Berry cave salamander
Gyrinophilus gulolineatus Brandon, 1965

Taxonomy

Synonyms

Description

Diagnostic characters

Ecological class

Stygobiont

Realm

Aquatic

Troglomorphy

Troglomorphic

Maximum length

209 mm

Distribution

Type locality

Berry Cave, Roane Co., TN

Range

Known from six counties in Tennessee in the Appalachians karst region.

Continent

North America

Country

United States

States and provinces

Tennessee

Counties

Tennessee

Knox, MCMINN, McMinn Co, Meigs, Roane, Roane Co

Karst regions

Appalachians

Genetics

Molecular resources

34 sequences, retrieved 23 August 2026. Counts change as sequences are deposited. Search GenBank.

Download all 34 sequence records (CSV) Accession, marker, molecule type, length, GenBank definition and a direct link.

Specimens

Type material

Holotype

142327 · Field Museum of Natural History

Paratype ×3

Field Museum of Natural History

Paratype ×3

Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard

Collections holding material

31 cataloged lots in 5 collections. Compiled from GBIF and not an exhaustive census: many collections are not yet digitised, and holdings are added continually. Search GBIF for specimen records.

Download all 31 specimen records (CSV) Institution, catalog number, type status and preparation. No coordinates.

Conservation and management

IUCN Red List

EN Endangered B1ab(iii)

Assessed in 2021.

NatureServe

G1Q Critically Imperiled

Global rank last reviewed 11 June 2019.

Subnational ranks

Tennessee

S1 Critically Imperiled

Ranks looked up 23 August 2026. Conservation status changes, and a rank here is as current as that date and no more.

State and federal status

Not listed under the U.S. Endangered Species Act.

Threats

• Urbanization - Residential
• Urbanization - Comm. & Industrial
• Agriculture - Logging
• Mining & Quarrying
• Dams & Water Extraction
• Pollution -Sewage or Urban Wastewater
• Pollution - Agricultural & Forestry

Other resources

Catalogue of Life

3HYSS

GBIF

2431433

ITIS

550249

iNaturalist

27498

NCBI Taxonomy

505960

References

• Brandon, R.A. 1962. A systematic study of the salamander genus Gyrinophilus. University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois, USA. 121 pp.
• Brandon, R.A. 1965. A new race of the neotenic salamander Gyrinophilus palleucus. Copeia 1965: 346–352.
• Brandon, R.A. 1966. Systematics of the salamander genus Gyrinophilus. Illinois Biological Monographs 35: 1–86.
• Brandon, R.A. 1967a. Gyrinophilus palleucus. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles 32: 1–2. http://hdl.handle.net/2152/44957. details
• Brandon, R.A., Jacobs, J., Wynn, A. & Sever, D.M. 1986. A naturally metamorphosed Tennessee cave salamander (Gyrinophilus palleucus). Journal of the Tennessee Academy of Science 61: 1–2.
• Christiansen, K. & Bellinger, P. 1996b. Cave Arrhopalites: new to science. Journal of Cave and Karst Studies 58: 168–180. https://www.caves.org/pub/journal/PDF/V58/V58N3-Christiansen.pdf. details
• Gladstone, N.S., Carter, E.T., Niemiller, K.D.K., Hayter, L.E. & Niemiller, M.L. 2018b. A new maximum body size record for the Berry Cave Salamander (Gyrinophilus gulolineatus) and genus Gyrinophilus (Caudata, Plethodontidae) with a comment on body size in plethodontid salamanders. Subterranean Biology 28: 29–38. doi:10.3897/subtbiol.28.30506
• Miller, B.T. & Niemiller, M.L. 2008. Distribution and relative abundance of Tennessee cave salamanders (Gyrinophilus palleucus and Gyrinophilus gulolineatus) with an emphasis on Tennessee populations. Herpetological Conservation and Biology 3: 1–20. https://www.herpconbio.org/Volume_3/Issue_1/Miller_Niemiller_2008.pdf. details
• Niemiller, M.L., Fitzpatrick, B.M. & Miller, B.T. 2008. Recent divergence with gene flow in Tennessee cave salamanders (Plethodontidae: Gyrinophilus) inferred from gene genealogies. Molecular Ecology 17: 2258–2275. doi:10.1111/j.1365-294X.2008.03750.x
• Niemiller, M.L. & Miller, B.T. 2009. A survey of the cave-associated herpetofauna of the eastern United States with an emphasis on salamanders. Proceedings of the 15th International Congress of Speleology, Kerrville, Texas, USA, Volume 1: 249–256.
• Niemiller, M.L. & Miller, B.T. 2010. Gyrinophilus gulolineatus. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles 862: 1–4.
• Niemiller, M.L. & Zigler, K.S. 2013. Patterns of cave biodiversity and endemism in the Appalachians and Interior Plateau of Tennessee, USA. PLOS One 8: e64177. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0064177
• Simmons, D.D. 1975. The evolutionary ecology of Gyrinophilus palleucus. University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA. 105 pp.
• Simmons, D. 1976. A naturally metamorphosed Gyrinophilus palleucus (Amphibia, Urodela, Plethodontidae). Journal of Herpetology 10: 255–257. doi:10.2307/1562990
• Steeves, H.R. & Holsinger, J.R. 1968. Biology of three new species of troglobitic asellids from Tennessee. The American Midland Naturalist 80: 75–83. doi:10.2307/2423604
• Tennessee Cave Survey. 2005. Biological records from Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia caves. Tennessee Cave Survey.
• Yeatman, H.C. & Miller, H.B. 1985. A naturally metamorphosed Gyrinophilus palleucus from the type-locality. Journal of Herpetology 19: 304–306. doi:10.2307/1564190

How to cite this account

Data sources and funding are listed in the Acknowledgments.

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