Mountain Dusky Salamander

Desmognathus ochrophaeus

Mountain Dusky Salamander

MUSA

Status

The Mountain Dusky Salamander is abundant in the mountains and upper Piedmont regions of the Southeast.

Description

These small salamanders (7–11.1 cm) exhibit great variation in color, size, and body proportions. Young animals are usually spotted dorsally, while the adults may be dark brown or light brown with an orange-red zigzag pattern. Some populations appear to imitate the local population of Plethodon jordani with individuals showing red cheeks, red legs, or brassy flecking. The best diagnostic characteristic separating this species from its sympatric congeners is the rounded, more tapered tail.

Distribution

This species occurs primarily in upland areas from the Adirondack Mountains of New York to northeast Georgia. A disjunct population occurs in west-central Georgia.

Habitat

Desmognathus ochrophaeus has the broadest altitudinal distribution of any desmognathine salamander, reaching the highest elevations in the eastern United States. At low elevations this species occurs primarily under rocks, logs or leaves near stream margins, springs, or seepage areas, where the ground is water saturated. Adults will often move far into the adjacent woodlands, particularly during rains. These salamanders become more terrestrial at higher elevations, apparently in response to increased humidity (Hairston 1949; Tilley 1973c).

Special Requirements

Desmognathus ochrophaeus requires mesic woodlands, usually hardwoods or mixed pine-hardwood, with springs, seeps, or rocky streams. Wet, mossy, rock faces are preferred by this species.

Breeding Habits

The female usually lays her eggs in summer, with clutch sizes varying from 5 to 40. The female remains with the eggs until hatching (approximately six weeks). The larval period is two to eight months, with transformed individuals averaging 10–12 mm, rarely 15 mm (Tilley 1973b).

Food Habits

This salamander’s diet consists of small arthropods and earthworms.

Management Suggestions

Protection of wooded stream margins is important to this semiterrestrial salamander. Buffer zones should be maintained along upland creeks and streams.

Additional References

Bishop 1943; Conant and Collins 1991; Gordon and others 1962; Huheey 1966; Huheey and Brandon 1973; Martof and others 1980; Organ 1961; Tilley 1968, 1969, 1972, 1973a.