By Frank Gallo
I have a friend who is a bartender at night and a naturalist by day. Let’s call him Bill. His child-like curiosity led him to a stream near his house, where he then led me. I will recount here part of what transpired that day. Picture a tall, bearded man hunched over the edge of a stream, diligently and quite merrily flipping stones over, one after the other. By his actions, you may have guessed that he was looking for the perfect skipping stone. He was not. He was looking for the perfect rock, not to skip, but rather for what was under it. And, not surprisingly, he found it, the stone, and the creature hidden perfectly beneath. He then showed it to me. He then showed me another, and yet another of a different kind, just as beautiful, but different. Pretty soon, we were both happily flipping stones and finding creatures. This went on for quite awhile. Then we left. But we’d be back…
Some may wonder what we found, which leads me to the real beginning of this story. Once, during a wealth redistribution clinic—our monthly poker game—I quietly mentioned that I had never seen a certain amphibian, which I am embarrassed now to name. Bill turned this information into a crusade. He started frequenting wet places on a more regular basis then usual, turning over tons of stones until he found it and others What he showed me that day were many sleek, northern dusky salamanders (Desmognathus fuscus) and northern two-lined salamanders (Eurycea bislineata). These are creatures you won’t see unless you travel dark back roads on rainy spring evenings a small wonder that I never saw one (as that’s something I do), or spend time flipping stones in streams. Unlike red-backed salamanders (Plethodon cinereus) that live in the woods, and spotted salamanders (Ambystoma maculatum) that patrol the leaf litter and subterranean depths, these creatures require clean springs, fast moving streams, and seeps rich in organic matter.
Dusky salamanders, although widely distributed in eastern North America, from New Brunswick and Quebec down through the Appalachian Mountains to northern South Carolina, have become rare in the highly developed areas of lower Fairfield County. Habitat degradation from pollution and stream warming from lack of shade along some rivers may be limiting factors in our area. Within their range, dusky salamanders are found in areas from sea level to high elevations where bedrock is close to the surface and deep glacial deposits are absent. Northern two-lined salamanders are found in similar habitats but seem more tolerant of pollution and are thus more common and may even be displacing duskys’ in urban areas. Their range extends from Virginia west to northeastern Ohio, and north through portions of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, and New England to Labrador. Two-lined are also more likely to be found away from water with individuals discovered as far as 200 feet from a water source. Both eat small invertebrates including a variety of insects, spiders, worms, and mites. Duskys’ occasionally eat their own larva, and two-lined may eat other salamanders.
Although similar in habitat and food requirements, they are very different in appearance. Adult dusky salamanders are wide-bodied and medium sized, up to 4.5 inches long, with a laterally flattened tail that looks somewhat like that of an adult newt, but thicker. Males are slightly larger than females, and often darker, especially in older individuals. Not surprisingly, dusky salamanders are typically dusky brown above with small white spots along the sides, and are paler beneath, nearly translucent, bordered by a salt and pepper pattern (along the sides??). A white line runs behind the eye to the base of the jaw. The hind legs are much thicker than the forelegs.
Two-lined salamanders, although considered a medium sized salamander, reach only 3.5 inches in length and are much thinner, with more delicately and evenly proportioned limbs. As with dusky salamanders, their tail is laterally flattened, but their back color is highly variable, ranging from a vibrant yellow or bronze, to olive green or even light gray. A dark line runs along each side of the back which may break up into a speckled pattern near the tail. Occasionally, dark speckling or a dark line may also run down the center of the back. The underside is a lovely translucent yellow or white grading to a deep orange beneath the tail. In southern New England, individuals from lowland and coastal areas tend to have a darker, less patterned back than those from upland areas.
Both species also have dissimilar breeding cycles. In Connecticut, two-lined salamanders lay eggs between April and August. An average of 18 jelly-coated eggs are attached by a thin stalk of jelly beneath a submerged stone, under which water runs freely. Two-lined have a lengthy larval period spanning 2-3 years, so that gilled larva in various stages of development can occur within one stream. The larvae transform into adults when they are between 1.5 – 2.7 inches long. In contrast, between the months of June and September, female dusky salamanders lay, and brood up to several dozen eggs beneath a stone or rock not far from water. Like two-lined, they fertilize their eggs with sperm from a spermatophore (sperm sack) which they pick up after the males deposit them in the water in spring or fall. After a five-week incubation period and a 1–2-week terrestrial stage, the larvae enter the water where they remain as larvae until the following spring. Dusky larvae mature within a single 8–10-month season.
I have yet to revisit Bill’s stream. However, with my penchant for rainy night ventures in March searching for spotted salamanders and other amphibians en route to their breeding pools, and my fall forays to find marbled salamanders, you know I’ll be back. Now that I can add stone flipping for dusky and two-lined salamanders in spring and summer, I can enjoy three seasons of salamander watching. If I could only find them in winter…. Never mind, and don’t worry, soon I’ll going “fishing” again with Bill.
Frank Gallo is the Senior Naturalist at the New Canaan Nature Center located at 144 Oenoke Ridge, and the author of Birding in Connecticut – a comprehensive bird-finding site guide. He can be reached at Fgallo@newcanaannature.org. For more on the New Canaan Nature Center, visit www.NewCanaanNature.org.
