Something lurking just out of sight…
Traveling through the southern portion of our Appalachian Trail tour, we passed through the Southern Blue Ridge, a physiographic province rich in diversity. The streams that originate in high mountains are numerous due to the heavy rainfall and the metamorphic rocks. All this leads to rifles rich in a variety of aquatic insects, on which the subject of this publication dine. Caddisflies, mayflies, beetles and the like tell stories in the waning light of these slippery specters to scare their young larvae. Many hikers, in their tireless lust for Katahdin, pass over these streams without even turning a stone, leaving these creatures in relative obscurity. Today we talk about this mythical creature of yesteryear that I have alluded to a lot, salamanders, newts, snotty otters and their relatives.
Salamanders (‘mandras’) and their meanders
As I mentioned, the Southern Blue Ridge in particular is rich in biodiversity, too far south for glaciers during the last ice age. Combined with the mind-blowing age of the Appalachian mountain range and the phenomenon of orographic precipitation due to unimpeded rise in elevation, this leads to a refuge for several ancient clades. Worldwide, the Southern Blue Ridge contains the greatest diversity of salamander species. On our journey north, we overturned several logs, many stones, and walked more at night than would be preferable. This has allowed us to discover some of these creatures of the night, which I want to share with you today. Everything we’ve found is directly on the Appalachian Trail, so if you find yourself hiking it, I’d recommend keeping an eye out for these slim, slimy guys.
Species 1: black belly salamanders
First of all, the Blackbelly salamander (Desmognathus quadramaculata). We found this voracious little guy in a creek near Rock Gap, around mile 106.
The Blackbelly belongs to the lungless salamander family, meaning it breathes through its skin. When handling these salamanders it is important to keep the skin moist or wear nitrile gloves, so that the oils on the skin do not dry out their respiratory mechanism. It’s generally better to watch them than catch them, but it’s almost impossible to get photos of these guys without having them in your hand. Blackbellies are predators and sometimes feed on other salamanders and insects. Nothing scarier than a cannibalistic salamander, right? These guys are noted for being among the largest of their genus, with this individual measuring around 7 inches long. Notably, they also remain next to streams and springs even after metamorphosing from their aquatic stage.
This species is endemic (found only in) the Southern Blue Ridge. An identifier between this and the shovelnose salamander is the two distinctive rows of spots on the medial side. Like other members of the Desmognato Of the genus, they have a distinctive line from the eye to the jaw, as well as a strong paddle tail for navigating the water. As its name suggests, its belly is actually black!
Species 2: Northern Slimy salamanders
Another fish of the salamander family without lungs, from the physiographic provinces of Ridge-and-Valley and Appalachian Plateau. Weighing 4.6 grams and 7.2 inches long, we have the northern slug salamander (Plethodon glutinosus). Similar to our Blackbelly mentioned above, they breathe through their skin but have some distinct differences. It should be noted that the gender plethodont It does not have an aquatic larval stage and hatches as an adult from eggs that are generally laid underground or under logs. They eat insects and worms on the forest floor and prefer mature hardwood forests as habitat. Like most salamanders, these guys are nocturnal, so the chances of finding one wandering around during the day are slim, but not impossible. This slimy beast must have been looking for the salamander equivalent of a midnight snack when we spotted it crossing the trail at midday in West Virginia.
I think this species complex is among some of the most beautiful salamanders, black and dotted with white dots like the new moon sky. You may be wondering why they are called northern slimy salamanders, so I will explain in detail. Slimy salamanders are a group of about 10 fairly identical salamanders with different ranges and genetics. This one is in the Northern Slimy range so I guess that’s what it is. The titular «slime» is something it produces from glands next to its tail and is a defense mechanism to protect itself from predation. I got dirty in the process of picking this guy up, but he’s harmless to me and I didn’t even try to eat him!
Salamander species 3: Spotted red Triton
Now the ubiquitous eastern newt, particularly the red spotted newt subspecies (Notophthalmus v. greenish). Many hikers are particularly familiar with this brightly colored terrestrial salamander, but I hope to share some details that you may not have known before. The red spotted newt belongs to the family Salamandridae or true salamanders. These salamanders inhabit both coasts of North America, Europe, the Middle East, East Asia, and North Africa for a truly global distribution! The red spotted newt is found in the eastern US, from northern Georgia to Canada, spanning the entire range of the Appalachian Trail. As far as I know, the only species that shares this honor is the northern dusky salamander (Desmognathus drone) that reaches Maine. Now let’s get into what’s really strange about these bugs:
The life cycle of the newt
The newt starts out as an egg, develops into an aquatic larva with gills, and then metamorphoses into a terrestrial “red eft” form that most hikers encounter, as seen in the first image. No big deal, this is pretty standard salamander behavior. Well, the good thing is that they can metamorphose twice. Twice?!? Yeah, after wandering the earth for 2 or 3 years, these guys decide to become aquatic again and take on the form you see above. They develop a strong keeled tail for swimming, retain their lungs, and breed and lay eggs in calm bodies of water. We found this aquatic adult above in a Pennsylvania beaver pond.
The complex life cycle of Notophthalmus viridescens. Of Evolutionary Ecology. (Figure courtesy of ResearchGate/Spring Nature
Completely unrecognizable from the eft stage, which is again distinguished from the larval stage. While metamorphosis is common in amphibians, this type has three distinct forms, as well as a less common neotonic or gilled fourth adult form that never leaves the water. While not all shapes are easily recognizable, the red effects are bright orange as a warning. Newts contain tetrodotoxin, which is an extremely powerful neurotoxin also found in pufferfish, so don’t plan on snacking on them anytime soon.
That’s all for this week.
I hope you enjoyed this salamander snippet. Remember to keep your hands wet when handling them and put the stones back where you found them. Join us later for another amphibian survey and look for some salamanders yourself! Don’t say you walked through the salamander capital of the world and didn’t see a single one haha.
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