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Cave Biology Data Portal
Subterranean biodiversity of North America and around the globe
AnimaliaChordataVertebrataAmphibiaCaudataPlethodontidaeEurycea

Cave Salamander
Eurycea lucifuga Rafinesque, 1822

Taxonomy

Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Chordata
Subphylum Vertebrata
Class Amphibia
Order Caudata
Family Plethodontidae
Genus Eurycea
Species Eurycea lucifuga Rafinesque, 1822

Description

Diagnostic characters

Ecological class
Troglophile
Realm
Terrestrial

Distribution

Range

Known from 117 counties across 11 states.

Continent

North America

Country

United States

States and provinces

Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia

Counties

Alabama
Blount, Colbert, DeKalb, Franklin, Jackson, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Limestone, Madison, Marshall, Morgan, Shelby
Arkansas
Baxter, Benton, Fulton, Independence, Izard, Izark, Lawrence, Madison, Marion, Newton, Randolph, Searcy, Sharp, Stone, Washington
Georgia
Bartow, Catoosa, Chattooga, Dade, Floyd, Gordon, Murray, Polk, Walker
Illinois
Hardin, Jackson, Johnson, Monroe, Pike, Pope, Randolph, Union
Indiana
Lawrence, Monroe
Kentucky
Barren, Casey, Crittenden, Edmonson, Elliott, Estill, Fayette, Grayson, Green, Hardin, Harrison, Hart, Henry, Jackson, Jessamine, Larue, Lee, Madison, Marion, McCreary, Meade, Menifee, Metcalfe, Ohio, Powell, Pulaski, Rockcastle, Todd, Wayne, Whitley, Woodford
Missouri
Franklin, Stone
Oklahoma
Adair, Delaware, Sequoyah
Tennessee
Bedford, Blount, Bradley, Cannon, Claiborne, Clay, Coffee, Cumberland, Davidson, DeKalb, Fentress, Franklin, Grundy, Hamilton, Hancock, Knox, Marion, Maury, Monroe, Montgomery, Overton, Perry, Pickett, Rhea, Rutherford, Sequatchie, Sevier, Stewart, Union, Van Buren, White, Wilson
Virginia
Lee
West Virginia
Greenbrier, Monroe

Conservation and management

IUCN Red List

LC Least Concern

EXEWCRENVUNTLC▲

Assessed in 2022.

NatureServe

G5 Secure

G1G2G3G4G5▲

National ranks

United States
N5 Secure

Subnational ranks

Illinois
S4 Apparently Secure
Virginia
S4 Apparently Secure
Ohio
S1 Critically Imperiled
Alabama
S4 Apparently Secure
Mississippi
S1 Critically Imperiled
Kansas
S1 Critically Imperiled
Georgia
S4 Apparently Secure
Oklahoma
S3 Vulnerable
West Virginia
S3 Vulnerable
Missouri
S5 Secure
Indiana
S4 Apparently Secure
Kentucky
S5 Secure
Tennessee
S5 Secure
Arkansas
S4 Apparently Secure

