This is a list of Massachusetts amphibians. It includes all amphibians currently found in Massachusetts. It does not include species found only in captivity. One species is identified as indicated below:
Name | Species/Authority | Order | Family | Range and status | IUCN Red List |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Common mudpuppy | Necturus maculosus | Salamander | Proteidae | Common; Introduced to the Connecticut River in 1936; However, there are records from the Connecticut River in Connecticut as early as 1875; The mudpuppy has also been reported from lakes in Berkshire County which probably means it is native to Western Massachusetts | |
Jefferson salamander | Ambystoma jeffersonianum | Salamander | Ambystomatidae | Uncommon; Found mainly throughout Western Massachusetts; This amphibians range includes the blue spotted/Jefferson salamander hybrid, where both species interbreed and creates hybrids; It is a species of special concern in the Commonwealth due to habitat loss | |
Blue-spotted salamander | Ambystoma laterale | Salamander | Ambystomatidae | Uncommon; Reported from Bristol County, Essex County, Middlesex County, Eastern Worcester County, and Norfolk County; Distinguished from most salamanders by its blue spots; Reports of Western Worcester county may represent the Jefferson salamander; Listed as special concern due to habitat loss | |
Spotted salamander | Ambystoma maculatum | Salamander | Ambystomatidae | Common; Statewide except Nantucket | |
Marbled salamander | Ambystoma opacum | Salamander | Ambystomatidae | Rare; Statewide except Cape Cod, Nantucket, and Dukes County; Threatened in the Commonwealth; There are old records from Plymouth and Essex counties; This species is difficult to locate, making it rare; The fact that Massachusetts is its almost northernmost limit of its range (it is also found in southern New Hampshire) makes it clear why its rare in the state | |
Northern dusky salamander | Desmognathus fuscus | Salamander | Plethodontidae | Common; Statewide except Cape Cod, Dukes, and Nantucket counties | |
Northern two-lined salamander | Eurycea bislineata | Salamander | Plethodontidae | Common; Statewide except Dukes County and Nantucket; Rare in Cape Cod | |
Spring salamander | Gyrinophilus porphyriticus | Salamander | Plethodontidae | Locally common to uncommon; Found in Central and Western Massachusetts | |
Four-toed salamander | Hemidactyllium scutatum | Salamander | Plethodontidae | Common but rarely seen; Statewide except possibly Suffolk county | |
Eastern red-backed salamander | Plethodon cinereus | Salamander | Plethodontidae | Very common; Statewide | |
Eastern newt | Notopthalmus viridescens | Salamander | Salamandridae | Common; Statewide except Nantucket |
Name | Species/authority | Order | Family | Range and status | IUCN Red List |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Eastern spadefoot | Scaphiopus holbrookii | Frog | Scaphiopodidae | Rare; Threatened in the Commonwealth; Most populations are found in Cape Cod and coastal Essex county, but it is also found in the Connecticut River Valley; Due to habitat loss, it is extirpated from inland Essex county, most of Martha Vineyard, and most of the Connecticut River | |
American toad | Anaxyrus americanus | Frog | Bufonidae | Common; Statewide except Nantucket | |
Fowler's toad | Anaxyrus fowleri | Frog | Bufonidae | Common; Formerly statewide; Extirpated from Nantucket, Cuttyhunk Island, Muskeget Island, and parts of Martha's Vineyard due to pesticides and pollution; A population still exists in Tuckernuck Island | |
Gray treefrog | Hyla versicolor | Frog | Hylidae | Common; Statewide except possibly Nantucket | |
Spring peeper | Pseudacris crucifer | Frog | Hylidae | Common; Statewide | |
American bullfrog | Lithobates catesbeiana | Frog | Ranidae | Common; Statewide; Introduced to Nantucket | |
American green frog | Lithobates clamitans | Frog | Ranidae | Common; Statewide | |
Pickerel frog | Lithobates palustris | Frog | Ranidae | Common; Statewide | |
Northern leopard frog | Lithobates pipiens | Frog | Ranidae | Uncommon; Declining; Statewide except Nantucket, Cape Cod, and Dukes County | |
Southern leopard frog | Lithobates sphenocephala | Frog | Ranidae | Introduced; Specimens caught in various areas were probably escaped captives; may soon be established | |
Wood frog | Lithobates sylvatica | Frog | Ranidae | Common; Statewide except Dukes County and Nantucket |
The upland sandpiper is a large sandpiper, closely related to the curlews. Older names are the upland plover and Bartram's sandpiper. In Louisiana, it is also colloquially known as the papabotte. It is the only member of the genus Bartramia. The genus name and the old common name Bartram's sandpiper commemorate the American naturalist William Bartram. The species name longicauda is from Latin longus, "long" and caudus, "tail". The name "Bartram's sandpiper" was made popular by Alexander Wilson, who was taught ornithology and natural history illustration by Bartram.
LeConte's sparrow is one of the smallest New World sparrow species in North America.
