| Black mountain salamander | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Amphibia |
| Order: | Urodela |
| Family: | Plethodontidae |
| Subfamily: | Plethodontinae |
| Genus: | Desmognathus |
| Species: | D. welteri |
| Binomial name | |
| Desmognathus welteri Barbour, 1950 | |
The black mountain salamander (Desmognathus welteri) is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae.
It is endemic to the southern Appalachian Mountains in the south-eastern United States. Its natural habitats are temperate forests, rivers, freshwater marshes and springs.
The black mountain salamander is found in an area of the Appalachian Mountains covering about 20,000 square kilometres (4,900,000 acres). Its range includes eastern Kentucky, southwestern Virginia, and eastern Tennessee. It is found at heights varying from 300 to 1,220 metres (980 to 4,000 ft) above sea level. Its natural habitat is wooded mountainous countryside where it hides under rocks and logs in swift flowing streams, pools, and wet ditches. [1]
It shares the same range as the seal salamander (Desmognathus monticola) and northern dusky salamander (Desmognathus fuscus) which are both more terrestrial, and the blackbelly salamander (Desmognathus quadramaculatus) which shares its aquatic habits. [2]
The black mountain salamander is one of a number of similar looking species of dusky salamanders inhabiting the upland locations in which it is found. It has a robust body about 12 cm (5 in) long with short, stout limbs. The colour is variable but the upper parts are usually pale or medium brown with an indistinct pattern of paler markings. The under side is whitish with dark spots and blotches. [3]
Courtship behaviour is not known for the black mountain salamander but reproduction takes place in the spring or summer. The female lays clusters of eggs in or just beside small fast flowing streams, in moist crevices, and among wet leaves in the splash zone. About 25 eggs with short stalks are attached to one another like a bunch of grapes. The eggs have large yolks and the larvae develop for some time inside them. The female guards and broods the eggs until they hatch. [4] The larvae are aquatic and usually occupy quiet shallow areas of streams. The larval period lasts twenty to twenty-four months. After metamorphosis, the juveniles seem to occupy rather deeper water than the adults or spend more time on land, perhaps to avoid competition or to avoid encounters with blackbelly salamanders, which are cannibalistic. Black mountain salamanders are believed to mature at four to five years, at a snout to vent length of about 5 centimetres (2.0 in), and have been known to live for twenty years in captivity. [2]
The black mountain salamander is very secretive during daytime and may largely forage at night. The diet largely consists of flies, beetles and other insects, and the larvae of flies, butterflies and moths. [2]
The population of black mountain salamanders seems to be stable or in slight decline although detailed studies have not been performed. The areas in which it occurs are not heavily populated and its habitat is not under threat. Road building and strip mining have caused an increase in silting in some areas and in West Virginia the salamander is probably now rare. [1] [2]
Holbrook's southern dusky salamander, previously known as just the southern dusky salamander, is a species of salamander endemic to the southeastern United States. Older sources often refer to it as the eared triton. Formerly abundant, it has precipitously declined since the 1960s.
The Cumberland dusky salamander is a species of salamander in the family of lungless salamanders, Plethodontidae. It is endemic to the United States. Its natural habitats are temperate forests and rivers. This species is threatened by habitat loss.
The seepage salamander is a small, terrestrial species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae. It is endemic to the United States. They are found in small areas of Tennessee, North Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama. Its natural habitats are temperate forests, intermittent rivers, and freshwater springs. It gets its name from the seepages around which it lives. It is very similar in its appearance and life history to the pygmy salamander. These two species differ greatly from the other Desmognathus species. They are the smallest salamanders in the genus, measuring only 3–5 cm (1–2 in) in length. They are also the only two terrestrial, direct-developing Desmognathus species. However, the two species are not often seen to coexist, differing in distribution by elevation; although there are exceptions. The seepage salamander is currently listed as Near Threatened, with its numbers declining in most of states in which it is found. It is threatened by habitat loss, with logging having a major effect.
The Ouachita dusky salamander is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae. It is endemic to the states of Arkansas and Oklahoma in the United States. The specific epithet is in honor of Herbert Hutchinson Brimley and his younger brother, Clement Samuel Brimley, both of whom were zoologists.
The Carolina mountain dusky salamander is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae.
The dwarf black-bellied salamander is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae. It is endemic to the United States.
Desmognathus fuscus is a species of amphibian in the family Plethodontidae. The species is commonly called the dusky salamander or northern dusky salamander to distinguish it from populations in the southern United States which form several distinct species, the southern dusky salamanders. The northern dusky salamander is the most widespread representative of its genus in Canada. It can be found in eastern North America from extreme eastern Canada in New Brunswick south to South Carolina. The size of the species' total population is unknown, but is assumed to easily exceed 100,000. The species' habitat differs somewhat geographically; dusky salamanders in the northern part of the range prefer rocky woodland streams, seepages, and springs, while those in the south favor floodplains, sloughs, and muddy places along upland streams. They are most common where water is running or trickling. They hide under various objects, such as leaves or rocks, either in or near water. Alternatively, they may enter burrows for protection. The dusky salamander lays its eggs close to water under moss or rocks, in logs, or in stream-bank cavities. The larval stage which follows is normally aquatic.
The imitator salamander is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae. It is endemic to the Appalachian Mountains in the Eastern United States.
The shovelnose salamander is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae. It is endemic to the United States.
The seal salamander is a species of lungless salamander that is endemic to the Eastern United States.
The Allegheny Mountain dusky salamander is a species in the Plethodontidae family. It is found in the eastern United States, in the Niagara Glen Nature Reserve adjacent to the lower Niagara River in southern Ontario, and in southern Quebec, Canada. Its natural habitats are temperate forests, rivers, intermittent rivers, freshwater springs, and rocky areas.
The Ocoee salamander is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae.
The Blue Ridge dusky salamander is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae.
The blackbelly salamander is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae. It is endemic to the United States. Its natural habitats are rivers, intermittent rivers, and freshwater springs. It is threatened by habitat loss.
The pygmy salamander is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae. It is endemic to the United States in the southern Appalachians in North Carolina and Tennessee.
The northern two-lined salamander is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae found in Canada and the United States. Its natural habitats are temperate forests, temperate shrubland, rivers, intermittent rivers, freshwater marshes, freshwater springs, arable land, and urban areas. It is more water-oriented than the related northern redback salamander, and can often be found in and around water such as rain puddles, streams, swamps, and damp stream beds, whereas the northern redback tends to be found in damp ground, but usually not near open water.
The spring salamander is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae It is found in Canada and the United States. The generic name, Gyrinophilus, means "tadpole lover" and refers to the long period of time it spends as a gilled larva before maturing. The specific name, porphyriticus, is Latin from Greek, meaning the color of porphyry, a purple stone, and this salamander has also been called the purple salamander.
The red-cheeked salamander, Jordan's salamander, Jordan's redcheek salamander, or Appalachian woodland salamander is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae. It is endemic to the Appalachian Mountains in the eastern United States.
The northern pygmy salamander is a terrestrial species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae and genus Desmognathus. Along with the southern pygmy and the seepage salamander, these are some of the smallest salamander species in North America and can be found in higher elevations in the southern Appalachians.
