350:
of the
Northern two-lined salamander; where the male nudges and rubs his chin on the females’ head and snout. The male may engage in ‘push-ups’ using his hind legs, and begin to position the base of his tail under the females. If receptive, she will straddle his tail as they walk in unison, while the male arches his back. A spermatophore, approximately 4 mm high is deposited on the ground in the females path, which she picks up with her cloaca. After mating, there seems to be a prolonged period in which the females deposit eggs, taking place from September to February. Few biologists have found eggs of the spotted-tail salamander, suggesting that females seek difficult to access places, such as springs, streams and rim stone pools deep within caves and crevices. In Missouri, eggs have been found laid singly or attached to the sides of rimstone pools, on silt deposits or on the bottom of small pools. Recently laid eggs are white, with two jelly membranes surrounding the embryo. Egg diameter ranges from 2.5 to 3.2 mm. Females can produce between 5–120 eggs.
362:. Larvae have been found in both surface streams, and in cave streams and pools. It is thought that larvae found in surface streams may have been washed out of caves and crevices by heavy rains. Spotted-tail salamander larvae are predators, and feed primarily on benthic invertebrates, such as snails, ostracods, copepods, isopods, mayflies, stoneflies, beetles and flies, of which ostracods, snails and fly larvae are the most common dietary item. Prey is captured by slowly crawling over the substrate and grasping the invertebrate by the mouth and swallowing it whole, thus prey is limited by the gape of the salamanders mouth. From hatching to metamorphosis to a terrestrial adult takes between 6 and 18 months, although this period is variable by region. Larvae may attain sizes of 70 mm (33 mm snout-to-vent-length) by the time of metamorphosis.
337:
42:
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and having extremely poor (to useless) eyesight when compared with the vivid orange and bright-eyed spotted-tail salamander. Additionally, true cave salamanders, including the olm, spend their entire lives as fully-aquatic amphibians, while the spotted-tail salamander is not limited to an exclusively
349:
The courtship and mating season is not well documented in this species, although available data suggests it occurs in the summer, continuing to early autumn. Observations made from a pair maintained in captivity are summarized as follows: The courtship of this species is described as similar to that
276:
The spotted-tail salamander is a relatively large lungless salamander, ranging in total length from 10 to 20 cm (4 to 8 in). The tail makes up a significant proportion of the total length, up to 60–65%. Post-metamorphic individuals have orange to reddish orange backs and a pale, unmarked
285:
Spotted-tail salamanders are typically found in areas with exposed limestone or other calcareous rock, particularly in crevices of rock faces, bluffs and caves. This species is also frequently found hundreds of metres from the mouths of caves, far beyond the twilight zone of the cave. Despite the
243:. This species is, somewhat vaguely, referred to by the common name of 'cave salamander'; however, it is not restricted to dwelling inside deep caverns, but is known for inhabiting surface-level, terrestrial, woodland habitats, as well. More often than not, the
277:
ventral surface. The dorsal surface of the body is heavily marked with irregularly spaced spots and dashes. The limbs of the spotted-tail salamander are long. There are 14–15 costal grooves on the side of the body. This species has a prehensile tail.
286:
alternative name, the spotted-tail salamander is not restricted to caves, and may be found in forests near bluffs and rocky crevices and around springs, and also under moist rocks and logs. This species is found in
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Rudolph, D.C. (1978). "Aspects of the larval ecology of five
Plethodontid salamanders of the western Ozarks".
860:
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188:
41:
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263:), another species which, like the olm, inhabits caves that never see daylight, thus lacking skin
58:
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Handbook of
Salamanders: The Salamanders of the United States, of Canada, and of Lower California
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Organ, J.A. (1968). "Courtship behavior and spermatophore of the cave salamander,
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985:
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892:
244:
17:
883:
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A Field Guide to the
Reptiles and Amphibians: Eastern and Central North America
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Peterson Field Guides: Reptiles and
Amphibians (Eastern/Central North America)
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465:. Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. Archived from
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247:'cave salamander' refers to the "true" cave salamanders, such as the
115:
854:
814:
729:
532:. Washington, District of Columbia: Smithsonian Institution Press.
335:
671:. Jefferson City, Missouri: Missouri Department of Conservation.
964:
330:
858:
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in West
Virginia: its distribution, ecology and life history".
358:
Larval spotted-tail salamanders appear similar to other larval
600:; Richardson, B.L. (1976). "Feeding ecology of the salamander
491:. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles. pp. 24.1–24.2
248:
693:
Amphibians of North
America: A Guide to Field Identification
604:
in the entrance, twilight zone, and dark zone of caves".
838:"Fluctuations in a population of the cave salamander"
867:
760:
Proceedings of the West
Virginia Academy of Science
453:
451:
564:Proceedings of the United States National Museum
502:Status and Conservation of Midwestern Amphibians
437:. New York, New York: Houghton Mifflin Company.
406:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2022-1.RLTS.T59269A196339688.en
255:) of Europe. It is rarely used to refer to the
504:. Iowa City, Iowa: University of Iowa Press.
8:
381:IUCN SSC Amphibian Specialist Group (2022).
1171:Taxa named by Constantine Samuel Rafinesque
695:. New York, New York: Golden Press. p. 160
530:Salamanders of the United States and Canada
855:
783:. London: Comstock Publishing Associates.
556:"The life history of the cave salamander,
524:
522:
520:
518:
67:
40:
31:
404:
650:. New York, New York: Houghton Mifflin.
842:National Speleological Society Bulletin
669:The Amphibians and Reptiles of Missouri
646:Conant, R.; J.T. Collins, J.T. (1998).
370:
624:The Reptiles and Amphibians of Alabama
376:
374:
754:; Brant, P. Jr.; Dowler, B. (1967). "
642:
640:
7:
1161:Extant Pleistocene first appearances
626:. Auburn, Alabama: Auburn Printing.
1141:IUCN Red List least concern species
392:IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
25:
92:
1156:Amphibians of the United States
667:Johnson, T.; Love, K. (1987).
576:10.5479/si.00963801.30-1443.67
1:
1166:Amphibians described in 1822
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345:Courtship and reproduction
220:spotted-tailed salamander
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89:Scientific classification
87:
65:
56:
48:
39:
34:
487:Hutchison, V.H. (1966).
281:Habitat and distribution
35:Spotted-tail salamander
836:Williams, A.A. (1980).
803:The American Naturalist
528:Petranka, J.W. (1998).
606:Annales de Spéléologie
558:Spelerpes maculicaudus
399:: e.T59269A196339688.
341:
268:amphibious lifestyle.
500:Lannoo, M.J. (1998).
469:on September 28, 2012
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622:Mount, R.H. (1975).
27:Species of amphibian
261:Ambystoma mexicanum
59:Conservation status
342:
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1090:Open Tree of Life
861:Taxon identifiers
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16:(Redirected from
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385:Eurycea lucifuga
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253:Proteus anguinus
234:brook salamander
225:Eurycea lucifuga
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198:Eurycea lucifuga
180:E. lucifuga
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51:Eurycea lucifuga
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18:Eurycea lucifuga
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716:(Rafinesque)".
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1103:SeaLifeBase
1038:NatureServe
986:iNaturalist
921:AmphibiaWeb
893:Wikispecies
752:Green, N.B.
584:10088/13873
473:October 17,
412:20 December
340:In Arkansas
272:Description
245:common name
1135:Categories
789:0801482135
777:Bishop, S.
766:: 297–304.
701:0307636623
677:1887247092
656:0395904528
632:0817300546
612:: 175–182.
598:Peck, S.B.
538:1588343081
510:0877456321
443:0395904528
427:Conant, R.
366:References
205:Rafinesque
319:Tennessee
174:Species:
112:Kingdom:
106:Eukaryota
1043:2.102314
1004:10955025
884:Q2276281
878:Wikidata
848:: 49–52.
779:(1994).
691:(1978).
554:(1906).
433:(1998).
315:Oklahoma
307:Virginia
303:Kentucky
299:Missouri
295:Illinois
292:Arkansas
152:Family:
136:Amphibia
126:Chordata
122:Phylum:
116:Animalia
102:Domain:
79:IUCN 3.1
1146:Eurycea
978:5218351
965:1019113
823:2424785
738:1442027
560:(Cope)"
360:Eurycea
327:Indiana
288:Alabama
265:pigment
257:axolotl
236:in the
230:species
228:) is a
167:Eurycea
162:Genus:
146:Urodela
142:Order:
132:Class:
77: (
1115:uBio:
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1069:202652
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1017:173691
821:
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736:
718:Copeia
699:
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630:
536:
508:
441:
329:, and
323:Kansas
238:family
207:, 1822
49:Adult
1118:25842
1108:61428
1030:59269
999:IRMNG
991:27123
952:3D3H6
819:JSTOR
734:JSTOR
1077:ODNR
1051:NCBI
1025:IUCN
1012:ITIS
973:GBIF
926:4053
785:ISBN
722:1968
697:ISBN
673:ISBN
652:ISBN
628:ISBN
534:ISBN
506:ISBN
475:2012
439:ISBN
414:2023
397:2022
331:Ohio
214:The
960:EoL
947:CoL
934:ASW
908:ADW
811:doi
807:100
726:doi
580:hdl
572:doi
401:doi
249:olm
232:of
218:or
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846:42
844:.
840:.
817:.
805:.
764:39
762:.
732:.
720:.
639:^
610:31
608:.
578:.
568:30
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562:.
517:^
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450:^
429:;
395:.
389:.
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20:)
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
