Seepage salamander facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Seepage salamander |
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification |
The seepage salamander (Desmognathus aeneus) is a small, land-dwelling salamander. It belongs to the family Plethodontidae. These salamanders are special because they are found only in the United States. You can find them in small areas of Tennessee, North Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama.
They live in cool, wet places like forests, small rivers that sometimes dry up, and freshwater springs. They are called "seepage salamanders" because they live near "seepages." Seepages are spots where water slowly leaks out of the ground.
This salamander looks and lives very much like the pygmy salamander (Desmognathus wrighti). Both are the smallest salamanders in their group, called Desmognathus. They are only about 1 to 2 inches (2.5 to 5 cm) long. They are also the only two salamanders in their group that live on land and develop directly. This means their babies hatch looking like tiny adults, without a water-dwelling larval stage.
Even though they are similar, these two species usually live in different areas, often at different heights above sea level. The seepage salamander is currently listed as Near Threatened. This means its numbers are going down in most places where it lives. A big threat to them is losing their habitat, especially due to logging.
Contents
What Does a Seepage Salamander Look Like?
The seepage salamander is a very small and thin salamander. It measures about 1.75 to 2.25 inches (4.4 to 5.7 cm) long. Adult seepage salamanders have special teeth called vomerine teeth. Their tail is round and smooth.
They have a light stripe on their back. This stripe can be yellow, tan, or reddish-brown. It often looks wavy or almost straight. Sometimes, the stripe has darker spots. A dark line runs down the middle of their back. This line connects to a Y-shaped mark on their head. Their sides have a dark brown band that gets lighter towards their belly. Their belly is light-colored and may have brown and white spots, or it might be plain.
How is it Different from the Pygmy Salamander?
It's easy to confuse the seepage salamander with the pygmy salamander (Desmognathus wrighti). They live in some of the same areas in southern North Carolina. Both are the smallest Desmognathus species. They are also the only ones that develop directly, meaning they don't have a free-swimming larval stage.
Both species have vomerine teeth. Their tails are also similar in length compared to their body size. However, they have different patterns and colors. Seepage salamanders have a smoother head top. The males of each species also have different-shaped glands under their chin. The pygmy salamander male has a large, U-shaped gland. The seepage salamander male has a small, kidney-shaped gland.
About the Seepage Salamander Family
The seepage salamander belongs to the Desmognathus group and the Plethodontidae family. Like all salamanders in this family, the seepage salamander does not have lungs. It breathes through its skin and the lining of its mouth.
They also have a special groove between their nostril and upper lip. This helps them sense chemicals. Their lower jaw doesn't move much. This helps them push their way under things. All Desmognathus species have a light line that goes from their eye to the corner of their jaw. This line can be hard to see in older, darker salamanders. Their back legs are bigger and stronger than their front legs. Their bodies are short and strong, and they are good at jumping to escape danger.
Where Do Seepage Salamanders Live?
Seepage salamanders get their name from the wet "seepages" where they are often found. But they also live near streams. You can find them under leaf litter, old leaves, and rotting logs. They are a species that lives on land.
These salamanders live in specific parts of the southeastern United States. You can find them in:
- Southeast Tennessee (Monroe and Polk counties)
- Southwest North Carolina (Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Macon, and Swain counties)
- Northern Georgia (Fannin, Pickens, Towns, and Union counties)
- Central to northern Alabama (Calhoun, Clay, Cleburne, and Tallapoosa counties)
They might also have lived in other counties in Alabama, but they might be gone from those places now.
Their groups are often spread out and found in very specific spots. There is one group in western Alabama and another in northeastern Georgia. They usually live at heights from about 700 to 4,500 feet (213 to 1,372 meters) above sea level. But in northeastern Georgia, some groups can be found as low as 100 feet (30 meters).
How Seepage Salamanders Interact with Their Environment
Seepage salamanders don't have much competition from other salamander species. This is because of where they live. Since they are land-dwelling, they are not bothered by salamanders that live in or near water. Most other Desmognathus species live closer to streams.
They are also very good at hiding. You rarely see them on the surface. This might be how they avoid predators.
The only Desmognathus species that might compete with the seepage salamander is the pygmy salamander (D. wrighti). However, their living areas rarely overlap. Pygmy salamanders usually live at higher elevations. Seepage salamanders live at lower ones. The pygmy salamander lives near the North Carolina and Tennessee border. The seepage salamander's area starts just below the pygmy salamander's.
But sometimes, these two species are found together. They have been seen living in the same area in Monroe County, Tennessee. It's also possible they live together in Blount County, Tennessee. More studies are needed to understand how they interact. This information would help protect them.
Life Cycle and Behavior of Seepage Salamanders
Seepage salamanders are active at night, but you rarely see them on the surface. They mostly eat small creatures like arthropods. This includes insect larvae and springtails. They also eat mites, spiders, earthworms, crustaceans, nematodes, myriapods, and snails.
How Seepage Salamanders Grow
The seepage salamander lives on land. Its babies develop directly into tiny versions of the adults. They skip the larval stage that lives in water. It takes about 68 to 75 days for the eggs to hatch.
When the eggs hatch, the young salamanders look just like the adults. They have eyes, the special nose-to-lip grooves, and adult-like colors. They do not have gills that stay for a long time. Their gills are very short and disappear quickly. In other Desmognathus species that have a larval stage, the babies don't have these features when they hatch. They develop them later after spending time as larvae in water.
Female salamanders lay their eggs in April and May. All the eggs are laid at once. The eggs hatch in late spring and summer. Both male and female salamanders are ready to have babies after two years.
Courtship and Mating
The way salamanders in the Plethodontidae family mate is quite similar. It involves a courtship dance, a "tail straddling walk," and the male leaving a packet of sperm called a spermatophore. Then the female picks it up.
However, the seepage salamander has a unique courtship behavior. Like other salamanders in its family, males release special chemicals called pheromones during courtship. Most species use a pulling or snapping motion to deliver these. But only the seepage salamander and the pygmy salamander use biting.
These two species physically hold the female and bite her. The biting can last for several hours. Then, they release their pheromones into the bite wounds. Other salamanders in this family do not hold the females directly when releasing pheromones.
Protecting the Seepage Salamander
The IUCN has listed the seepage salamander as Near Threatened. This is because the area where they live is not very large (less than 20,000 square kilometers). Also, their habitat and the number of salamanders are shrinking. The fact that different groups are separated also makes them more likely to decline. Seepage salamanders are close to being classified as Vulnerable.
Their numbers are going down in Alabama and North Carolina. But they are stable in South Carolina. In Tennessee, they are listed as needing management.
Logging is a major reason for their decline, especially in Alabama. About half of the known groups from 1976 are now gone. Other forest practices, like clear-cutting, also threaten seepage salamanders.
Most seepage salamander groups do not live in protected areas. To help protect them from logging, special buffer zones should be created around seepages and streams in areas where they live.
Images for kids
-
A seepage salamander on a leaf.
See also
