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Species authority page

Longtail salamander

Eurycea longicauda · Salamanders and newts · Amphibians

Longtail salamander (Eurycea longicauda): Adults 10-15.9 cm (record 19.7 cm); tail about 60% of body length. Ground colour yellow to orange or even red. 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.

Scientific name
Eurycea longicauda
Family
Plethodontidae
In North America
Native
Range
Southern New York to Missouri, south to Arkansas, Tennessee, extreme northeastern Mississippi, northern Alabama, extreme northwestern Georgia, western North Carolina and northwestern Virginia. Not in Canada.
Biology

How to identify it

Adults 10-15.9 cm (record 19.7 cm); tail about 60% of body length. [1][2]

Ground colour yellow to orange or even red. [1][2]

Vertical black bars on the sides of the tail (herringbone or 'dumbbell' look), plus dark dashes or dots on the body. [1][2]

13 or 14 costal grooves; belly light yellow to cream. [1][2]

Large eyes, slender body and stout limbs. [1][2]

Compared with the three-lined salamander: Three bold dark stripes along body and tail, not vertical tail bars. [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.

Field notes

  • Identification Confirm a longtail salamander before you act. Compared with the three-lined salamander: Three bold dark stripes along body and tail, not vertical tail bars.[1][2]
Field knowledge

Where it lives

Streamsides, spring runs, cave mouths and abandoned mines; sometimes ponds. Hides in rock crevices and under rocks, logs and debris. [1][2]

Field knowledge

How it behaves

Adults migrate uphill during heavy rain and into and out of caves and mine shafts; mainly nocturnal. [1][2]

Eats a wide variety of small, mainly terrestrial invertebrates. [1][2]

Active April-October in Indiana. [1][2]

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

Southern New York to Missouri, south to Arkansas, Tennessee, extreme northeastern Mississippi, northern Alabama, extreme northwestern Georgia, western North Carolina and northwestern Virginia. Not in Canada.

Biology

Sources

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

  1. NatureServe · reviewed 2026-09-30

    NatureServe

  2. University of Michigan Museum of Zoology · reviewed 2026-09-30

    University of Michigan Museum of Zoology