North GroundHuntNorth Ground Hunt — return to North Ground
Species authority page

Black Mountain salamander

Desmognathus welteri · Salamanders and newts · Amphibians

Black Mountain salamander (Desmognathus welteri): Medium-sized, chubby: 3.0-5.0 in (7.6-12.7 cm). Light brown back with small dark brown spots or streaks. This profile does not establish whether taking it is legal anywhere.

Check rules for a place and date

Certified rules currently represented in Hunt: coverage in development. This is coverage, not a legal answer.

Black Mountain salamander — verified North Ground species photograph
North Ground · All rights reserved
Scientific name
Desmognathus welteri
Family
Plethodontidae
In North America
Native
Range
Eastern Kentucky, adjacent southwestern Virginia, southern West Virginia and eastern Tennessee (Cumberland Plateau and Mountains). Not in Canada.
Biology

How to identify it

Medium-sized, chubby: 3.0-5.0 in (7.6-12.7 cm). [1][2][3]

Light brown back with small dark brown spots or streaks. [1][2][3]

Toe tips usually very dark. [1][2][3]

Light line from just behind the eye to the angle of the jaw; weak whitish dots along the side between the legs. [1][2][3]

Tail flattened at the base and strongly keeled; belly whitish with light brown to gray speckling and a gradual back-to-belly colour transition. [1][2][3]

Compared with the seal salamander: Lighter belly giving a distinct back-to-belly contrast. [1][2][3]

Compared with the northern dusky salamander: Formerly treated as the same species; welteri has darker toe tips and a strongly keeled tail. [1][2][3]

Species it is confused with

Check these before deciding what you are looking at. If you are not certain what it is, do not shoot.

Field notes

  • Identification Confirm a black mountain salamander before you act. Compared with the seal salamander: Lighter belly giving a distinct back-to-belly contrast.[1][2][3]
Field knowledge

Where it lives

Small to medium mountain streams with rocky substrate, spring runs and roadside puddles in wooded mountain terrain at 300-1220 m; may forage in surrounding forest on wet evenings. [1][2][3]

Field knowledge

How it behaves

Strongly aquatic; adults hide under rocks or logs in water or in splash-zone crevices, larvae and juveniles use smaller seeps. [1][2][3]

Eats mostly worms, insects and crustaceans. [1][2][3]

Females lay up to about 60 eggs (average 26) March-November and guard them; larvae metamorphose in about 2 years. [1][2][3]

Regulatory handoff

Limited legal take

Legal take of this species exists only under narrow conditions — a quota, a draw, a permit, a small area, or animals released or held on private land — set by the authorities below. Nowhere else is a legal opportunity implied, and Hunt shows one only where a certified rule establishes it.

Where legal take is listed

Being listed is not an open season. Seasons, zones, licences, methods and limits decide whether this animal may be taken on a given day and place — check Hunt or the authority before you go. Listings read 2026-09-30.

Geospatial intelligence

Where it is found

Eastern Kentucky, adjacent southwestern Virginia, southern West Virginia and eastern Tennessee (Cumberland Plateau and Mountains). Not in Canada.

Biology

Sources

Every claim above is attributed to one of these published sources.

  1. NatureServe · reviewed 2026-09-30

    NatureServe

  2. Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency · reviewed 2026-09-30

    Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency

  3. Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources · reviewed 2026-09-30

    Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources