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Red salamander

Pseudotriton ruber · Salamanders and newts · Amphibians

Red salamander (Pseudotriton ruber): Bright orange-red to red above with scattered black spots; black chin; short tail; about 16 body grooves; 11-18 cm. Older adults fade to purplish-brown with larger spots. 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
Pseudotriton ruber
Family
Plethodontidae
In North America
Native
Range
Eastern United States from New York south along the Appalachians to the Gulf Coast of Louisiana, Alabama and the western Florida panhandle; absent from the Coastal Plain of Virginia, the Carolinas and Georgia. NatureServe lists a Canadian national record (CA), but no Canadian range was sourced.
Biology

How to identify it

Bright orange-red to red above with scattered black spots; black chin; short tail; about 16 body grooves; 11-18 cm. [1][2]

Older adults fade to purplish-brown with larger spots. [1][2]

Larvae purplish-brown above with a yellowish underside and black spots. [1][2]

Yellow iris and longer snout than the mud salamander. [1][2]

Compared with the mud salamander: Mud salamander has brown eyes and a shorter snout; red salamander has a yellow iris. [1][2]

Compared with the eastern newt: Newt skin is rough and lacks prominent grooves; red salamander has about 16 grooves and a black chin. [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 red salamander before you act. Compared with the mud salamander: Mud salamander has brown eyes and a shorter snout; red salamander has a yellow iris.[1][2]
Field knowledge

Where it lives

Cold, clear, rocky streams and springs in wooded or open areas; adults in leaf litter, under rocks and in crevices and burrows near water, sometimes in caves. [1][2]

Field knowledge

How it behaves

Mainly nocturnal; adults move from streams to terrestrial shelter in spring and return in late summer or fall to breed. [1][2]

Eats aquatic and terrestrial insects, earthworms, snails, slugs, spiders and small salamanders; larvae eat aquatic flies and crustaceans. [1][2]

Larval stage lasts 18-33 months; females lay 50-100 eggs in fall under rocks in water; aposematic coloration resembles the toxic eastern newt. [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

Eastern United States from New York south along the Appalachians to the Gulf Coast of Louisiana, Alabama and the western Florida panhandle; absent from the Coastal Plain of Virginia, the Carolinas and Georgia. NatureServe lists a Canadian national record (CA), but no Canadian range was sourced.

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, Animal Diversity Web · reviewed 2026-09-30

    University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, Animal Diversity Web