Family: Plethodontidae, Lungless Salamanders view all from this family
Description 3 1/2-8 1/4" (8.9-20.8 cm). Largest, most robust, and most aquatic dusky salamander. Pale line from eye to angle of jaw. Black above, with greenish blotches; belly uniformly dark brown or black; with yellow flecking in young. Two rows of light dots on each side. Tail sharply keeled on top. Costal grooves, 14.
Breeding June to July. Female lays 15-40 eggs, singly, on undersides of stones in stream bed. Larvae hatch August to September at 3/4" (19 mm), transform when 2 1/4-3 1/2" (5.7-8.9 cm). Sexually mature in 3 1/2 years.
Habitat Prefers sizable swift and boulder-strewn mountain streams, at elevations of 1,600-5,000' (488-1,524 m).
Range S. West Virginia through mountains to ne. Georgia; scattered populations in South Carolina and Georgia Piedmont.
Discussion This husky dusky rarely ventures beyond a stream's splash zone. Though nocturnal, it sometimes basks by day on west rocks. Agile in the water, it darts quickly to safety when disturbed. It used to be sold as fish bait in the Piedmont, which may explain its presence there. Sometimes plagued by leeches. Feeds on insects, snails, small salamanders.
