Southern Two-lined Salamander (Eurycea cirrigera)

Species Information

Recognized Subspecies in VA: None
Size: 2.5 - 3.5 inches
Range: Almost statewide, excluding the Potomac River Watershed, the Blue Ridge North of Afton, and the Mount Rogers Area
Status: Least Concern

The Two-lined Salamanders are some of the most common salamanders across the state, yet they are broken into three species. I personally struggled on whether to put these into a singular "Species Complex" to simplify these salamanders, but I decided that the three exclude each other enough (unlike the Gray Treefrogs), as well as there are minor enough physical differences (unlike the Mountain Duskies) to separate them into the three profiles.

This species can be found in and along creeks in forest across their range. Flipping rocks and logs is by far the best way to find any Two-lined species, but they can be found by road cruising as well.

The Southern Two-lined Salamander is a creamy color, with a brighter yellow tail. They have a black line down the lateral on each side of the dorsal. They typically have randomly arranged black spots down the dorsal, and clean yellow bellies. 

Similar Species: The Northern Two-lined Salamander is extremely similar, and though there are some "differences" I am not confident enough in these to really elaborate, as I have never found any to be very accurate. The only one I trust is Northern will have 15-16 coastal grooves and Southern has 13-14. Range is also extremely important. The Three-lined Salamander is also misidentified, but these are much larger salamanders, with longer tails, and a thick, black line down the dorsal instead of spots. 

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​Maps and External Sources

Known and predicted range

***iNaturalist maps show iNat reports of each species. Though maps are quite accurate, some reports could be misidentified, so be cautious of any outlying records.***

VHS Info

iNat Observations