Description

This large salamander has a sturdy body and a keeled tail. The colour is variable but usually tends towards reddish or yellowish brown, orange or salmon. Canadian individuals tend to have a mottled or netlike pattern on the back. It differs from other salamanders in having a light bar that extends from the eye to the nostril. Total length including tail can reach 22 cm.

Confusing Species

The Northern Two-lined Salamander also has an extremely keeled tail, but it has a yellowish band down the back and lacks the line from the eye to the nostril. The Dusky Salamander has a keeled tail similar to the Spring Salamander and a light line on the face but this extends back from the eye to the corner of the mouth. The Four-toed Salamander is smaller and less robust. It has a constriction at the base of the tail and only four toes on the hind feet.

Distribution

In Canada, the Spring Salamander is limited to extreme southern Quebec. Its distribution southwestward through the Appalachians and Adirondacks to northern Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi. Historically, it may have been found in Ontario.

Habitat

Spring Salamanders inhabits cool springs, mountain brooks, shaded seepages and wet caves and elevations from 90 to 2000 m.

Reproduction

From 11-100 eggs are attached individually to the underside of rocks in cool water. Larvae hatch in late summer or fall and may take up to four years before transforming.

Natural history

Very little is known about the natural history of Spring Salamanders.

Conservation Concerns

Spring Salamander populations are not declining in Canada.