Northern Slimy Salamander
Plethodon glutinosus (Green, 1818)

Taxonomy

Description

Diagnostic characters

Ecological class

Troglophile

Realm

Terrestrial

Distribution

Range

Known from 50 counties across eight states.

Continent

North America

Country

United States

States and provinces

Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia

Counties

Alabama

Blount, Colbert, DeKalb, Jackson, Lauderdale, Limestone, Madison, Marshall, Morgan

Georgia

Bartow, Catoosa, Chattooga, Dade, Floyd, Polk, Walker

Illinois

Johnson, Monroe, Pike, Pope, Randolph, Union

Indiana

Monroe

Kentucky

Carter, Edmonson, Jackson, Laurel, Madison, Whitley

Ohio

Hocking

Tennessee

Blount, Cannon, Claiborne, Coffee, Fentress, Franklin, Grundy, Hamilton, Marion, Monroe, Montgomery, Overton, Pickett, Rhea, Sequatchie, Sevier, Van Buren, Warren, White

Virginia

Lee

Conservation and management

IUCN Red List

LC Least Concern

Assessed in 2023.

NatureServe

G5 Secure

National ranks

United States

N5 Secure

Subnational ranks

Alabama

S5 Secure

New York

S5 Secure

Oklahoma

SNR Unranked

Kentucky

S5 Secure

Louisiana

S4 Apparently Secure

Pennsylvania

S5 Secure

Virginia

S5 Secure

Arkansas

S5 Secure

Maryland

S5 Secure

NJ

S5 Secure

NH

SH Possibly Extirpated

South Carolina

S5 Secure

Texas

SNR Unranked

West Virginia

S5 Secure

Tennessee

S5 Secure

Georgia

S5 Secure

Ohio

SNR Unranked

Indiana

S4 Apparently Secure

Connecticut

S2 Imperiled

Illinois

S5 Secure

State and federal status

Not listed under the U.S. Endangered Species Act

References

• Bailey, V. 1933. Cave Life of Kentucky. US Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Biological Survey, Washington, DC, USA. 256 pp.
• Banta, A.M. 1907. The fauna of Mayfield's Cave. Carnegie Institution of Washington Publication 67: 1–114. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/60987.
• Barr, T.C., Jr. & Kuehne, R.A. 1971. Ecological studies in the Mammoth Cave system of Kentucky. II. The Ecosystem. Annales de Speleologie 26: 47–96. doi:10.5038/1827-806X.3.1.10
• Beck, B.F. 1980. An Introduction to Caves and Cave Exploring in Georgia. Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Atlanta, Georgia, USA. 43 pp.
• Cobb, R.M. 1985. A reconnaissance of caves in Lauderdale and Colbert counties, Alabama for the Alabama cavefish, Speleoplatyrhinus poulsoni. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Jackson, Mississippi, USA. 28 pp.
• Cooper, J.E. 1966. Preliminary observation on the biology of Shelta Cave, Alabama. Bulletin of the National Speleological Society 28: 96–97.
• 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.
• Cooper, J.E. 1975. Ecological and behavioral studies in Shelta Cave, Alabama, with emphasis on decapod crustaceans. University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky, USA. 364 pp.
• 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.
• 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.
• Jones, W.B. & Varnedoe, W.W. 1980. Caves of Morgan County, Alabama. Geological Survey of Alabama Bulletin 112: 1–197.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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., 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 food of the salamanders Eurycea lucifuga and Plethodon glutinosus in caves. National Speleological Society Bulletin 36: 7–10.
• Peck, S.B. 1995. The cave fauna of Alabama. Part II: The insects. National Speleological Society Bulletin 57: 1–19.
• 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.
• Seibert, H.C. & Brandon, R.A. 1960. The salamanders of southeastern Ohio. Ohio Journal of Science 60: 291–303. https://kb.osu.edu/bitstreams/1a8cbbb7–8184–5987–9c09-ac703d8485b9/download.
• Sutherland, C. 2018. Trip report: East Water Supply Cave. Tennessee Caver 2018: 26–27.
• 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
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• Wallace, R.L. 1989. Report on a carabid cave beetle survey. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Asheville, North Carolina, USA. 6 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.
• Wallace, R.L. 1990. Myhr Cave fauna. Great Smoky Mountains National Park, U.S. National Park Service, Gatlinburg, Tennessee, USA. 5 pp.
• Webb, D.W., Taylor, S.J. & Krejca, J.K. 1993. The biological resources of Illinois caves and other subterranean environments. Illinois Natural History Survey, Champaign, Illinois, USA. 143 pp.
• 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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