State and federal status

Not listed under the U.S. Endangered Species Act

References

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  • Fenolio, D.B., Slay, M.E. & Niemiller, M.L. 2023. Biological inventories of caves in the Ozarks of northeastern Oklahoma: December 2023 field report. Report to Oklahoma Biological Survey. San Antonio Zoo, San Antonio, Texas, USA. 24 pp.
  • Fenolio, D.B., Slay, M.E. & Niemiller, M.L. 2023. Biological inventories of caves in the Ozarks of northeastern Oklahoma: December 2022 field report. Report to Oklahoma Biological Survey. San Antonio Zoo, San Antonio, Texas, USA. 24 pp.
  • Fenolio, D.B., Slay, M.E., Niemiller, M.L. & Richard, K. 2024. Biological inventories of caves in the Ozarks of northeastern Oklahoma: December 2024 field report. Report to Oklahoma Biological Survey. San Antonio Zoo, San Antonio, Texas, USA. 17 pp.
  • Gage, L. 2025. Preliminary observation of terrestrial, aquatic, and aerial fauna in Breathing Hole Cave. Northern Indiana Grotto Newsletter: 1–7.
  • Godwin, J.C. 2008. Biological inventory of the cave and karst systems of The Nature Conservancy's Sharp-Bingham Mountain Preserve. Alabama Natural Heritage Program, Auburn, Alabama, USA. 40 pp.
  • Harker, D.F., Jr. & Barr, T.C., Jr. 1979. Caves and associated fauna of Eastern Kentucky, Volume 3. Kentucky Nature Preserves Commission, Frankfurt, Kentucky, USA. 130 pp.
  • Harker, D.F., Jr. & Barr, T.C., Jr. 1980. Caves and associated fauna of the Western Kentucky coal field, Volume 2. Kentucky Nature Preserves Commission, Frankfurt, Kentucky, USA. 114 pp.
  • Harlan, A.J. & Zigler, K.S. 2009. The phylogenetic position of Eurycea lucifuga, the cave salamander, and the evolution of cave-adapted species within Eurycea. Journal of the Tennessee Academy of Science 84: 77–82.
  • Hay, W.P. 1902. Observations on the crustacean fauna of Nickajack Cave, Tennessee, and vicinity. Proceedings of the United States National Museum 25: 417–439. doi:10.5479/si.00963801.25-1292.417
  • Hobbs, III., H.H. 1994. Assessment of the ecological resources of the caves of Russell Cave National Monument, Jackson County, Alabama and of selected caves at the Lookout Mountain Unit of Chickamauga-Chattanooga National Military Park, Dade County, Georgia and Hamilton County, Tennessee. 200 pp.
  • Lawson, K.M., Schotz, A.R., Jenkins, A.J., Armbruster, J.W., Black, C., Callahan, M., Goertzen, L., Hansen, C., Stephen, C.D.R., Werneke, D., Mendonca, M. & Molina, E. 2021. Planning level survey of Redstone Arsenal for at-risk species and ecologically significant communities. Environmental Management Division, U.S. Army Garrison, Redstone Arsenal, Huntsville, Alabama, USA. 402 pp.
  • Lazell, J.D., Jr. & Brandon, R.A. 1962. A new stygian salamander from the southern Cumberland Plateau. Copeia 1962: 300–306. doi:10.2307/1440894
  • Lewis, J.J. 2004. Interstate 66 karst faunal study. Environmental Impact Statement. 17 pp.
  • Lewis, J.J. 2005. A biological inventory of caves of the Cumberland Plateau. Tennessee Chapter Cave Program, The Nature Conservancy, Nashville, Tennessee, USA. 156 pp.
  • Lewis, J.J. & Lewis, S.L. 2005. Inventory of the subterranean fauna of Tims Ford State Park, Franklin County, Tennessee. Tennesee Natural Heritage Program, Nashville, Tennessee, USA. 28 pp.
  • Lewis, J.J. & Lewis, S.L. 2007. A biological reconnaissance of selected caves in the Highland Rim area of central Tennessee. Tennessee Chapter Cave Program, The Nature Conservancy, Nashville, Tennessee, USA. 42 pp.
  • Marshall, S.A. & Peck, S.B. 1984. Distribution of cave-dwelling Sphaeroceridae (Diptera) of eastern North America. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Ontario 115: 37–41.
  • Matthews, L.E. 2007. Caves of Chattanooga. National Speleological Society, Huntsville, Alabama, USA. 192 pp. ISBN 978–1-879961–27–2.
  • McDaniel, V.R. & Gardner, J.E. 1977. Cave fauna of Arkansas: vertebrate taxa. Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science 31: 68–71. https://scholarworks.uark.edu/jaas/vol31/iss1/22.
