How to identify it
One of North America's smallest vertebrates; adults often under 2 in (5 cm) and under 1 g. [1][2]
Four toes on each hind foot, where all other Eurycea have five; the one sure diagnostic. [1][2]
Superficially like a tiny southern two-lined salamander. [1][2]
Bronze-brown in one species of the former complex, yellow in another. [1][2]
Compared with the southern two-lined salamander: Five toes on each hind foot. [1][2]
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.
- Two-lined salamander · Eurycea cirrigera
Where it lives
Low swampy areas, margins of pine savanna ponds and bottomland forests; edges of Carolina bays. [1][2]
How it behaves
Migrates to the edges of Carolina bays to breed, in spring or fall depending on the bay. [1][2]
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
- Mississippi — amphibian take · Title 40 Part 5 Rule 2.3 Regulations Regarding Non-Game Wildlife in Need of Management (MDWFP PDF; file dated 2024-04)
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.
Where it is found
Coastal Plain from North Carolina to Lake Okeechobee, Florida, and west to eastern Texas. Not in Canada.
Sources
Every claim above is attributed to one of these published sources.
NatureServe · reviewed 2026-09-30
NatureServe
- BIOLOGICALSREL: Dwarf Salamander
Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, University of Georgia · reviewed 2026-09-30
Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, University of Georgia