Eurycea longicauda

Geographic Range

Eurycea longicauda is mainly distributed throughout the Ozark Highlands, Appalachian Highlands, and the Ohio River Valley. Long-tailed salamanders range from southeastern Missouri through extreme southern Illinois, throughout most of Kentucky, central and western Tennessee, extreme northeastern Mississippi, northern Alabama, northern Georgia, extreme southwestern and northwestern North Carolina, western Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, southern New York, and in the north from extreme eastern Illinois, west through southern Indiana and into southern and eastern Ohio (Lannoo 2005). Map

• Biogeographic Regions
• nearctic nearctic
  • native native

Habitat

Long-tailed salamanders typically inhabit streams, limestone seeps, springs, caves, abandoned mines, wet shale banks, and ponds. Because of their bi-phasic lifecycle, both aquatic and terrestrial habitats are needed. Larvae grow in aquatic environments, such as streams, ponds, or cave pools, while adults are typically terrestrial, found underneath rocks, crevices, and stone fragments near the margins of streams.

• Habitat Regions
• temperate temperate
• terrestrial terrestrial
• freshwater freshwater

• Terrestrial Biomes
• forest forest

• Aquatic Biomes
• lakes and ponds
• rivers and streams

• Other Habitat Features
• caves

Physical Description

Long-tailed salamanders are typically yellow, but body color may range from yellow to red. Adults are between 100 and 200 mm long, with the tail making up about 60% of total body length. Long-tailed salamanders have large eyes and a slender body with stout limbs. A key characteristic of E. longicauda is a row of irregularly shaped, dark stripes found on the long, slender tail. Adult bodies have dark dashes or dots and may contain a broad dorsal band. The belly is colored light yellow to cream.

There are three recognized subspecies: Eurycea longicauda longicauda (long-tailed salamanders), Eurycea longicauda guttolineata (three-lined salamanders), and Eurycea longicauda melanopleura (dark-sided salamanders). Three-lined salamanders are identified by their coloration, which varies between yellow and bronze, as well as the three dark lines that run along the body and tail. Dark-sided salamanders are identified by two dark lines running along the sides of the body and tail with a lighter band running dorsally.

Long-tailed salamander larvae are aquatic and have features missing in terrestrial adults, including branching gills, slim bodies, and a tail fin that does not extend to the body. Larvae also differ from adults in that they have a cream colored dorsal pattern.

• Other Physical Features
• ectothermic ectothermic
• heterothermic heterothermic
• bilateral symmetry bilateral symmetry

• Sexual Dimorphism
• sexes alike

Development

The larval period of long-tailed salamanders is typically 6 months. However, timing may vary among populations. In order to survive, aquatic larvae need shelter and food, which they find in a variety of aquatic invertebrates, including ostracods , copepods , and snails . If there is an insufficient food supply, metamorphosis may be delayed for a year and larvae may overwinter. The metamorphosis size of long-tailed salamanders is 23 to 28mm snout to vent length but, if overwintering occurs, they can be greater than 50 mm in total length.

• Development - Life Cycle
• metamorphosis metamorphosis
• indeterminate growth indeterminate growth

Reproduction

The mating system of E. longicauda has not been studied extensively and remains largely unknown. The only known courtship behavior is head-rubbing.

Main breeding activity occurs during late fall to early spring. Females lay 60 to 110 eggs in water, attached to the underside of rocks. Time to hatching ranges from 4 to 12 weeks. Long-tailed salamanders are sexually mature at an average age of 2 years old.

• Key Reproductive Features
• iteroparous iteroparous
• seasonal breeding seasonal breeding
• gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate)
• sexual sexual
• fertilization fertilization
  • external external
• oviparous oviparous

There is little information on parental investment in E. longicauda . However, like most salamanders, females leave aquatic habitats after laying eggs, so there is little parental involvement after egg-laying.

• Parental Investment
• pre-fertilization
  • provisioning
  • protecting
    • female
• pre-hatching/birth
  • provisioning
    • female

Lifespan/Longevity

This species is rarely bred in captivity and there is no information on its lifespan in the wild. Other plethodontids live as much as 5 to 10 years in the wild.

Behavior

Adults exhibit seasonal patterns in habitat use. For example, during periods of heavy rain, adults migrate uphill. Also, adults are known to migrate into and out of caves and mine shafts.

• Key Behaviors
• terricolous
• troglophilic
• nocturnal nocturnal
• motile motile
• migratory migratory
• social social

Home Range

Long-tailed salamanders can cover a considerable distance over a year but their home range size is unclear. This is attributed to the fact that many juveniles and adults spend most of their time underground.

