Northern Red Salamander Larvae

Pseudotriton ruber ruber
Friday, June 18, 2010
A fairly common stream salamander around Mountain Lake, the larvae of the northern red salamander are much less impressive than the adult. A large, distinctive salamander, the adult version is 4-6 inches long and red or red-orange with irregular black spots on its back and yellow irises. The older salamanders are darker, to the point of being purple, and the spots on their back are blurred and indistinct. They live underneath moist rocks and logs near the stream where the larvae matured. Sometime in the fall, a female will lay 30-130 small eggs attached to the underside of rocks in small, fresh-water, rocky streams. The eggs hatch in the winter, and the larvae remain in the water for 2 to 3 years. In the spring of the year that they become adults, they will metamorphose and begin to live on the bank of the stream.
 
Both larvae and adults have four toes on their front legs and five on their hind. The larvae can range from a brown-pink to a dark, murky brown skin. They have noticeable, feathery red gills which they lose upon becoming adults; however, they are lungless salamanders meaning that they collect oxygen through their skin, which must always be kept damp. In the winter, adult salamanders dig deep beneath a streambed to hibernate. They can live for up to 20 years.
Northern red salamanders typically eat earthworms, centipedes, other salamanders, insects, and insect larvae. Their predators include raccoons, birds, skunks, and other forest carnivores. 
 
Typically, northern red salamanders can be found in many of the eastern states of the US, although not on the coast itself or in the south. In this area (near Mountain Lake), a subspecies occurs called the Blue Ridge Red Salamander, which is very similar with the exception that it is slightly smaller and the older salamanders do not lose their color as quickly. All northern red salamanders live by streams in open areas as well as in woodland.
 
This specimen was collected in the Hunter’s Branch stream. The sex is unknown. 
Article by Hazel Galloway
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