Lithobates pipiens	Interprets this as "Lithobates OR pipiens" so will find the union of all records that contain either "Lithobates" or "pipiens": e.g., Lithobates omiltemanus, Hylorana pipiens
Strings of word with quotation marks	"Lithobates pipiens"	Interprets this as "Lithobates AND pipiens" so will return all records that have the character string "Lithobates pipiens" anywhere within a record: e.g., all members of the Lithobates pipiens complex.
AND statement. Means that the results of the search must include both words held together by an AND	Lithobates AND pipiens	Same as "Lithobates pipiens"
OR statement. Means that the results of the search will all records that have either of the terms held together by an OR	Lithobates OR "Costa Rica"	Recovers all records that contain the word "Lithobates" or "Costa Rica": 402 records inasmuch as this will include all records for the entire amphibian fauna of Costa Rica
Combining Boolean operators within the Basic Search box (AND, OR, NOT, quotation marks)	Lithobates AND "Costa Rica" NOT forreri	Recovers only records that contain the word Lithobates AND "Costa Rica", but excludes any record that contains the word "forreri" in any part of the record: 9 records
Printable HELP file

Search tool	Example of search string in box	What that means to the database
* = "wildcard". Allows a partial letter string to be entered and implies either no or various extension on this letter string	Hyl*	Will find all uses of "Hyl . . ." anywhere in a record: e.g., Hylarana, Hyla, Hylidae, Hylinae, Hylaedactyla.
* = "wildcard". Allows a partial letter string to be entered and implies either no or various extension on this letter string	*Hyla	Will find all uses of ". . . hyla" anywhere in a record: e.g., Hyla, Hylidae, Plectrohyla, Ptychadena hylaea, Adenomera hylaedactyla
Single word	Hyla	Will find all records that contain stand-alone uses of Hyla: e.g., Hyla, Hyla arenicolor
Strings of words without quotation marks	Lithobates pipiens	Interprets this as "Lithobates OR pipiens" so will find the union of all records that contain either "Lithobates" or "pipiens": e.g., Lithobates omiltemanus, Hylorana pipiens
Strings of word with quotation marks	"Lithobates pipiens"	Interprets this as "Lithobates AND pipiens" so will return all records that have the character string "Lithobates pipiens" anywhere within a record: e.g., all members of the Lithobates pipiens complex.
AND statement. Means that the results of the search must include both words held together by an AND	Lithobates AND pipiens	Same as "Lithobates pipiens"
OR statement. Means that the results of the search will all records that have either of the terms held together by an OR	Lithobates OR "Costa Rica"	Recovers all records that contain the word "Lithobates" or "Costa Rica": 402 records inasmuch as this will include all records for the entire amphibian fauna of Costa Rica
Combining Boolean operators within the Basic Search box (AND, OR, NOT, quotation marks)	Lithobates AND "Costa Rica" NOT forreri	Recovers only records that contain the word Lithobates AND "Costa Rica", but excludes any record that contains the word "forreri" in any part of the record: 9 records
Printable HELP file

Amphiuma means Garden, 1821

Class: Amphibia > Order: Caudata > Family: Amphiumidae > Genus: Amphiuma > Species: Amphiuma means

Amphiuma means Garden In Smith, 1821, Select. Correspond. Linnaeus, 1: 333, 599. Type(s): Not stated or known to exist. Type locality: Not stated; from the context, either Charleston, South Carolina, or eastern Florida [USA]; restricted by Schmidt, 1953, Check List N. Am. Amph. Rept., Ed. 6: 27, to "Charleston, South Carolina", USA.

Sireni simile Garden In Smith, 1821, Select. Correspond. Linnaeus, 1: 591. Substitute name for Amphiuma means. Synonymy by Harlan, 1827, J. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, 5: 319; Harlan, 1835, Med. Phys. Res.: 85. Not mentioned by Fouquette and Dubois, 2014, Checklist N.A. Amph. Rept.: 88.