Communication and Perception

Long-tailed salamanders communicate in similar ways to other plethodontid salamanders, using pheromones. These chemical signals are very important especially in mating rituals. Courtship rituals occur mainly aquatically, and one account reports tactile interactions as well. During mating, plethodontids typically exhibit head-rubbing, which serves a communicative purpose. Long-tailed salamanders have developed senses of smell and sight allowing them the ability to perceive its environment either visually or chemically.

• Communication Channels
• tactile tactile
• chemical chemical

• Other Communication Modes
• pheromones pheromones

• Perception Channels
• visual visual
• tactile tactile
• vibrations vibrations
• chemical chemical

Food Habits

Long-tailed salamanders typically eat adult and immature arthropods, worms, and other terrestrial invertebrates. Although all adults are invertebrate generalists, the types of invertebrates preyed on depends on the environment. For example, in New Jersey, spiders , homopterans , beetles , and moths and butterflies are the main diet. However, in one Indiana population, more than 20 types of invertebrates are eaten.

• Primary Diet
• carnivore carnivore
  • insectivore insectivore

• Animal Foods
• insects
• terrestrial non-insect arthropods
• terrestrial worms

Predation

Anti-predator mechanisms have not been studied extensively in this species, but one mechanism has been observed. When threatened, individuals display a defensive posture with an elevated tail, and the tail autotomizes (breaks off) when the salamander is handled. Also, long-tailed salamanders are quick, able to bolt for cover when threatened.

• Anti-predator Adaptations
• cryptic cryptic

Ecosystem Roles

Long-tailed salamanders are predators on both terrestrial and aquatic invertebrates. They are also important competitors in cave environments with other salamanders. Long-tailed salamander larvae appear to be competitive equals with larval cave salamanders ( Eurycea lucifuga ), but they appear to be displaced by several other salamander species.

Economic Importance for Humans: Positive

Long-tailed salamanders may help in pest control because they feed on various terrestrial invertebrates, but their effect on humans is minimal.

• Positive Impacts
• controls pest population

Economic Importance for Humans: Negative

There are no known adverse effects of E. longicauda on humans.

Conservation Status

Long-tailed salamanders remain locally abundant, but populations have declined due to habitat loss from strip mining, acid drainage from coal mining, and clear cutting. This species has been listed as threatened in both Kansas and New Jersey and is a species of special concern in North Carolina. In New Jersey, long-tailed salamanders were listed as a threatened species in 1979. This was attributed to the decline of natural habitats and pollution of larval ponds. The New Jersey Freshwater Wetlands Protection Act helped protect long-tailed salamanders in New Jersey by outlawing the development of wetland areas and "buffers." Buffers are protected areas within 150 feet of wetlands. In Kansas, the long-tailed salamanders are protected by the Kansas Nongame and Endangered Species Conservation Act. This act requires project developers to obtain a permit from the Environmental Services Section of the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks anytime a development project is proposed that will impact the natural habitats of the species.

Additional Links

AmphibiaWeb

Encyclopedia of Life

BioKIDS Critter Catalog

Contributors

Jonathan Haun (author), University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, Rachelle Sterling (editor), Special Projects, Phil Myers (editor), University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, Tanya Dewey (editor), University of Michigan-Ann Arbor.

References

Arnold, S., K. Kiemnec, H. Godwin. 2008. A Recombinant Courtship Pheromone Affects Sexual Receptivity in a Plethodontid Salamander . Cary, NC: Oxford University Press.

Lannoo, M. 2005. Amphibian Declines: The Conservation Status of United States Species . Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

State of New Jersey. 2007. Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of New Jersey . Trenton, NJ: Department of Environmental Protection.

2004. "Eurycea longicauda (Longtail Salamander)" (On-line). Accessed March 20, 2010 at http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/59268/0 .

2007. "Eurycea longicauda longicauda (Green), Long-tailed salamander - Biodiversity of Great Smoky Mountains National Park" (On-line). Accessed March 20, 2010 at http://www.dlia.org/atbi/species/Animalia/Chordata/Amphibia/Urodela/Plethodontidae/Eurycea_longicauda.shtml .

2002. "LONGTAIL SALAMANDER (Eurycea longicauda)" (On-line). Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks. Accessed March 20, 2010 at http://www.kdwp.state.ks.us/news/Other-Services/Threatened-and-Endangered-Species/Threatened-and-Endangered-Species/Species-Information/LONGTAIL-SALAMANDER .

2011. "Long-tailed Salamander, Eurycea longicauda longicauda" (On-line). Accessed March 20, 2010 at http://www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw/ensp/pdf/end-thrtened/lngtlsalamander.pdf .