Junaluska Salamander

Eurycea junaluska

Junaluska Salamander

JUSA

Status

The Junaluska Salamander is uncommon throughout its restricted range. It is state listed as special concern in North Carolina and in need of management in Tennessee.

Description

Eurycea junaluska is a small (7–10 cm), dull yellow-brown salamander. It has a wavy black stripe extending from its nostril along the length of its body. On the tail the line becomes a series of small dots or lines. The venter is a greenish yellow.

Distribution

This salamander is found at elevations below 730 meters along the Cheoah River and its tributaries in Graham County, North Carolina, along the Tellico River in Monroe County, Tennessee, and along Fighting Creek in the Great Smoky Mountains, Sevier County, Tennessee.

Habitat

The Junaluska Salamander lives at low elevations under logs and rocks along streams. It ventures some distance across land during rainy nights.

Special Requirements

This species requires clean, clear streams with abundant rocks and logs.

Breeding Habits

The Junaluska Salamander is a poorly studied species and reproductive history is scant. It is presumed to breed in the fall and deposit eggs in water during the winter.

Food Habits

Its diet consists of small arthropods.

Management Suggestions

Siltation or pollution of streams as well as destruction of adjacent forests and their leaf litter would be detrimental to this species.

Additional References

Bruce 1982b; Martof and others 1980; Sever 1983; Sever and others 1976.