Axolotus lacertinus Jarocki, 1822, Zool. Universal List Animals, 3: XXX. Type(s): Not stated or known to exist. Type locality: XXX. Not Siren lacertina Linnaeus, 1767. Synonymy by Brame and Gorham, 1972, Checklist Living & Fossil Salamand. World (Unpubl. MS): 115. Not mentioned by Fouquette and Dubois, 2014, Checklist N.A. Amph. Rept.: 88.

Chrysodonta larvaeformis Mitchill, 1822, Am. Med. Recorder, 5: 503. Syntypes: 2 specimens, deposition not known. Type locality: "Georgia . . . . Savannah, . . . rice-swamps and muddy waters", Chatham County, Georgia, USA. Synonymy by Wagler, 1830, Nat. Syst. Amph.: 209, and Wagler, 1830, Descript. Icon. Amph., Livr. 2: 7 (under Amphiuma didactylum); Harlan, 1835, Med. Phys. Res.: 85; Gray, 1850, Cat. Spec. Amph. Coll. Brit. Mus., Batr. Grad.: 55.

Amphiuma didactylum Cuvier, 1827, Mem. Mus. Natl. Hist. Nat. Paris, 14: 4. Types: Not designated, although presumably originally in the MNHNP. Type locality: "environs de la Nouvelle-Orléans, de la Floride, de la Géorgie et de la Caroline du sud", USA. Name coined as a synonym of Amphiuma means. Synonymy by Wagler, 1830, Descript. Icon. Amph., Livr. 2: 7 (under Amphiuma didactylum); and Gray, 1850, Cat. Spec. Amph. Coll. Brit. Mus., Batr. Grad.: 55.

Amphiuma didactylum — Wagler, 1830, Nat. Syst. Amph.: 207; Wagler, 1830, Descript. Icon. Amph., Livr. 2: 7.

Sirenoides didactylum — Fitzinger, 1843, Syst. Rept.: 34.

Amphiuma means — Boulenger, 1882, Cat. Batr. Grad. Batr. Apoda Coll. Brit. Mus., Ed. 2: 83.

Amphiuma means means — Goin, 1938, Herpetologica, 1: 128.

English Names

Common Congo Snake (Gray, 1831, in Cuvier, Animal Kingdom (Griffith), 9—Appendix: 109).

Congo Snake (Harlan, 1835, Med. Phys. Res.: 85; Yarrow, 1882, Bull. U.S. Natl. Mus., 24: 20; Wood, 1863, Illust. Nat. Hist., 3: 185; Jordan, 1878, Man. Vert. North. U.S., Ed. 2: 197; Hay, 1892, Annu. Rep. Dept. Geol. Nat. Res. Indiana for 1891: 420; Rhoads, 1895, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, 47: 406; Stejneger and Barbour, 1917, Check List N. Am. Amph. Rept.: 6).

Two-toed Congo Snake (Jordan, 1878, Man. Vert. North. U.S., Ed. 2: 197).

Conger-Eel (Löding, 1922, Mus. Pap. Alabama Mus. Nat. Hist., 5: 9).

Lampereel (Löding, 1922, Mus. Pap. Alabama Mus. Nat. Hist., 5: 9).

Ditch Eel (Brimley, 1907, J. Elisha Mitchell Sci. Soc., 23: 151).

Blind Eel (Stejneger and Barbour, 1917, Check List N. Am. Amph. Rept.: 6).

Amphiuma (Hay, 1892, Annu. Rep. Dept. Geol. Nat. Res. Indiana for 1891: 420; Schmidt, 1953, Check List N. Am. Amph. Rept., Ed. 6: 27).

Congo Eel (Stejneger and Barbour, 1917, Check List N. Am. Amph. Rept.: 6; Carr, 1940, Univ. Florida Biol. Sci. Ser., 3: 43; Schmidt, 1953, Check List N. Am. Amph. Rept., Ed. 6: 27).

Mud Eel (Schmidt, 1953, Check List N. Am. Amph. Rept., Ed. 6: 27).