  • McGregor, S.W., Rheams, K.F., O'Neil, P.E., Moser, P.H. & Blackwood, R. 1994. Biological, geological, and hydrological investigations in Bobcat, Matthews, and Shelta caves and other selected caves in north Alabama. Geological Survey of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA. 226 pp.
  • McGregor, S.W., O'Neil, P.E., Rheams, K.F., Moser, P.H. & Blackwood, R. 1997. Biological, geological, and hydrological investigations in Bobcat, Matthews, and Shelta caves and other selected caves in north Alabama. Geological Survey of Alabama Bulletin 166: 1–198.
  • Middlekauff, W.W. 1943. A record of the cave salamander from Alabama. Copeia 1943: 126. doi:10.2307/1437783
  • 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. & Reeves, W.C. 2014. Predation by the stygophilic crayfish Cambarus tenebrosus on the salamander Pseudotriton ruber within a cave in Cannon County, Tennessee, USA. Speleolobiology Notes 6: 8–13.
  • Niemiller, M.L., Maxwell, E. & Higgs, J.P. 2024. A biological inventory of Sinking Spring Cave at Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park, Larue County, Kentucky, USA. U.S. National Park Service, Hodgenville, Kentucky, USA. 21 pp.
  • Niemiller, M.L., Anderson, C.L., Maxwell, E.C., Midgette, H., Quering, C., Richards, M., Wilson, K. & Wirwa, N. 2025. A noteworthy range extension of the federally endangered Alabama Cave Shrimp (Palaemonias alabamae) south of the Tennessee River in northern Alabama. Southeastern Naturalist 24: N47-N58. doi:10.1656/058.024.0403
  • Peck, S.B. 1974. The eyeless Catopocerus beetles (Leiodidae) of eastern North America. Psyche 81: 377–397.
  • Peck, S.B. 1974. The food of the salamanders Eurycea lucifuga and Plethodon glutinosus in caves. National Speleological Society Bulletin 36: 7–10.
  • Peck, S.B. & Richardson, B.L. 1976. Feeding ecology of the salamander Eurycea lucifuga in the entrance, twilight, and dark zones of caves. Annales de Speleologie 31: 175–182.
  • Peck, S.B. & Lewis, J.J. 1978. Zoogeography and evolution of the subterranean invertebrate faunas of Illinois and southeastern Missouri. National Speleological Society Bulletin 40: 39–63.
  • Peck, S.B. 1995. The cave fauna of Alabama. Part II: The insects. National Speleological Society Bulletin 57: 1–19.
  • Peck, S.B. & Cook, J. 2011. Systematics, distributions and bionomics of the Catopocerini (eyeless soil fungivore beetles) of North America (Coleoptera: Leiodidae: Catopocerinae). Zootaxa 3077: 1–118. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3077.1.1
  • Rheams, K.F., Moser, P.H. & McGregor, S.W. 1992. Geologic, hydrologic, and biologic investigations in Arrowwood, Bobcat, Matthews, and Shelta caves and selected caves, Madison, County, Alabama. Geological Survey of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA. 262 pp.
  • Rheams, K.F., Moser, P.H. & McGregor, S.W. 1994. Hydrogeologic and biologic factors related to the occurrence of the Alabama cave shrimp (Palaemonias alabamae), Madison County, Alabama. Geological Survey of Alabama Bulletin 161: 1–147.
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  • Zigler, K.S., Niemiller, M.L., Stephen, C.D.R., Ayala, B.N., Milne, M.A., Gladstone, N.S., Engel, A.S., Jensen, J.B., Camp, C.D., Ozier, J.C. & Cressler, A. 2020. Biodiversity from caves and other subterranean habitats of Georgia, USA. Journal of Cave and Karst Studies 82: 125–167. doi:10.4311/2019LSC0125

How to cite this account

Eurycea lucifuga Rafinesque, 1822. Cave Biology Data Portal, account SP-1705. https://cavebiology.org/species/eurycea-lucifuga/ (accessed 6 September 2026).

Data sources and funding are listed in the Acknowledgments.

Spotted something wrong on this page? Report a correction. Accounts are compiled from many sources and corrections from people who know the group are the most useful email we get.

Cave Biology Data Portal

Species accounts, distributions, and conservation status for the subterranean fauna of North America and around the globe, with resources for the cave and karst research community.

Text and data CC BY 4.0. Images all rights reserved unless stated.

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