Spring Salamander
Gyrinophilus porphyriticus (Green, 1827)

Taxonomy

Description

Diagnostic characters

Ecological class

Troglophile

Realm

Terrestrial

Distribution

Range

Known from 60 counties across seven states.

Continent

North America

Country

United States

States and provinces

Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia

Counties

Alabama

Blount, DeKalb, Franklin, Jackson, Morgan, St. Clair

Georgia

Dade, Walker

Kentucky

Carter, Edmonson, Elliott, Jackson, Lee, Menifee

Ohio

Highland, Pike

Tennessee

Blount, Cannon, Carter, Claiborne, Clay, Cumberland, DeKalb, Grainger, Greene, Grundy, Hamilton, Hawkins, Jackson, Knox, Loudon, MCMINN, Marion, Meigs, Monroe, Overton, Pickett, Putnam, Rhea, Roane, Sequatchie, Sullivan, Union, Van Buren, White

Virginia

Augusta, Craig, Lee, Montgomery, Nelson, Roanoke, Rockingham, Russell, Scott, Tazewell

West Virginia

Greenbrier, Marion, Monroe, Pocahontas, Randolph

Conservation and management

IUCN Red List

LC Least Concern

Assessed in 2022.

NatureServe

G5 Secure

National ranks

Canada

N3 Vulnerable

United States

N5 Secure

Subnational ranks

Quebec

S3 Vulnerable

RI

S1 Critically Imperiled

Maryland

S4 Apparently Secure

Georgia

S4 Apparently Secure

West Virginia

S5 Secure

Pennsylvania

S5 Secure

Massachusetts

S3 Vulnerable

New York

S5 Secure

North Carolina

S5 Secure

Kentucky

SNR Unranked

Connecticut

S2 Imperiled

Vermont

S4 Apparently Secure

Mississippi

S1 Critically Imperiled

NJ

S3 Vulnerable

NH

S4 Apparently Secure

Ohio

SNR Unranked

Virginia

S5 Secure

ME

S3 Vulnerable

South Carolina

S5 Secure

Alabama

S4 Apparently Secure

Tennessee

S5 Secure

State and federal status

Not listed under the U.S. Endangered Species Act

References

• Brandon, R.A. 1962. A systematic study of the salamander genus Gyrinophilus. University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois, USA. 121 pp.
• Brandon, R.A. 1966. Systematics of the salamander genus Gyrinophilus. Illinois Biological Monographs 35: 1–86.
• 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.
• Carpenter, J.H. 1970. Systematics and ecology of cave planarians of the United States. University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky, USA. 213 pp.
• Cooper, J.E. 1968. The salamander Gyrinophilus palleucus in Georgia, with notes on Alabama and Tennessee population. Journal of the Alabama Academy of Science 39: 182–185. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/54954393.
• Cooper, J.E. & Cooper, M.R. 1968. Cave-associated herpetozoa II: salamanders of the genus Gyrinophilus in Alabama caves. National Speleological Society Bulletin 30: 19–24.
• 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.
• Huntsman, B.M., Venarsky, M.P., Benstead, J.P. & Huryn, A.D. 2011. Effects of organic matter availability on the life history and production of a top vertebrate predator (Plethodontidae: Gyrinophilus palleucus) in two cave streams. Freshwater Biology 56: 1746–1760.
• Keenan, S.W., Niemiller, M.L. & Williams, B.W. 2014. Observations of Cambarus bartonii cavatus (Decapoda: Cambaridae) and ectosymbiotic branchiobdellidans (Annelida: Clitellata) in Cruze Cave, Knox County, Tennessee, USA. Speleolobiology Notes 6: 55–61. https://www.speleobiology.com/niemiller/wp-content/uploads/bsk-pdf-manager/Keenan_etal_2014_15.pdf.
• 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. 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.
• McCrady, E. 1954. A new species of Gyrinophilus (Plethodontidae) from Tennessee caves. Copeia 1954: 200–206. doi:10.2307/1439194
• 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.
• Nicholas, G. 1960. Checklist of macroscopic troglobitic organisms of the United States. The American Midland Naturalist 64: 123–160. doi:10.2307/2422897
• 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. & 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.
• 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
• Swain, M.T. & Niemiller, M.L. 2021. Gyrinophilus porphyriticus (Spring Salamander). Diet. Herpetological Review 52: 108–109.
• Tennessee Cave Survey. 2005. Biological records from Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia caves. Tennessee Cave Survey.
• Trumbore, L.E., Reynolds, R.J., Thomas, S.C., Orndorff, W., Cramphorn, B., Gladstone, N.S., Harden, C.W., Lewis, J.J., Milne, M.A., Ober, K.A., Shear, W.A., Stephen, C.D.R. & Zigler, K.S. 2024. Cave biodiversity of Cumberland Gap National Historical Park. Journal of Cave and Karst Studies 86: 13–24. doi:10.4311/2022LSC0116
• Wallace, R.L. 1984. Biological survey report of Great Smoky Mountains National Park caves. Great Smoky Mountains National Park, U.S. National Park Service, Gatlinburg, Tennessee, USA. 33 pp.
• Wallace, R.L. 1990. Biological survey report of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park caves. Great Smoky Mountains National Park, U.S. National Park Service, Gatlinburg, Tennessee, USA. 34 pp.
• Yeatman, H.C. 1967. Artifically metamorphosed neotenic cave salamanders. Journal of the Tennessee Academy of Science 42: 16–22.
• 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

Data sources and funding are listed in the Acknowledgments.

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