A practical method for staging metamorphosis in the tiger salamander Ambystoma tigrinum

The aim of this study was to develop a set of practical metamorphic stages for the tiger salamander Ambystoma tigrinum that would 1) provide an early and quantifiable marker of the onset of metamorphosis and 2) not be dependent on knowledge of maximal values of gill length or tail height. Twenty morphological parameters were obtained from Ambystoma tigrinum larvae as they progressed through laboratory-induced metamorphosis (21 degrees C, continuous light). These parameters included measures of body weight, gill length, and tail height. Initiation or duration of metamorphosis could not be predicted when parameters were expressed relative to the number of days larvae were held in laboratory conditions. Early phases of metamorphosis were characterized by regression of the lower tail fin. Selected morphological parameters were expressed relative to the day on which each subject exhibited complete regression of the lower fin. This technique made it possible to order these parameters into a progressive series of metamorphic phases. Seven stages of metamorphosis were derived from this series, ranging from larvae (stage I) to complete regression of the gills (stage VII). Application of these stages does not require prior knowledge of maximal (initial) values of gill length or tail height.