Key Characters: Long, slender toes; broad snout; no
nasolabial grooves; wide head; belly paler than sides and back; cloacal
opening surrounded by gray.
Similar Species: Blue-spotted salamander, silvery salamander,
slimy salamander, smallmouth salamander.
Description: A long (up to 17 cm TL), brown or dark
gray salamander with spindly limbs. Head distinctly wider than those
of blue-spotted and smallmouth salamanders, snout relatively longer
and broader, and legs and toes longer. Adpressed limbs overlap by 2-4
costal folds. Costal grooves 12-13. Cloacal walls of breeding male greatly
swollen with glands that produce spermatophores. Larva has a large head,
unpigmented throat, long, slender toes, and intensively pigmented tail
fin.
Habitat: Upland deciduous forest, especially beech-maple
forests of extreme eastern Illinois.
Natural History: Subterranean adults are seldom seen
outside of the breeding season, but may occasionally be found in leaf
litter or under logs. Diet includes beetles, centipedes, slugs, worms,
and other invertebrates. During February-March rains, adults migrate
several hundred meters to congregate and breed in scattered vernal woodland
ponds or fish-free permanent ponds. The 180-210 eggs (2-2.5 mm diameter)
enclosed within jelly-like masses (usually 14-22 eggs per mass) are
attached to twigs and stems in water. Eggs hatch in less than a month
and larvae remain in pond 2-3 months where they prey on invertebrates
and other amphibian larvae. Predators of adults include skunks, raccoons,
and snakes.
Status: Threatened in Illinois. First found in Illinois
in 1990, known to occur at only a few localities in the Wabash Border
Division
(see distribution map, above).
