Cave Salamander

Media
Image of a cave salamander
Scientific Name
Eurycea lucifuga
Family
Plethodontidae (lungless salamanders) in the order Caudata (salamanders)
Description

The cave salamander is a medium-sized salamander with a long tail. It is normally bright orange but can vary from yellow brown to orange red. Most of the body is covered with distinct dark brown or black spots. The belly is usually yellow orange and without spots. There are 13 or 14 riblike grooves along the side. The end of the tail is often black. Adult females are often larger than males.

Similar species: There have been several reports of unusual color patterns of cave salamanders throughout their Missouri range. For example, some individuals are heavily pigmented with black, while others lack almost all pigment. Additional research is needed to determine if hybridization is occurring with related species (such as the long-tailed salamander) or if populations are slowly becoming genetically specialized for life only in caves.

Size

Adult length: 4–6 inches; occasionally to more than 7 inches.

Where To Find
Cave Salamander Distribution Map

Throughout most of the southern half of Missouri, with the exception of the Mississippi Alluvial Basin of the Bootheel and the Osage Plains of western Missouri.

In Missouri, cave salamanders are confined to limestone-outcrop areas in the Ozark Plateau. Although it mostly occurs in caves, the cave salamander can also live in wooded areas, along rocky streams and springs, under rocks on glades during the spring, and even in wells and spring-fed swamps. Those dwelling in caves live mainly in the twilight zone (the dimly lit area beyond the cave entrance) but also occur far back in areas of permanent darkness.

Cave salamanders are good climbers and can cling to walls with their wet bodies. Their long tails help support them on stalactites and stalagmites.

In habitats other than caves, this species is nocturnal and spends daylight hours under rocks or rotten logs. After a heavy rain, cave salamanders often rest on rocks or boulders during the day. Adults occur under flat rocks on rocky, open hillsides during the spring, when the soil is quite moist.

If pursued, cave salamanders will jump and scamper away with remarkable agility. A cave salamander also waves its tail to distract a predator's attention away from its head.

The cave salamander eats a variety of small arthropods, especially isopods (pillbugs), ostracods (seed shrimp), and dipterans (true flies and their larvae).

A common amphibian of the Ozark Plateau.

As with all animals living in caves, this species should never be disturbed. The ecological balance in a cave is extremely fragile, and any disturbance could be dangerous to this balance.

Life Cycle

Courtship and mating likely occur in the summer or early autumn, with egg laying from August to October but also sometimes into November and even February. The prolonged egg-laying period apparently corresponds to low stream flow in cave systems. Females usually lay eggs in underground habitats, especially in caves with streams, although they may also deposit them in springs or rocky streams outside of caves.

The female lays some 60–120 eggs, singly or in clusters of up to about 30, on the stream bottom or on the sides of rocks in streams or small rimstone pools. The larvae are gilled and hatch in about 10–20 days. Most will live 12–15 months in the water. When ready to leave the water, the young may be just over 2 inches in length. They reach adulthood after another 1 or 2 years.

Our beautiful Ozark landscapes are a genuine treasure to Missourians — for relaxation, tourism, and more. These natural areas include caves, springs, and rocky streams. They are unique combination of geology, cool clear groundwater, ferns, trees, birds, and fish. The cave salamander is a valuable component of these places.

Caves and associated underground habitats are important to the long-term survival of cave salamanders and many other salamanders, which require them for egg-laying sites and shelter from hot, dry summer months. As with all animals living in caves, increased human disturbance can negatively affect cave salamanders. The ecological balance in a cave is extremely fragile, and any disturbance, such as pollution of groundwater, can be harmful to this balance.

Well-adapted to life in darkness and semidarkness, cave salamanders are predators of small organisms and food for larger creatures such as fish, birds, reptiles, and mammals. Their ability to run quickly from danger and tail-wagging defensive behavior are signs that plenty of predators seek them.

This is a member of the lungless salamander family (Plethodontidae). It’s a large family with 27 genera and about 443 species. The family probably originated in the southern Appalachian Mountains; its members now occur over the eastern half of North America, the West Coast, and into Mexico, Central America, and northern South America. A few species also occur in southern Europe and South Korea.

The lungless salamander family is named because the adults lack lungs and most lack gills; the oxygen they require is taken from their environment through the skin and mucous membrane of the mouth.

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About Reptiles and Amphibians in Missouri
Missouri’s herptiles comprise 43 amphibians and 75 reptiles. Amphibians, including salamanders, toads, and frogs, are vertebrate animals that spend at least part of their life cycle in water. They usually have moist skin, lack scales or claws, and are ectothermal (cold-blooded), so they do not produce their own body heat the way birds and mammals do. Reptiles, including turtles, lizards, and snakes, are also vertebrates, and most are ectothermal, but unlike amphibians, reptiles have dry skin with scales, the ones with legs have claws, and they do not have to live part of their lives in water.