Southern Two-lined Salamander
Eurycea cirrigera
(click image to enlarge)

Appearance: This is a very slender salamander with a long, attenuate tail.  The dorsum is yellow or greenish yellow and is bordered laterally by dark (usually black) parallel stripes that begin at the eye and terminate at the end of the tail.  Black flecks are almost always present on the back between the parallel lines.  Adults measure about 10 cm. (4 in.), with the tail being 50% or more of this length.

Habits and Habitat: Although it may occasionally be found under moist logs or rocks in dry forests, this salamander typically uses wet habitats. Forested stream edges, swamps, floodplains, and bottomlands are all suitable habitats. In all of these habitats this salamander is most frequently encountered under ground cover such as logs or rocks.

Reproduction/Egg Description: Females usually deposit fertilized eggs in a single layer on the underside of rocks in streams. In some areas, objects other than rocks may be used as deposition sites. Egg laying occurs in winter or spring, depending on location, and clutches may vary in size from 15 to 115 eggs.

Distribution and Abundance: The Southern Two-lined Salamander occurs along the northern Gulf of Mexico north to Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and West Virginia.  This distribution is bordered to the west by the Mississippi River and to the east by the Atlantic seaboard.  The Blue-ridge Two-lined Salamander replaces the Southern Two-lined Salamander in the southern Appalachian Mountains.  This salamander is common in appropriate habitats throughout its range.

SE ARMI Index Sites: Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, Great Smoky Mountains National Park (Blue-ridge Two-lined Salamander, Eurycea wilderae).