The syntopic occurrence of two or more species of salamander larvae may be characterized by interspecific differences in size and ontogeny (Worthington, 1968; Hassinger et al., 1970; Keen, 1975; Taylor et al., 1988). The relative timing of breeding seasons and rates of embryo development, larval development, and growth can play important roles in determining whether the period of coexistence of syntopic larvae is dominated by minimal interaction, potential competition, or interspecific predation (e.g., Worthington, 1968; Wilbur, 1972; Stenhouse, 1985). Throughout much of their overlapping ranges, spotted salamanders (Ambystoma maculatum) are often preceded in the onset of breeding by one week or less by blue-spotted salamanders of the A. lateralejeffersonianum complex (e.g., Mohr, 1930; Bishop, 1941; Cook, 1967; Wilson, 1976). Despite a widespread association, published information on larval ecology where these species co-occur is limited. Previous studies have discussed nocturnal spatial relationships (Anderson and Graham, 1967), thermal preferentia (Stauffer et al., 1983), and aspects of larval development (Mohr, 1930; Bishop, 1941). Experimental studies using pond-based enclosures have explored competitive (Wilbur, 1972; Cortwright, 1988) and predatory relationships (Cortwright, 1988). In this report I compare body growth, ontogenetic development, and diet of syntopic larvae of A. maculatum and the A. lateralejeffersonianum complex (A. jeffersonianum and A. laterale-2 jeffersonianum; Nyman et al., 1988) at two New Jersey ponds in 1977. The study ponds, both in Sussex County, New Jersey, USA, were a vernal-autumnal, limestone sinkhole pond (at maximum ca. 0.75 ha and 2 m deep) near (Anderson and Martino 1966; their Springdale A), and a vernal-autumnal, woodland pond (at maximum ca. 0.05 ha and 1.5 m deep) in Culvers Gap (Nyman, 1987). The pond is only partly shaded by trees along its shoreline and develops extensive, submergent aquatic vegetation (macrophytes and algal mats) in some years, whereas the Culvers Gap pond is shaded much of the day by the surrounding woods and neither macrophytes nor algal mats develop. I determined the onset of breeding by A. maculatum and A. laterale-jeffersonianum complex salamanders at pond by monitoring salamander movements on a nearby road and capturing salamanders with pitfalls along a 9 m fence placed across a natural migrational corridor (J. D. Anderson, pers. comm.). In the pond I captured salamanders with minnow traps on the pond bottom in an area where salamanders were known to enter the pond (Nyman et al., 1988). By these methods I confirmed that the breeding periods of these salamanders were sequential, but overlapping. Ambystoma laterale-jeffersonianum complex salamanders began to arrive at the pond first and males preceded females of each species; however, even the first large migration (13 March 1977), comprised mostly of A. laterale-jeffersonianum complex females (Nyman et al., 1988) and male A. maculatum, contained a small number of female A. maculatum.