Shovelnose Salamanders in George Washington National Forest

Author: Ty Smith
County: Washington 
Survey Time: 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm 
Basic Weather: Clear, Temps in the 80’s
Party Members: Ty Smith & Lindsey Hottinger

We stopped along Straight Branch to try to find and photograph some Shovelnose Salamanders at a location we found 7 individuals last year (as well as a Yanahlossee Salamander in the Mountain Laurel roots). Shovelnose are a very atypical Dusky, very rarely straying on land. Their aquatic behaviors are more similar to Hellbenders than say a Seal Salamander or Northern Dusky. That said, they are extremely powerful swimmers, and can seemingly swim up a current as easy as down, so catching them is very difficult. Our tactic is to use multiple dip nets and try to surround a rock. Then we flip the rock and if there is a specimen underneath, we try to run it in the net. Unfortunately, the rocky substrate provides small pockets under the net that they almost instinctively slip under. This makes it very frustrating, and usually causes me to yell instructions like a mad man out of the blue at whoever is assisting me, as they usually cannot see the animal for the glare. After you do catch the animal, photography is difficult, as they do not like being out of the water. They are still very fast and agile, meaning if they get an inch, one can lose them. 

Shovelnose Salamander (Desmognathus marmoratus) {3}
We found one larva in the stream, and two adults, though we were only able to catch the adult.