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Abstract
The greater siren, Siren lacertina, is the heaviest and third longest salamander in the western hemisphere, was described nearly two and a half centuries ago and is abundant in the core of its distribution range. However, there is relatively little information available regarding the natural history and population ecology of this presumed common large vertebrate. In addition to testing two temporary marking techniques, I used passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags to permanently mark individual greater siren in an isolated wetland. Thirteen months of trapping resulted in 470 S. lacertina captures. Of 271 marked animals, 83 (30.6%) were recaptured 174 times. Robust design top model estimates in program MARK estimated that 246.9 29 (SE) Siren lacertina were in Dry Bay during the study period. Monthly survival rates were 0.88 0.04 (SE) and 0.80 0.03 (SE) for Robust design and Cormack-Jolly Seber top model estimates, respectively.