The Piney Woods is a temperate coniferous forest terrestrial ecoregion in the Southern United States covering 54,400 square miles (141,000 km2) of East Texas, southern Arkansas, western Louisiana, and southeastern Oklahoma. These coniferous forests are dominated by several species of pine as well as hardwoods including hickory and oak. Historically the most dense part of this forest region was the Big Thicket though the lumber industry dramatically reduced the forest concentration in this area and throughout the Piney Woods during the 19th and 20th centuries. The World Wide Fund for Nature considers the Piney Woods to be one of the critically endangered ecoregions of the United States. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defines most of this ecoregion as the South Central Plains.
The eastern newt is a common newt of eastern North America. It frequents small lakes, ponds, and streams or nearby wet forests. The eastern newt produces tetrodotoxin, which makes the species unpalatable to predatory fish and crayfish. It has a lifespan of 12 to 15 years in the wild, and it may grow to 5 in (13 cm) in length. These animals are common aquarium pets, being either collected from the wild or sold commercially. The striking bright orange juvenile stage, which is land-dwelling, is known as a red eft. Some sources blend the general name of the species and that of the red-spotted newt subspecies into the eastern red-spotted newt.
The massasauga is a rattlesnake species found in midwestern North America from southern Ontario to northern Mexico and parts of the United States in between. Three subspecies are currently recognized including the nominate subspecies described here. Like all rattlesnakes, it is a pit viper, and like all pit vipers, it is venomous.
The Texas Blackland Prairies are a temperate grassland ecoregion located in Texas that runs roughly 300 miles (480 km) from the Red River in North Texas to San Antonio in the south. The prairie was named after its rich, dark soil. Less than 1% of the original Blackland prairie vegetation remains, scattered across Texas in parcels.
Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge, located in southwestern Oklahoma near Lawton, has protected unique wildlife habitats since 1901 and is the oldest managed wildlife facility in the United States Fish and Wildlife Service system. The refuge's location in the geologically unique Wichita Mountains and its areas of undisturbed mixed grass prairie make it an important conservation area. The Wichitas are approximately 500 million years old. Measuring about 59,020 acres (238.8 km2), the refuge hosts a great diversity of species: 806 plant species, 240 species of birds, 36 fish, and 64 reptiles and amphibians are present.
Crotalus viridis is a venomous pit viper species native to the western United States, southwestern Canada, and northern Mexico. Currently, two subspecies are recognized, including the prairie rattlesnake, the nominate subspecies, and the Hopi rattlesnake.
Fowler's toad is a species of toad in the family Bufonidae. The species is native to North America, where it occurs in much of the eastern United States and parts of adjacent Canada. It was previously considered a subspecies of Woodhouse's toad.
Sprague's pipit(Anthus spragueii) is a small songbird (passerine) in the family Motacillidae that breeds in the short- and mixed-grass prairies of North America. Migratory, it spends the winters in the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. Sprague's pipits are unusual among songbirds in that they sing high in the sky, somewhat like a goldfinch or skylark. It is more often identified by its distinctive descending song heard from above than by being seen on the ground. Males and females are cryptically coloured and similar in appearance; they are a buffy brown with darker streaking, slender bills and pinkish to yellow legs. Sprague's pipit summer habitat is primarily native grasslands in the north central prairies of the United States and Canada. The species was named after the botanical illustrator Isaac Sprague.
The North American green toad, Anaxyrus debilis, also known by its old name Bufo debilis, is a species of toad found in the southwestern United States in the states of Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Kansas, and Texas, as well as in northern Mexico in the states of Tamaulipas, San Luis Potosí, Durango, and Zacatecas. It is commonly called green toad.
The Florida softshell turtle is a species of softshell turtle native to the Southeastern United States.
The Lake Woodruff National Wildlife Refuge is part of the United States National Wildlife Refuge System, located in north central Florida, twenty-five miles west of Daytona Beach, off U.S. Highway 17 in DeLeon Springs.
Lake Ilo National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) is located in the U.S. state of North Dakota and is managed from Audubon National Wildlife Refuge by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The refuge consists of Lake Ilo, surrounding wetlands and some upland range, providing habitat for hundreds of species of birds, and numerous fish and mammal species. An average of over 16 inches (40 cm) of precipitation falls annually, supporting a prairie ecosystem.
The fauna of the United States of America is all the animals living in the Continental United States and its surrounding seas and islands, the Hawaiian Archipelago, Alaska in the Arctic, and several island-territories in the Pacific and in the Caribbean. The U.S. has many endemic species found nowhere else on Earth. With most of the North American continent, the U.S. lies in the Nearctic, Neotropic, and Oceanic faunistic realms, and shares a great deal of its flora and fauna with the rest of the American supercontinent.
Scaphiopus holbrookii, commonly known as the eastern spadefoot, is a species of American spadefoot toad endemic to North America.
The oak toad is a species of toad in the family Bufonidae. It is endemic to the coastal regions of southeastern United States. It is regarded as the smallest species of toad in North America, with a length of 19 to 33 mm.
The black mountain salamander is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae.
The California whipsnake also known as the striped racer, is a colubrid snake found in habitats of the coast, desert, and foothills of California.
Massachusetts Reptiles and Amphibians List J.E. Cardoza and P.G. Mirick
USGS Online Guide to the amphibians of North America. Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center. 1997. Checklist of Amphibian Species and Identification Guide: An Online Guide for the Identification of Amphibians in North America north of Mexico. Jamestown, ND: Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center Online.