Two-toed Congo Eel (Bishop, 1943, Handb. Salamanders: 50; Viosca, 1949, Pop. Sci. Bull., Louisiana Acad. Sci., 1: 9).

Two-toed Mud Eel (Schmidt, 1953, Check List N. Am. Amph. Rept., Ed. 6: 27).

Amphiuma (Conant, Cagle, Goin, Lowe, Neill, Netting, Schmidt, Shaw, Stebbins, and Bogert, 1956, Copeia, 1956: 173).

Two-toed Amphiuma (Bishop, 1943, Handb. Salamanders: 50; Schmidt, 1953, Check List N. Am. Amph. Rept., Ed. 6: 27; Conant, Cagle, Goin, Lowe, Neill, Netting, Schmidt, Shaw, Stebbins, and Bogert, 1956, Copeia, 1956: 173; Conant, 1975, Field Guide Rept. Amph. E. Cent. N. Am., Ed. 2: 245; Collins, Huheey, Knight, and Smith, 1978, Herpetol. Circ., 7: 4; Collins, 1997, Herpetol. Circ., 25: 5; Crother, Boundy, Campbell, de Queiroz, Frost, Highton, Iverson, Meylan, Reeder, Seidel, Sites, Taggart, Tilley, and Wake, 2001 "2000", Herpetol. Circ., 29: 19; Tilley, Highton, and Wake, 2012, in Crother (ed.), Herpetol. Circ., 39: 14; Collins and Taggart, 2009, Standard Common Curr. Sci. Names N. Am. Amph. Turtles Rept. Crocodil., ed. 6: 10; Tilley, Highton, and Wake, 2012, in Crother (ed.), Herpetol. Circ., 39: 24; Powell, Conant, and Collins, 2016, Field Guide Rept. Amph. E. North Am., 4th ed.: 37; Highton, Bonett, and Jockusch, 2017, in Crother (ed.), Herpetol. Circ., 43: 23).

Two-toed Salamander (Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 27).

Distribution

Coastal plain from eastern Virginia to the southern tip of Florida and west through southern Georgia, southern Alabama and southern Mississippi, to southeastern Louisiana north of Lake Pontchartrain, USA.

Geographic Occurrence

Natural Resident: United States of America, United States of America - Alabama, United States of America - Florida, United States of America - Georgia, United States of America - Louisiana, United States of America - Mississippi, United States of America - North Carolina, United States of America - South Carolina, United States of America - Virginia

Endemic: United States of America

Comment

See detailed accounts by Salthe, 1973, Cat. Am. Amph. Rept., 148: 1–2, Petranka, 1998, Salamand. U.S. Canada: 132–134, and Johnson and Owen, 2005, in Lannoo (ed.), Amph. Declines: 642–645. Raffaëlli, 2013, Urodeles du Monde, 2nd ed.: 228, provided a brief account, photograph, and map. Altig and McDiarmid, 2015, Handb. Larval Amph. US and Canada: 98–99, provided an account of larval morphology. See account of biology and life history in South Florida by Meshaka and Lane, 2015, Herpetol. Conserv. Biol., 10 (Monogr. 5): 10–13. Raffaëlli, 2022, Salamanders & Newts of the World: 497–499, provided an account, summarizing systematics, life history, population status, and distribution (including a polygon map).

External links:

Please note: these links will take you to external websites not affiliated with the American Museum of Natural History. We are not responsible for their content.

For access to general information see Wikipedia
For additional sources of general information from other websites search Google
For access to relevant technical literature search Google Scholar
For images search CalPhoto Images and Google Images
To search the NIH genetic sequence database, see GenBank
For additional information see AmphibiaWeb report
For information on conservation status and distribution see the IUCN Redlist
For information on distribution, habitat, and conservation see the Map of Life
For related information on conservation and images as well as observations see iNaturalist
For access to available specimen data for this species, from over 350 scientific collections, go to Vertnet.