Photo © 2005 Jim Jung and licensors. All rights reserved.

Cave Salamanders

Cave Salamander larvae show up at the mouths of cave streams in the winter, so we can assume that that's when they hatch. I say "assume" because this is one salamander species in which mating has never been directly observed nor have any eggs or nests ever been discovered.

Cave Salamanders are members of the Brook Salamander Family - a family noted (among other things) for their lack of lungs. These five to six inch long bright orange and black spotted creatures live - as their name suggests - in the twilight zone of caves where they feed on small arthropods which they capture with their sticky, protrusible tongues.

As salamanders go these are among the most alert and curious amphibians I've ever encountered. A researcher who once attempted to record their courtship rituals sat patiently in a darkened room waiting for the mood to strike his tiny subjects. Whenever they began their courting ritual he would attempt to take notes. At the first wiggle of his pencil the salamanders would lose all interest in each other and rush to the side of their tank and watch the wiggling pencil with extreme interest.

An individual I once kept for a few days quickly grew accustomed to my presence and would dash to the side of his cage pressing his forelegs against the glass in eager anticipation of the treats of live bugs I would give him. Unlike other salamanders these little creatures have alert, intelligent faces and follow movements outside their tanks with intense curiosity and attention.

Photo © 2005 Jim Jung and licensors. All rights reserved.

But back to the larvae...

The tiny larval salamanders will spend the next few months in their cave stream homes gobbling down infant amphipods and other tiny stream creatures growing rapidly. The one larvae I raised to metamorphosis transformed in August. I didn't take his picture. I'm posting a newt larva to give you the general idea.

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